SARATOGA SPRINGS — People visiting the Spa City who do not have a parking permit won’t have to begin paying to use the city-owned garages and surface lots until the week after the Belmont Stakes Racing Festival.
“We want to make sure this program is implemented the right way this summer, that means being thoughtful on when paid parking starts downtown, and prior to or during Belmont is going to add to an already chaotic time for our downtown community,” said Public Works Commissioner Jason Golub during the City Council meeting Tuesday. “With this in mind, we plan to install and start paid parking the week following the Belmont Stakes.”
The city also plans to tentatively roll out the permitting process Friday, Golub said Thursday.
City residents will be able to get their permits by showing proof of residency and providing license plate information. Downtown businesses will be able to get permits for their employees, with the city having a point of contact with businesses who will be a fleet manager and be able to set people up.
Permits would be obtained online or in person. Anyone with two or more unpaid parking tickets would need to pay them in order to obtain a permit, Golub said.
Visitors will have to pay $2 per hour to park at Saratoga Springs' city-owned garages and surface lots. Some of the garages would have areas with a parking time limit for those with permits. The city has projected almost $1.5 million in revenue from the program, with an estimated $450,000 in expenses..
During the Tuesday meeting, the City Council also unanimously approved changes to an agreement between the city and the library regarding the parking lot in front of the facility.
Under the changes, library patrons can get a permit to park in the library lot exclusively from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. for a three-hour time limit, according to the agreement. Patrons will still be able to use the lot from 6 to 9 p.m. on a first-come-first-serve basis, as the lot will open to the public after 6 p.m. The city will charge non-permitted patrons $2 per hour to use the lot. After 9 p.m., library patrons still using the lot will begin being charged.
The city can also charge non-patrons after 6 p.m. on holidays and days the library isn’t open, according to the agreement.
A few people spoke in support of the changes to the library lot Tuesday night, including Ed Lindner, who was the library's attorney when the first agreement was discussed in the 1990s.
He called the updated agreement a “workable solution.”
“In order for the library to fulfill it’s mission, it has to be accessible to all its patrons,” he said during the public comment portion of the meeting.
Friends of the Library President Klare Ingram also commended the agreement.
“As a resident, a parent, a friend of — an advocate for — our library, I support the collaborative and programmatic solutions that ensures the 78 spaces that make up this lot will be utilized in a manner that best serves our community and accessibility — not coincidentally two of the library’s core values,” she said.
Golub said the city estimates getting $52,000 in revenue a year from the paid parking that will be allowed there.