Amarillo City Council unanimously voted to abolish the city's downtown paid parking program during their regular meeting on Tuesday.
The program had received criticism since before it went into effect in 2019. It became a campaign issue during the city election earlier this year, with Councilman Place 3 Tom Scherlen being among the strongest critics of the program. In particular, Scherlen noted that he felt the program was unfair, as it only effected the eastern side of downtown. "The citizens own the streets," said Scherlen as he moved to approve the repeal.
Another major criticism of the program has been the implementation, which required those parking downtown to pay via a smartphone app.
This isn't the first time in Amarillo history that a downtown paid parking program has been repealed following popular criticism. A similar program had been tried in the 1960s, but that program was halted after it drove The public away from downtown.
As the change goes into effect, street parking in areas previously covered by the program will now have a 2 hour parking limit. According to Interim City Manager Andrew Freeman, the change is expected to benefit the downtown parking garage, as the garage will now be the only way to park for more than 2 hours without having to move their vehicle.
The item will still need to be approved on a second reading, which is expected to occur during the council's November 14th regular meeting.
