Starting Feb. 9, parts of Old Towne Orange will enforce paid parking.
As part of the city’s new program to charge for public parking on some streets, 18 payment kiosks were installed around the Old Towne core in December.
Those kiosks span two blocks out from the traffic circle and Plaza Square Park. When they go live in February, visitors who park in those areas of downtown between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m will need to pay parking fees ranging from $1.25 to $2 an hour. Payment could also be made through an app or text-to-pay.
Time limits will range, but cap at three hours.
But parking two blocks out from Plaza Square Park and in the area’s biggest parking structures — including the Lemon Street parking structure — will remain free to visitors, officials said.
Those who visit the Orange Senior Center and the Orange Public Library can also park for free. And the City Council approved in October a residential permit program within the paid parking area that will be exempt from time limits.
The city is recommending that business owners and employees park in the plaza’s free parking spaces.
But the parking program has received pushback from some community members, who left frustrated comments on a city Instagram post announcing the program’s launch date.
“As if some of the businesses in the area weren’t already struggling, this is just gonna make it worse for them, less people coming by since no one’s gonna want to pay,” one user commented.
Clarissa Saad, a full-time employee at Urth Caffé, which operates at the west entrance of the central plaza, said she “doesn’t mind” the new parking program. But she’s hoping for a “business permit program of some sort.”
“That honestly would really be great,” she said. “Especially for my coworkers and everyone around. Parking in general is pretty tight. And my coworkers usually can’t find parking nearby.”
Facing a general fund budget deficit of $19 million, the City Council voted in February to roll out the paid parking program. That deficit has slimmed to about $2.6 million this fiscal year after the city explored new revenue streams and made steep spending cuts, officials have said.
A staff report to councilmembers said the city could eventually expect to make $1.2 million annually from the parking fees.