Parking meter rates to be cut

Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber on Thursday announced the city would cut parking meter rates in half every Saturday for the next two months.

Webber in a news release said the move would make visiting downtown more convenient for local residents in the busy summer high season.

“Santa Fe residents and merchants share a strong feeling: Downtown parking just isn’t working for them,” Webber said. “Our half-price summer sale is just a first step. It’s our way of saying, ‘We hear you and we’re working on it.’ ”

Beginning Saturday and extending through Sept. 8, city meters downtown and in the Railyard will cost $1 per hour on Saturdays.

City meters normally cost $2 per hour for the first two hours and $3 per hour for every hour after that from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. On-street parking is free on Sundays.

Parking rates in city surface lots and garages will not change under the plan, a city spokesman said.

As a candidate, Webber floated a quirky idea as part of an overhaul of the city’s parking system: Rather than issue a ticket to a vehicle with an out-of-state license plate, he suggested, the city could slip a $5 voucher to a nearby business under the windshield.

“We shouldn’t deal with parking as a punitive thing,” Webber said at the time. “We should make it an asset for downtown.”

On Thursday, the mayor said his administration would “keep looking at other changes” to the city’s parking system.