Upcoming program will help employees find parking spots in Chapel Hill

An expansion of the employee parking permit program is underway in downtown Chapel Hill to make parking easier for employees who work late shifts at restaurants and businesses.

The Town of Chapel Hill and the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership are considering extending on-street parking limits from two hours to three hours, raising the arms of parking lots at 4 p.m. instead of 5 p.m. and producing hangtags for employees to get into other less visible lots around town.

Bobby Funk, assistant director of the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership, said there is not an exact timetable for when permits will be available, but the partnership is currently gauging interest from businesses.

“The response has been strong,” Funk said.

The permits will cost $30 and extend through June, according to a statement from the downtown partnership. Funk said the program is likely to begin later this year.

“We are currently in the planning phase of this — there are no conclusions as to where permit holders will be,” he said, adding that parking spots will be publicly managed lots.

Chapel Hill Mayor Pam Hemminger said one of the main goals of the parking permit program is to make spaces visible for employees.

“Employees who work late shifts downtown are able to bus to work but cannot get back because the transit system stops running late at night,” Hemminger said.

There are also plans for Chapel Hill to place wheel clamps, or boots, on cars that have exceeded their parking time instead of having them towed. Hemminger said this is an idea the town has to reduce anxiety for customers.

“We want to encourage businesses and patrons to park by establishing long-term leases to be farther out of town,” Hemminger said.

She also said that though it will take time to implement this program, there is growing interest since the plans for this program were first introduced a few months ago.

“I used to drive to work last year, and especially on game days, you would try to park in the Porthole Lot but sometimes you’d have to drive farther out and I would be late to work sometimes,” said Myra Snyder, a hostess at Top of the Hill Restaurant & Brewery.

“I hear a lot of employees come to work and do not have enough money to pay for parking.”

Snyder said she thinks this program will benefit employees.

Paula Peroutka, office manager for Lantern Restaurant, said parking plays a role in an employee’s income.

“How late you have to pay for parking cuts into people’s paychecks,” she said.

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