More than 3,000 people have so far signed a petition to get the City of West Palm Beach to repeal its recently hiked downtown parking rates.

In many cases, prices have doubled to park at meters and in garages. Jay Brown says he feels for those just trying to make a living in the city.

“You have waiters and bartenders and servers, busboys, dishwashers....how are they going to pay $15, $20, $30, $40 to park just to work a 4 to 6, 8-hour shift. It’s really out of whack.”

According to the Change.org petition, the new rates will hurt struggling business that are finally rebounding after 2 years of the pandemic and it states that West Palm Beach now has some of the most expensive parking in all of Southeast Florida.

Just a few weeks ago metered parking was free after 7 p.m. Now it's a $10 overnight fee.

Here are some more of the changes:

High-demand street meters to go from $1.25/hour to $2.50/hour and be effective 24/7 instead of from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The free parking in those areas after 7 p.m. will go away and be replaced by an overnight meter rate of $10 from midnight to 7 a.m.

Event parking will change from $5-$20 to $5-$40, depending on the event

The daily max rate at city parking garages will climb from $10 to $20. Weekends and holidays will cost a $5 flat rate.

The News Junkie

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