Business Owners Looking Forward to Parking Changes

Despite grumbling from area residents some local business leaders are looking forward to coming changes to downtown parking rules. Business owners believe the increased parking fees will turn out to be good for the local economy. 

The State College Borough Council recently approved changes to the Downtown Parking Plan. Right now, you have to pay for parking between 8:00 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. Under the new system, meters will run from 10 a.m. until 10 p.m. In the garages the first 30-minutes are free. After that, you’ll pay $1 per hour. Passes to park in the garages from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. cost $25 a month.

Brian Cohen, owner of Harper’s, 114 W. College Ave., says the changes make sense to him and he sees it as potentially being a benefit to his business. 

“Most nights, we’re not open past 6 p.m., but I think if parking eases up and that improves and my customers say, ‘I can just pull right up,’ that will make me want to be open more,” Cohen says. 

“When you drive downtown during the day – even though people complain – you can almost always find a space on the street. Once it hits late in the day, like between 4:30 and 5 p.m., you can never find a spot,” he says. “People who work downtown at night know that if they park on the street, after they put an hour in their meter, they don’t have to think about [feeding the meter] for the rest of the night.”

Meter enforcement later in the evening will ultimately help the customer, Cohen believes, because they’ll be able to find more places to park. That means people won’t have to circle the block looking for a spot so they can run errands or enjoy dinner and a show.

Over at Appalachian Outdoors, 123 S. Allen St., owner Geoff Brugler says parking downtown actually doesn’t have to cost shoppers anything. Most businesses will validate a customer’s parking for up to two hours, provided they’re using the time to shop.

Brugler says there’s no shortage of parking in the garages, except on weekends that are busy every year, such as Penn State graduation and Arts Fest, which most people have come to expect. 

Brugler points out there are the variety of businesses downtown and that most of them are open late. In addition, “There are an incredible number of places downtown in the garages, and through the merchant-validated parking, it’s free. So what you have now is hundreds and hundreds of free spaces to park in downtown, he says.”

Cohen, Brugler and his employees are prepared for the change. They believe potential customers will be more comfortable coming downtown when they have the luxury of parking wherever they want.

“I think the businesses that are going to struggle with it will eventually just adjust, and they won’t think about it anymore,” Cohen says.

Related coverage: 

• Rate Hike for Downtown State College Parking (June 18)

• Residents Sound Off on Parking Fee Changes, StateCollege.com Poll Shows Little Support (June 18)