South Side Parking Meter Enforcement To Extend To Later Hours
SOUTH SIDE (KDKA) -- If the city's South Side neighborhood is your spot to eat, drink and party on the weekend, get ready for some changes come next year.
Meter parking on the South Side will come at a higher price in February. Beginning then, you will have to feed the meter for six additional hours on Friday and Saturday.
"Just seems like an added-on financial burden on the citizens of the city," one man said.
That's one way of looking at it. Pittsburgh City Council voted 7-to-1 to extend parking enforcement on the South Side from 6 p.m. Friday and Saturday nights until midnight.
So starting in February, those who venture to the South Side will have to feed the meter more often. The cost of the meter will stay the same -- $1.50 per hour.
"I think it's going to drive people out of the bars earlier," Luke Sweeney, of the North Hills, said. "I think it's gonna kind of hurt what's going on down here."
The action is supported by council president Bruce Kraus, who says the move will generate $250,000 a year for the city.
But while the city is making dough, some business owners say they will be losing money. That's because many patrons say they may now look for other places to eat, drink and party.
"I think potentially it could [drive people away from the South Side], and a lot of my peers around this age group -- I think it is going to eventually start to effect people wanting to even come down here and risk the fact of getting a ticket just to eat and to have a good time," one man said.
"I live here, I work here," Jolynn Gruscewoski, of the South Side, said. "I don't have a car right now, but usually I do... I think it's ridiculous."
"I'm not in favor of it, the midnight deadline," Jim Fleming, of the South Side, said. "I think it has an adverse effect on all the business."
Kraus says if it does work on the South Side, it could expand to other neighborhoods, and he says the $250,000 the city expects to collect will be used to pay for police on the weekends and also for public work details.
Join The Conversation On The KDKA Facebook Page
Stay Up To Date, Follow KDKA On Twitter