Downtown Alliance - Salt Lake City, Utah

Get used to those tall, blue, debit-card-reading parking meters seen sporadically in downtown Salt Lake City.

The City Council spent $4.5 million Tuesday to buy a horde of them to replace the old coin-operated models early next year.

But to offset the cost, motorists may also have to pay more with later parking enforcement — until, say, 8 p.m. or 10 p.m. instead of 6 p.m., including on Saturdays — a move that might bring some heartburn to downtown restaurateurs.

The council held off on that enforcement decision and ordered up a public hearing for January.

City Hall also must decide whether to hike the planned $1.50 hourly rate by even more and how high to set minimum fees for drivers swiping credit cards at the new machines. Financial analysts have recommended that fee be $2.

City documents reveal a financing shortage for the parking pay stations, meaning some sacrifices for downtown drivers seem likely.

David Everitt, Mayor Ralph Becker’s chief of staff, notes the digital stations are a “powerful tool” to track citywide parking trends that can ultimately help the council set the rates and enforcement times.

“What is so great about this,” he said, “is you decide to put the system in place and you get this great tool.”

Downtown restaurants may not share that enthusiasm, especially if the free parking after 6 p.m. vanishes.

“It’s a horrible, horrible idea,” says Adrian Alcaina, manager of Maxwell’s East Coast Eatery, 357 S. Main. “The mentality of people in Salt Lake is that after 6 p.m., you can park for free. On top of that, those [new] meters are kind of a pain. People outside my building are getting tickets like crazy. It’s ticket-central.”

The digital stations do not require putting a receipt on the dash. Besides allowing debit and credit cards, the pay stations can be “fed” through a smart-phone application once the driver enters the stall number.

City officials want the stations installed before the March opening of City Creek Center to make a good impression on the thousands of expected visitors.

But Wyatte Strazzo, who works at The Melting Pot, 340 S. Main, says extended enforcement hours would be “ridiculous.”

“I guess it would help boost public transportation,” she predicted. “Most of our customers will end up going with valet or parking very far away.”

Brooklyn Ottens, a server at Este pizzeria, 156 E. 200 South, shrugged off the impact of later enforcement hours.

“It’s definitely nice to have it free at night, but we are across the street from two bars,” she said, noting street parking is likely to get snatched up regardless of the change. “It might be kind of a bummer for people because they have to pay for it, but I don’t think it will be a hindrance to our business.”

In related news, the council agreed to spend $470,000 for an upgrade to the city’s blue and bronze way-finding signs to give them a fresh — and accurate — look before City Creek Center opens. The move allots $200,000 for a master plan to outline a complete way-finding sign overhaul in coming years.