STARKVILLE — Parking in The Cotton District will soon be paid by early next year.
The board of aldermen unanimously approved a contract with third-party parking service, ParkMobile, at its regular board meeting Nov. 16. ParkMobile will provide parking from Montgomery Street east to the Cotton District, University Drive, Russell and Lampkin streets and areas that include retail and residential mixed use.
Customers will use the ParkMobile app to reserve and pay for a parking spot. Paid parking would only be during times of retail and restaurant operations.
Mayor Lynn Spruill said paid parking is something she has discussed for a long time with several retailers in the Cotton District as a way for a quicker turnover to allow more customers inside the businesses.
“The retailers and the restaurants in the area have been asking us to do something that allows us to have turnover in that area,” Spruill said. “We have had the two-hour parking, which has been enforced (by a police officer) … this is an opportunity to have that turnover available to us.”
Customers can pay for a maximum of two hours of parking and also use the company’s website to pay for parking if they do not want to use the app. There will be no meters, just signage provided by the company on how to park through the app.
The city will pay no extra costs for partnering with ParkMobile. The company makes its money by a 35-cent service fee on each transaction, and the city will choose its own rates for spots.
Spruill said the city is still working out the details on the exact locations, times and prices for paid parking. She said the city will not implement paid parking until at least the beginning of 2022.
While the contract is primarily between the city and ParkMobile, board attorney Chris Latimer said other third-party companies also can partner with Starkville for paid parking.
Mississippi State University partnered with ParkMobile in 2020 to help manage parking on campus. Ward 3 Alderman Jeffrey Rupp, who works at the university, said the ParkMobile app has worked well at MSU, and he believes it is time for the city to address parking as well.
“This is going to be the way that people pay for parking in the future, so I do think the timing is about right,” Rupp said. “I support it.”
Ward 1 Alderman Ben Carver said he is concerned about elderly people who want to park but may not own smartphones or understand how to navigate the app.
“What if someone is not tech savvy?” Carver said. “How does that work?”
Spruill said other places in the area will not be paid parking and may be better options for the people Carver described.
Ward 2 Alderman Sandra Sistrunk said she has many older friends who have learned to operate the app in other towns and have no problem with it.
“I do think there will be a very, very small percentage of people who don’t have a phone or can’t figure out how to do this,” Sistrunk said. “I think most of us will be able to figure it out.”
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