Downtown holiday shoppers get the gift of time
If the looming presence of the AutoChalk hybrid and the ticking clock of the two-hour parking limit have kept you from doing Christmas shopping in downtown Fredericksburg, there’s hope.
Fredericksburg’s City Council voted on Tuesday night to extend the two-hour parking time limit on downtown streets to four hours for the Christmas shopping season, which they defined as Nov. 16 to Jan. 1.
Council members were acting on a request from Downtown Retail Marketing Inc. President Bonnie DeLelys, who said she’s heard from potential customers that they don’t come downtown specifically because they can’t shop and eat in two hours, and they don’t want to walk the distance from the parking garage to their favorite shops.
Parking rules are something that typically take this council months, if not years, of study sessions and Planning Commission referrals to make a decision on.
But on Tuesday, they all seemed to think that easing the time limit temporarily would be a good trial run for longer parking time limits, which council members have talked about before.
“It’s the Christmas season, and I think this gives us an opportunity to actually see what will happen,” Councilman Matt Kelly said.
City Manager Beverly Cameron cautioned council members that changing the rules for a short period of time could be confusing.
He also pointed out that Fredericksburg already offers more free parking than most downtowns, with two hours available on the street, the first two hours in the parking garage at no charge and the free parking lots on Sophia Street.
