Effective November 1, all-day parking prices at the Knighton and Park Place garages, and the more limited 7 a.m. — 7 p.m. weekday option, will be brought in line with other Annapolis parking options.
The current month-to-month rate is $125 but it will fall to $60. The 12-hour weekday option will fall to $50 with the change. The city will be working against itself a little bit, because of its own marketing push to have people park at the Navy stadium, but the usually-empty garages will offer a lot to parking-pressed commuters and shoppers.
The change comes after a streamlining effort by the City council — who voted to remove themselves from the conversation earlier in the year and place responsibility into the hands of the City Manager, Mike Mallinoff. The goal of the change was to allow the city to be more nimble in their pricing guidelines — adjusting for events like the Sailboat or Powerboat shows for example, and reducing the prices without a public hearing or vote every time.
This mirrors what other area garages are doing, parking garages normally in the under-$20 price range upped the rate to $20 or so during the events and when demand falls off readjusting the price accordingly. Allowing market forces to dictate the pricing structure has reportedly increased the city’s take. Downtown travelers having a hard time finding parking near West Street should check out Park Place. Since the rate is commensurate with other facilities, it’s a good option and likely to be more empty.
It seems the change has had the most immediate effect on the Knighton lot, Park Place is coming about more slowly, due in part to its proximity to the Navy stadium.
Similarly, the daily parking rates have been reduced by about half to $5 per day in each facility.
The long-term hope is to increase overall traffic within the city, but in the meantime it’s never a bad idea to have a nearly-empty parking lot location in your back pocket when planning your West Street adventure.
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