Poll: Parking in Hyattsville's Commercial Areas Has Some Scratching Heads

There have been a number of comments on Hyattsville Patch recently about parking at Streetsense's development at Baltimore Avenue and Jefferson Street. Let us know what you think about city parking with this poll.

How do you feel about parking in Hyattsville?  Some of you have mentioned that you don't think there's enough parking at the Streetsense shops (think, Busboys and Poets) on Baltimore Avenue and Jefferson Street.  With construction ongoing there, it's hard to tell if more parking is coming behind the shops—inquiries to Streetsense have not been returned—but in the evenings, the current parking spaces are generally occupied. At University Town Center, there are parking garages and one parking lot for patrons, but after a two hours you have to pay: If you’re going to the Royale 14 movie theater you can get your parking ticket validated at a rate of 4 hours for $1. There is also temporary parking along America Boulevard.   The Hyattsville City…

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Five Things You Need to Know in Hyattsville Today (the Hy-Five)

About grades, narrow lanes and trash collection.

Morning, Hyattsville! Here are five things you need to know today:   1. If you’re driving along Baltimore Avenue at night, watch out. It’s down to one narrow lane near Jefferson and hoses and barricades are all over the street. 2. Want to learn more about a new plan for parking along Route 1? Check out the presentation made to Mayor Marc Tartaro and the City Council at the city’s website. 3. There are going to be changes to the city’s trash collection Nov. 1 through Jan. 12. To find out the details take a look at the city’s public works web page. 4. Check back with Patch later today for an update on the murder trial of Derrell Emmanuel Mason who is charged with stabbing to death a Bladensburg man at University Town Center in summer. 5. …

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PARKING: Frustrated College Park Shoppers Hit Hyattsville Haunts with Free Parking

Some locals say they're patronizing Hyattsville retail since College Park installed new multi-space parking meters in shopping areas.

Michele Lionardi and Lisa Holt of College Park, have started ditching their city's shopping venues for stores in Hyattsville. The reason: parking meters. Comments left about a parking survey might shed the most light on what influences consumers when deciding where to shop now a days—the new parking meters in downtown College Park. “I am not alone among my neighbors in boycotting College Park shopping center since they installed those money-hungry inconvenient parking meters,” wrote Michele Leonardi, referring to the credit card parking meters that replaced the coin meters this summer. “I find the new pay station at the shopping center so annoying. The meters were so much easier,” wrote Lisa Holt. The minimum amount a parker can pay is 25 …

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PHOTO OF THE DAY: Easy Pay

Here's a snapshot of an Express Pay station at the entrance to a parking garage at University Town Center in Hyattsville. This station, on the west side of the fountain plaza, was unusable for months. It is now back in service.

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Police Department Asks for Additional Money for Parking Meters

New multi-space meters are a greater cost to maintain than the older models.

The Hyattsville Police Department is requesting a 34 percent increase for parking enforcement expenses in its FY 2012 budget. Chief Douglas Holland, who presented a budget summary to the City Council on March 28, said a big reason for the $53,737 increase is rising lease agreements at parking lots in the city, but he also said expenses associated with parking meter collection in 2011 may have been underestimated. This is the first full year in which the city is using new, multi-spaced meters that accept credit card payments. PayPal is used to collect these payments, and there are fees associated with the service. Assistant City Administrator Vincent Jones estimated the fees to be about $1,800 per year, a very small expense compared to the …

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