Parking Officer Ken Whitfield gives a ticket for an overdue parking meter on the Square in Oxford, Miss., Monday, Sept. 8, 2014. (DM Photo | Cady Herring)
Revenue from the 286 parking meters installed recently on and around the Square is expected to fund future parking needs, according to Oxford parking director Matt Davis.
The city installed the IPS Smart Meter M5 parking meters over the summer along the main roads leading up to the Square and by parking spaces within the Square. The meters were installed because of the high demand for parking spaces in the area and limited turn-over.
“Our inventory of spaces are really limited on where we can park and cannot park,” Davis said.
The city collected $51,000 in fees in September according to Davis, based on the issuance of 732 parking citations. Of the 732 citations, 698 were for overtime parking and 34 were for improperly parking a vehicle.
Also, 260 citations were issued to out-of-state vehicles and 472 citations were issued to in-state vehicles. So far, only 204 citations have been paid and $3,198.69 has been collected. The money generated by the fees and fines is placed in a trust for future parking needs. The funds are not used to supplement the city budget.
After many trials and case studies of colleges and locations nearby with different paid parking services, the consensus in Oxford was to have single space parking with individual paid parking meters on the immediate Square and side streets with free parking lots available behind the Oxford University Club, Oxford City Hall, Old Venice Pizza Co. and lots on 14th Street.
Parkers are required to pay to park from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The timeframe reflects the time of day when the Square and surrounding areas are most crowded with vehicles.
The 286 meters that went operational Sept. 2 blink red or green from the sidewalk, enabling parking enforcement officials to quickly scan the block and identify overdue parkers.
A red light on the Square does not mean stop, it means it is time to feed the parking meter. It costs $1 an hour to park.
“The green light means that they (vehicles) are good, they are paid, and the red light means they are expired,” Davis said.
The parking division has two parking enforcement officers on staff. One officer works during the day and a second officer works at night.
The blinking lights on the back of each meter help make their jobs easier when scanning the meters downtown, especially when it gets dark.
“We can assess the situation all the way down (Jackson Avenue) at night,” Davis said. “When we see a bunch of red and cars parked, we know to write tickets,” Davis said.
Nighttime is not the only time people are parking longer than they paid for. Red lights on the back of parking meters blink many times throughout the day, according to one parking enforcement officer.
“You might see about 50 to 60 a day,” Parking Enforcement Officer Kenneth Whitfield said.
Parking meters are designed to give a person a certain amount of time to park their vehicles so they are not in one spot the entire day. If a citizen or visitor has a blinking red light upon arriving to their vehicle or a parking enforcement officer sees the red light and the car is not occupied, an overtime violation will be issued.
The first two tickets are $10, the third ticket is $25 and the fourth ticket or any subsequent is $50.
Any ticket above the fourth level of tickets will result in a vehicle being booted or towed.
“We try to boot first to give people the opportunity to come pay their fines and not be towed away,” Davis said.
Parking services will allow up to 24 hours to return to a vehicle. If the vehicle has not been claimed, it will be dispatched to the Oxford Police Department to be towed by Shivers Towing or Marquis Towing where the vehicle can be retrieved for approximately $125.
Gameday weekends work the same way but have increased parking fines. With a limited number of parking spaces and the large number of visitors in Oxford for football games, the chances of finding a spot are slim.
If a vehicle has exceeded the time limit paid, a heavier fine will be imposed. The first ticket is $50, the second ticket is $75 and the third ticket is $100.
“That is to just keep people from parking on the Square all day, going to the Grove and staying for 12 to 14 hours,” Davis said.
Recently, Ole Miss alumnus Johnathan Rogers, who lives in Batesville, learned the hard way when trying to park in front of Ajax on the Square the weekend the Rebels played the Memphis Tigers.
He was not aware parking fines had increased on the Square for football weekends.
“I thought I paid for enough time to get back to my car without getting a ticket, but I was late and had a heavy price to pay. Now I know,” Rogers said.
To help increase parking spaces so people are not limited on where they can find a spot and have to pay a fine like Rogers, Davis said he hopes the money made thus far from the meters can go toward a parking garage.
Although nothing is officially approved, concept designs have been created for a parking garage to give the parking division an idea of how many spots they can get, compared to the cost. Potential locations are behind City Hall or the Oxford University Club.
As the population in Oxford continues to rise each year with a growth in the number of visitors the city receives, additional parking will be needed.
Katie Kaiser, visitor services coordinator for Visit Oxford MS, said she believes the parking meters will be beneficial in the long run.
“While it may be an inconvenience right now on a day-to-day basis, the money made from the meters will help expand parking for continuing crowds,” Kaiser said.
