DRIVEN TO CHANGE
Grace period, maximum time and back-in spaces all considered to update controversial parking system
City officials are working to make recommendations to quell some of the thousands of complaints motorists have made for months against a relatively new parking system operated by Municipal Parking Services, a private company.
Officials discussed undisclosed aspects of Royal Oak’s ongoing negotiations with the MPS parking company during a closed session before Monday’s City Commission meeting.
City Manager Paul Brake formally submitted a parking update to city commissioners in open secession, but said final recommendations will be discussed at the commission’s March 13 meeting.
“We’re confident we can make the system that much better,” Brake said, referring to a suggested extended “grace period” motorists would get at the meters before being ticketed.
Still, Royal Oak has had a tense relationship with MPS over a parking system that in the past has ticketed motorists mistakenly, baffled many users, and outraged scores of downtown business owners.
“We hear the frustrations,” Mayor Michael Fournier said. “We’re frustrated ourselves, and we’re taking aggressive action. It shouldn’t be a black eye on Royal Oak.”
The only outcome that is acceptable, Fournier added, is a system that works.
“Progress needs to be made,” he said, “one way or another.”
A number of people again criticized MPS parking operations during public comment at Monday night’s meeting.
“Businesses will be leaving town if you don’t do the changes,” said resident Alan Ashley. “You’ve already driven out many businesses and more will follow.”
Others continue to blast the parking system for its glitches. Figuring out how the system works — or getting it to operate — can be a challenge for many people.
“Every day the parking is killing us,” said Alex Emilio, who owns hair salons in Royal Oak and Birmingham.
“Customers can’t figure out how to use the parking app.”
Emilio said his business in Birmingham is doing well, but his 22year location in Royal Oak is not.
“Every day I have clients say, ‘I’m going to go to your Birmingham location — the parking here is ridiculous,” he said. “I’ve been here a long time. I don’t want to move my business, but I have thought about it.”
Mike Campoli told city commissioners he uses the Sentry app for his parking sessions but has no way of knowing whether he’ll still get a ticket.
“I have two engineering degrees but I still can’t figure out if I’m going to get a ticket or not,” he said.
“About 50 percent of the time the app doesn’t register my parking session.”
Campoli said he’s taken to keeping a parking log to record every parking session in Royal Oak and what times he uses the app, and the number of the space where he parks.
He urged officials to extend the two-hour parking limit and lengthen the grace period from its current time of five minutes
City officials say they are considering both of those.
Royal Oak’s Downtown Development Authority also acts as the city’s parking authority. DDA members recently had a consultant do a parking study.
Earlier this month, the DDA recommended eliminating the back-in angle parking on Washington Avenue made necessary because of MPS’s parking system, which works in part by photographing license plates.
DDA members also recommend increasing all on-street parking times to three hours, and extending the grace period from five to 20 minutes.
But the City Commission has the final say on whether to implement any of the changes.
The memo of preliminary city staff recommendations Brake had for commissioners Monday suggested keeping the twohour street parking limit, maintaining back-in parking on Washington Avenue, and extending the parking grace period to 15 minutes.
Another staff recommendation is to mount signs on top of parking pay stations to identify them, and have the city’s parking webpage include video on how to make parking payments.
Some critics have said people actively avoid visiting Royal Oak’s downtown because of MPS’s parking system.
“MPS is not keeping their part of the agreement to provide a functioning parking system,” said resident Bill Harrison. “The problems with the MPS system have been unresolved for 14 months, far too long.”