ROYAL OAK, Mich. – There are plans to install a new parking meter system in Royal Oak this fall with better technology but that technology could lead to the city losing more than 40 parking spaces.
The new parking system uses the image of a license plate to monitor parked vehicles instead of parking enforcement.
“This town makes a ton of money off parking so I could see why they’re doing it opposed to having somebody check the meter or go in and put a ticket on somebody’s car,” resident Kyle Knepshield said.
There are parking spaces on South Washington Avenue and 7th Street that wouldn’t work with the technology because the spaces are angled. The city is proposing three options.
The first option is to turn all the spots into parallel spaces. That would mean there were 41 fewer parking spaces than before. George Goddard works in Downtown Royal Oak.
“Losing 40 spots isn’t going to benefit anybody so I say just leave it the way it is,” George Goddard said.
The second option would mean the city maintains the angled spots and has a parking attendant monitor the spaces. The third option is to keep the angled parking spots but requires that cars back in so their plates are visible.
- UPDATE: On July 26 the commissioners voted to enforce reverse angle parking on some streets.
Read: More local news coverage