Parking meters on Magnolia? Here’s why you may have to pay to park on the avenue
There is a perception, possibly a reality, that parking along Fort Worth’s popular Magnolia Avenue strip can be evasive.
Sure, there’s plenty of space north of Magnolia, and some spots to the south, though you’ll likely be in the way of residents. But both of those require a bit of a walk. The premium spots, in the block by Heim or in front of Gus’s, are taken up most of the day, according to a recent parking study, and the parking garage on Alston Avenue fills up rapidly.
To keep spaces open on Magnolia and cars out of Fairmount, the solution might be parking meters.
The idea is in the “very early” stages, said Mike Brennan, president of the Near Southside Inc., but the gist is parking meters along Magnolia would force turnover, opening spaces for retail customers that are now taken up by workers.
Adding a residential permit in parts of north Fairmount would prevent spillover on residential streets. The underused streets north of Magnolia would still be free.
“It’s critical we provide free parking options to folks. We don’t want to go from everything is free to suddenly nothing is free,” he said. “The perception, and then reality, is that if I’m willing to pay I should be assured I can find a good spot, and if I don’t want to pay then I don’t have to.”
Near Southside Inc., tasked with promoting Magnolia and other districts south of downtown, asked a consult to study parking in an area roughly bound by Rosedale Street, Eighth Avenue, Myrtle Street and Hemphill Street. The study showed what many who frequent Magnolia already know — spaces along the main street are nearly full during lunch on weekdays and in the evening on the weekends. The survey, from HWA Parking, found that many of those spots are taken up by cars that never move.
That’s an issue for retail shops who want customers to have easy access to their stores, Brennan said. The issue will likely get worse as Fort Worth expands the medical district.
Meters would also generate revenue to maintain the Alston Avenue garage, about $75,000 a year, after a special tax district expires in 2022.
“There is a need for revenue if we want to keep that parking garage,” he said, noting that a planned hotel at Magnolia and Henderson should have garage with some public parking.
To prevent drivers from simply crowding the narrow Fairmount streets south of Magnolia, a permit zone bound by Hurley, Lipscomb and Myrtle would keep the streets for residents only from 4 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Such an idea has floated around the Fairmount neighborhood for a few years, said Sara Karashin, neighborhood association president. Some, particularly those who live east of Henderson, support permits, but others are strongly against it.
“Residents don’t mind people parking on the street as a whole, but when it gets overcrowded people block driveways or even park in driveways,” she said. “It’s a real issue.”
In order for permits to work, she said, residents must be able to get visitor parking options easily and without paying a high fee.
Brennan also doesn’t want people paying a lot of money at the meters, he said. It’s too early to know what the rates would be, he said, but he compared them to rates in downtown or West 7th.
“There’s no reason to charge exuberant rates,” he said.
It’s unclear how parking meters will go over with Magnolia shoppers and employees.
Madilyn Narworth parked her Prius in a spot on the north side of Magnolia just before noon Wednesday. At first the suggestion of parking meters bothered her. A lot of people, like her, are in a rush at lunch, and circling blocks to find an open space or parking and walking could be too time consuming. But then she wondered whether it would force long-term parkers out of the close spots.
“It’s a popular street, so I understand why they want turnover for customers, but I don’t know,” she said. “I don’t go to Dallas because you have to pay to park.”
David Shaw, owner of Shaw’s Patio Bar & Grill at 1051 W. Magnolia and the Lazy Moose at 1404 W. Magnolia, said there’s definitely a problem with parking. In front of Shaw’s a handful of spaces are taken up most of the day by office workers, he said. He has a few spaces in the back for customers only, which means his employees must find street parking.
But meters aren’t the answer, he said. He worries they will deter would-be customers who don’t want to pay but also don’t want to walk more than a block or two.
“In the long run I think this will hurt,” he said, saying planners should have had more foresight that the area would boom and need more parking.
Shaw wondered whether two-hour marking, with no meters, would have the same impact. People who parked longer would risk a ticket, but wouldn’t have to pay.
“I think people are already coming to spend a lot of money here at restaurants and such,” he said.
He also supports dedicating certain spaces for Lyft and Uber drop zones.
Ideally fewer and fewer people will arrive at Magnolia in their own car, Brennan said. As apartments come to the area north of the strip — enough for about 2,000 new residents — more people will live within walking distance.
“That’s the final goal, walkablility,” he said. “It’s all about trying to get people to arrive on Magnolia on foot, by bike, in a ride share or on transit.”
This story was originally published July 25, 2019 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Parking meters on Magnolia? Here’s why you may have to pay to park on the avenue."
