HARRISBURG, Pa. -- Your complaints have been heard, and Harrisburg is now offering free parking downtown.
With the hopes of jump-starting downtown Harrisburg's businesses, city leaders on Thursday announced eight free 15-minute spots along Second Street. The parking spaces replace five commercial loading zones between Walnut Street and Pine Street.
The spots are designed to convenience drivers who want to grab take-out from a restaurant or make a quick purchase from a store. When drivers park in one of the eight free spaces, they will not have to put money into a parking meter. Instead, city officials say a parking officer from SP Plus will be responsible for monitoring when you park.
For businesses along Harrisburg's downtown section of North Second Street, the free parking program is being welcomed as an innovative idea. Business owners like Mark Jeannette, who owns The Tinder Box cigar shop, estimates he has lost "20 to 25 percent" of his customers in the last year. He helped come up with the idea for the parking pilot program, which Mayor Eric Papenfuse hopes will last "at least a few months" before eventually expanding it to more parking spaces in downtown Harrisburg.
"I think this is a single piece of many things we need to do from an operational standpoint to make it more convenient for our customers to come downtown and park their vehicles," Jeannette said.
Jeannette says some of his customers have already benefited from having a free, 15-minute parking spot where they could run inside and make a quick purchase without spending dollars for a short meter fee.
"I had someone come in here who wanted to take a look at a humidor," Jeannette said, with clouds of cigar smoke from a trio of customers filling the room around him. "I said, 'You've got 15 minutes, let me go over this with you, and you’re on your way.' It's perfect. A perfect scenario."
While Jeannette hopes business improves, a question remains about how strictly the parking rule will be enforced. According to Mayor Papenfuse and Nancy Keim of SP Plus, parking officers will log license plates in their handheld devices. Once the officers come back to the spot in 15 minutes, a driver could receive $30 in fines if still parked.
However, there is no guarantee a parking officer will notice a car as soon as it's parked. FOX43 tested the new rule out Thursday by parking a car in one of the free, 15-minute spaces. It took 30 minutes before a parking officer registered the car in the free spot, thus starting the clock on the official free 15 minutes.
The five minute grace period, which is given for pay spots throughout downtown, does not apply to free spaces, the Mayor said.