BUFFALO (WBEN - Brendan Keany) - Big news for the many Western New Yorkers who have complained about Buffalo's new parking regulations - you will no longer have to pay night-time metered parking fees.
On Tuesday afternoon, the Buffalo Common Council passed a resolution to amend some of the city's recently implemented parking policies. One of the policies required metered-parking rates from 5-10 p.m., hours that had previously been free.
The city received plenty of backlash from the public specifically on this point, and Common Council President Darius Pridgen proposed an amendment last week to change it.
"The idea is that it's our responsibility and it's our job to listen to people," said Pridgen. "I want to be clear, the Council does not author the parking policy, we either approve, disprove or amend it. The Council did what it has the power to do, and that was to vote on amending what was previously approved."
Mayor Byron Brown also spoke on the amendment, and he said it's a great thing to see government working together to figure out the best solutions.
"Definitely pleased that the downtown parking access plan is going forward as we designed it and as we agreed with Council President Pridgen and the members of the City Council," said Brown.
"Any time there's an event, we're going to put out a media advisory...we're going to make sure we have it up on our website and use all the social media mediums," he said.
The mayor also commented on that issue when asked how people with out smartphones fit in to the downtown parking plan.
"They will fit in because there will be kiosks in the Buffalo Roam area that people with smartphone technology can utilize," said Brown. "Also, we have added parking spaces, so for the example of Key Bank Center, there are 115 parking spaces, so if people come down to the Sabres game, there will be 115 additional parking spaces that didn't exist before that will actually be at a lower cost than parking in a private parking lot or private ramp."
The Common Council will revisit these parking regulations in April, and Pridgen had a suggestion for the administration.
"The commissioner is going to work with the public, and I am encouraging that there be public engagement," said Pridgen. "The council will receive the item in April again, and we'll see what happens, but I think the lesson has been learned, and what I'm asking the commissioner to do - engage the public in some type of work session or whatever they feel is appropriate. That way, by the time it comes back to the Council in April, people have been heard by the author of the parking plan."