Walton Arts Center Considers Parking Charges

— Free parking around Dickson Street could be getting scarce.

The Walton Arts Center and the city of Fayetteville will begin discussions about changing the free parking lots around the performing arts center to paid spaces during peak-demand times.

"We re trying to make what we currently have more efficient," said Peter Lane, executive director of the Walton Arts Center, speaking at a Monday news conference.

The move would affect 419 spaces in three lots. The hope is that by charging for parking, Walton Arts Center patrons will have a better chance to get convenient parking spots. The free spaces usually get snatched up first and often by people who are not attending a Walton Arts Center event.

A lack of parking, or at least a lack of convenient parking, was mentioned by more than two-thirds of patrons who completed a recent Walton Arts Center survey.

"While this doesn t solve the entire problem, I believe this is something we should explore," Fayetteville Mayor Lioneld Jordan said.

A next step is for the Fayetteville City Council to pass an ordinance or resolution to have the Walton Arts Center manage the lots, said Lindsley Smith, Fayetteville communication director.

However, very few specifics have come forward.

"The idea truly is in its beginning stage as to the ordinance," Smith said. "Although a variety of options and ideas over the years have been tossed around and more ideas will come forward."

"Today s press conference was to jump-start the dialog to get to the best solution," Jordan said.

The plan is to have the arts center staff the lots and collect parking fees. The money will cover the cost of operating the parking lots, Lane said.

It s still not clear how much the parking will cost or on what days and times a fee will be charged.

"We want to cover our expenses," Lane said, and added that the prices would be "market based."

Pay lots nearby have a going rate of $2 per hour for evenings on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. If the Walton Arts Center adopted that rate, it could potentially bring in $390,000 a year, assuming each space was occupied for three hours for each of the three days all year.

"If there is any net revenue at the end of the day, we would want to plug that back into the Walton Arts Center," Lane said.

Parking proposals explored in the past have included building a parking garage. That plan has not been scrapped.

"Everything is still on the table," Smith said.

The move to begin charging for parking comes after a survey the Walton Arts Center sent to thousands of its patrons. More than 50 percent of those responding live outside Washington County, Lane said. And only 30 percent of those who completed the survey said they were satisfied with the center s parking situation, he said.

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