STARKVILLE – Thinking back just a few years ago, Hayden Lehman recalls seeing the same cars occupying street parking outside Bulldog Burger day after day, taking up spots meant for customers and leaving little room for turnover.
“I think a lot of the restaurants around here found that the parking spots that we had for street parking were being filled by local apartment kids,” Lehman, assistant general manager for Bulldog Burger, told The Dispatch on Friday. “… Over here especially, it would be the same cars parked there for the entire day. … The most common complaint we got was that parking was a struggle.”
That frustration was shared by other business owners, particularly in the Cotton District, according to Mayor Lynn Spruill, prompting city officials to explore paid parking as a way to improve access to restaurants and retail spaces.
In 2022, Starkville aldermen implemented paid parking through management company ParkMobile, initially covering 186 spaces along University Drive and throughout the Cotton District. Since then, the program has expanded to 293 spaces, including areas along Russell Street, East Lee Boulevard and portions of downtown and midtown.
“At the time, we had a number of requests from restaurants because the students were using the parking as all day parking, and so nobody could find a place to park to eat at lunch,” Spruill told The Dispatch on Wednesday. “… So we implemented it, and it has been, I think, a really useful tool for us to allow people … to access the restaurants and the activities that are in those areas that don’t have large amounts of parking space.”
Parking initially cost $1 per hour from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., with the first 15 minutes free and no charge on weekends. In September, aldermen voted to increase the weekday rate by 25 cents, bringing the total to $1.25 per hour with a three-hour maximum. The same rate now applies on Saturdays, with drivers given the option to pay a $10 flat fee for the day or $25 on Mississippi State athletics game days.
In the last year, most patrons have parked for an average of about two hours and 30 minutes per visit, according to Haley Haas, public relations manager for ParkMobile. Peak usage typically occurs on Thursdays and Fridays, with surges between 11 a.m. and noon and again from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m.
ParkMobile collects a $0.35 transaction fee from each parking session.
Since the program began, paid parking has generated roughly $170,000 for Starkville, averaging about $31,508 annually. Those funds are directed back into the city’s general fund to support various projects and departments, according to Chief Financial Officer Webb Corban.
Spruill said the city had no budgetary goals when the program was introduced.
“(We) had no clue what it would generate,” she said. “… That was never the intent, necessarily. The intent was to make sure that the restaurants would have people who would be able to access them during the hours when parking was being taken up by kids who were actually on campus and staying all day.”
During Fiscal Year 2024, the city collected slightly more than $36,000 from paid parking. Spruill said she expects that figure to double following the recent rate changes.
“We will find that out though as time goes on,” she said.
The city appears on track to meet that expectation, with year-to-date collections at approximately $44,000 and about seven months remaining in the fiscal year, Corban said.
Mixed reviews
However, not all businesses view the change as a success.
Zoeih Wilson, a manager for Dulce on University Drive, said paid parking has created challenges for customers, given the limited number of spaces in front of the business. Her business sits a few blocks west of the Cotton District.
“That’s the main thing that we struggle with is this paid parking out here,” Wilson told The Dispatch. “We don’t have any spots that were given to us when we started. … I get that for (the Cotton District), but right here … we just have a bad time with parking, and we have people all the time tell us that they don’t want to come see us because of the parking situation.”
Jacob Gordon, general manager for Bin 612, said the policy has been largely neutral from a business standpoint but frustrating for employees.
“It’s very annoying, especially when there’s such limited parking anyway,” Gordon said. “My employees have to pay $20 on a shift and may not even make $20. … Just personally and with the employees, they don’t like it, but from a business point of view … we’re rocking and rolling regardless.”
Others say the changes have helped achieve the city’s goal of increasing turnover and accessibility, though it hasn’t eliminated complaints about parking entirely.
“We can definitely tell that customers are more frequently able to park along these side roads,” Lehman said. “I would say I frequently have customers who are asking me how to pay for parking … so I can tell that people are definitely using it. … I think it also definitely helps to-go service and … these spots right across the street that they’ve added, those have been really nice for DoorDashers and Uber Eats drivers to come get their stuff.”
Spruill said she believes the benefit of paid parking is “obvious.”
“If you want to go down to Adkerson Way or University Drive right now, you could probably find a parking place where you could do business,” she said midafternoon Wednesday. “… A lot of it’s paid by visitors. When we have our ball games and stuff, they’re paying because they want a place to park and they’re willing to pay for an all-day arrangement, so it’s worked out well.
“… It’s been an asset to the city,” she added. “It absolutely has.”
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 26 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
