Committee considers narrowing daily-parker hours and discusses plate-reader and reservation options
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Summary
The parking committee discussed changing daytime parking hours for daily parkers to 6 a.m.–6 p.m. (from 6 a.m.–9 p.m.), enforcement for night parkers, 15-minute grace periods and potential use of plate readers and reservations to handle overstays.
The West Chester Parking Committee on May 13 considered a staff proposal to change the permitted hours for daily (daytime) monthly parkers from a 6 a.m.–9 p.m. window to 6 a.m.–6 p.m., narrowing access for monthly daytime permits and encouraging full-time staff to use 24/7 permits instead.
Staff said night-parker parameters are already in effect: night parkers must enter after 5 p.m., and the system applies a 15-minute grace period; entrants before the permitted time must pull a ticket and pay the transient rate when they leave. Chris Hankins of Colonial Parking described the implementation and limited pushback: "there's not a lot of pushback because, you know, they that's what they selected, and they know that they're getting, you know, a particular rate for those particular hours."
Members discussed operational conveniences for overstaying customers, such as allowing parkers to scan and pay for extra time on exit. Staff said Flash (the vendor) has features under discussion — including license-plate recognition and automatic charging for members — and that staff will have an update next month on potential Flash enhancements. Committee members noted reservations and preprogrammed event rates as possible tools to manage demand for special nights like the Christmas parade.
No formal motion and roll-call vote on the hour change were recorded in the transcript; staff said they will return with more information from Flash on license-plate recognition, reservation options and operational guidance for handling overstays.
