Plymouth Moves Toward Paid Parking In City Commission Vote

PLYMOUTH, MI — The Plymouth City Commission voted 5-2 to pursue a plan to implement a paid parking system, an idea that has divided commissioners, businesses and residents.

The Nov. 21 vote comes as officials explore new ways to bring in revenue to help improve and expand the parking system in the downtown area, something officials said would cost millions to maintain.

Commissioner Marques Thomey pointed to a report showing it would cost $3.1 million to maintain the central parking deck over the next 20 years alone. Other officials argued the city's current funding is not sufficient to repair and improve the city's parking.

"Right now, we have funds coming from businesses paying property taxes, we have funds coming from residents paying property taxes," Plymouth Mayor Nick Muroz said. "We do not have funds coming from people who are using parking, so I think paid parking makes sense."

However, commissioners Alanna Maguire and Linda Filipczak were strongly opposed to paid parking and warned forcing visitors to pay for parking could drive away business into nearby areas, such as Northville and Canton.

"We've heard from our businesses and residents that have expressed to us that they are not in favor of paid parking that it will change the ambiance of Plymouth...and we run the risk of driving our businesses out of the city, as well as residents coming in to see the city," Filipczak said.

Moreover, Maguire said paid parking would harm low-income or fixed-income individuals, such as servers in restaurants and volunteers at the historical museum. She also raised concern about congestion in the downtown areas, considering drivers would probably be parking on neighborhood streets.

One Plymouth business owner warned officials favoring certain streets for free parking would harm businesses, because some employees would get free parking and others not. Another resident argued all employees and visitors must pay to avoid creating "prime spots."

"You can't pick one street and then not another, because then you're going to have businesses fighting and very upset," one business owner said. "If you're going to do streets, then you got to do all of them."

Officials will still need to vote to finalize any paid parking system. Right now, drivers do not have to pay to park in Plymouth, but they could get a ticket if they overstay the 2-hour limit.