By james art At Durham City Council’s May 23 work session, dozens of business representatives gathered at City Hall to voice their concerns about the state of downtown.
Nicole Thompson, president and CEO of Downtown Durham Inc., led the discussion with a 20-minute presentation highlighting various issues facing the downtown business community, including safety, construction disruptions and the cost of parking. City council members promised to follow up with decisions later in the year after they return from summer break.
On Monday, the City Council began making good on its promise by approving an ordinance that would change the city’s parking voucher program.
In 2022, the city’s transportation department created the parking voucher program to help ease the financial burden on low-income people who work downtown. The updated rate adjusts the reduced price of the monthly parking pass from $140 to $35 and the price of the evening parking permit from $80 to $20. The city also raised the income threshold for eligible workers from 60 percent of the local area median income to 80 percent.
Revenue from parking fees is only a small part of the annual budget. Unlike many revenue sources, such as property tax, which flow into the city’s general fund, parking is an enterprise fund accrued from services provided by the city, including solid waste and water and sewer services.
City staff conducted a financial impact study to determine what changes could be made without a significant effect on the city budget, said Council Member Javier Caballero.
“Part of it is that more people will actually park because it’s cheaper,” Caballero says. “So it’s a volume game.”
The new rates were mostly well received by the business community.
Sean Stokes, co-owner of three downtown businesses, has been advocating for months on behalf of his staff and neighboring businesses. He says the new parking rates offer a step in the right direction for his employees during a turbulent economic climate.
“[The new pricing] exceeded my expectations,” says Stokes.
Bruce Kenyon, a bartender at two of Stokes’ businesses — Rubies on Five Points and Remy’s Lounge — shared his frustrations with the parking situation during the May work session. For Kenyon and others, working at the center comes with a price. He says parking costs between $13 and $25 a day, which could be half the money he brings home. The situation left Kenyon with mixed feelings about the new parking rates.
“I’m thankful they made the decision they did because something is better than nothing,” Kenyon says. “But we don’t have to pay to come to work.”
The city council must negotiate between competing priorities: providing sufficient parking at a reasonable cost for employees and visitors, while dissuading people from driving in the hope that they will choose alternatives. Durham has invested in improving these alternatives by increasing GoDurham bus service while keeping it free and installing more bike lanes in and out of downtown. But cars are still the dominant form of transport for most Durham residents.
“It’s a regressive tax, especially when you don’t have a decent public transport system,” says Stokes.
The cost of parking isn’t just a sticking point for downtown employees. Business owners worry that a recent increase in downtown parking rates has contributed to a decrease in foot traffic. Now that the city center is not the only attractive area in Durham, visitors are choosing to visit other areas such as the Golden Belt, which are easier to navigate, more family-friendly and where parking is free.
“[Before 2019]if you want to go to a part of Durham that has a concentration of restaurants, bars and nightlife, downtown is the only game in town,” says Stokes. “Fast forward and now you have other places to go where it’s well lit, you feel safe. It’s just easier. And people will take the path of least resistance, especially when they have children and families.
In the city center, the availability of parking is not a problem, says Cabayero. Some parking lots, like the Morgan Street garage, are underutilized and rarely full, even on busy weekends. Caballero admits that even she often avoids parking spaces that are a stone’s throw from her destination, a trend she says is prevalent among downtown visitors.
“We moved everything to the suburbs,” says Caballero. “People’s attitude to space is very much like, ‘I park my car in one place and I don’t want to walk far.’
Durham is not the only city trying to strike a balance with its parking prices. Caballero says she’s open to trying creative alternatives to the status quo, including eliminating curbside parking entirely (except for handicapped spaces), creating a more attractive car-free downtown experience. Even a temporary period of car freedom, such as at the Durham Farmers Market or on the street, will begin to change the culture in Durham, Caballero says.
She acknowledges that people are not yet ready to go completely car-free, but small steps, such as limiting families to one vehicle, significantly reduce car use.
“We need to increase ours [transit] frequency and our routes and I know that [the transportation department] works hard and makes big improvements,” says Cabayero. “This must continue. We want people to choose a variety of ways to get downtown and make it so that, especially if you’re in [downtown] core, you don’t have to drive because there is another mechanism to get here.
It might be a good first step, but Kenyon, Rubie’s bartender, calls it a “temporary solution.”
“If there’s another meeting about it, he says, ‘I’ll be there because we’re not done yet,'” Kenyon says.
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