AUBURN — City councilors at their next meeting will vote on a plan to increase monthly parking permits and adjust how some lots are used, but other changes will wait.

Police Chief Phil Crowell said the city could start charging the new fees in October if councilors approve. The new ordinance also calls for moving city vehicles away from prime parking in the Mechanics Row parking garage.

“You’ll have the ordinance changes at our next meeting,” Crowell said. “As far as changing signs, we’re just moving parking in the structure. We certainly have heard you and will see city vehicles moving away and police vehicles moving to the front so it’s all at the end, not close to the city building.”

The ordinance would increase monthly downtown parking permits from $35 to $45 and put the Auburn Police Department  in charge of managing the city’s downtown parking, from controlling the lots to selling parking permits.

Permits were available during regular business hours at the city treasurer’s office in Auburn Hall. They’ll now be sold at the Police Department’s window in Auburn Hall’s basement.

Crowell said last month that the loss of a private Court Street lot, which was converted into a park for Chapman House, and new businesses forced the city to take another look at how it allocates parking.

Auburn has 1,296 spaces — 260 are privately owned and 1,036 are city-owned. The city-owned spaces are leased to businesses, sold as parking permits, used for police and city vehicles or available for public parking.

The plan calls for shifting some parking-space uses, especially in Great Falls Plaza. For example, the lot at the northern edge of the plaza is reserved for parking for guests of functions at the Hilton Garden Inn. That lot would become open for free, two-hour parking and for people who buy day passes. The Hilton’s function parking would move closer to the hotel, across from the Esplanade apartments.

Crowell said the next step for councilors to discuss would be creating gated parking lots with pay kiosks. For example, parking in the lot alongside Turner Street currently is used for jury parking. The city would install a kiosk there to manage parking in the lot, allowing free use by Superior Court jurors and for people who buy long-term, temporary passes.

Councilors would tackle those questions later. They also could choose to offer more affordable parking for remote lots, he said. 

“If we reduce parking in the far corner to something like $25 per month, with the bus stop right there, it could be an option for people working in Lewiston across the river — an alternative to paying $50, $55 per month,” Crowell said. “It’s not a prime location. It’s off-site and we have the spaces available.”

But Councilor Robert Hayes said that idea concerned him.

“I hope what we do for parking benefits the downtown and is for people who are coming to do business here — to go to restaurants or retail or whatever,” Hayes said. “I would not like to see parking for people who would be using our downtown and then taking a bus to Portland, people who are leaving the city, particularly for business. I’d much rather see a larger parking area outside of downtown to accommodate that need.”

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