Politics & Government

Town Scraps Parking Meters

Council votes to remove parking meters at Memorial Waterfront Park.

Those parking meters at Mount Pleasant Memorial Waterfront Park will soon be a thing of memories. Town council has voted to remove the meters, which have been in place since the park opened in 2009.

Councilmen said the meters amounted to a double tax on residents who paid for the park's construction and for its ongoing operating costs, but then were also charged to use it.

"This just makes our great park even more inviting," said Councilman Chris Nickels, who voted for the meter removal. "It's a symbollic but very important thing. When was the last time you remember a government entity putting in a fee, a tax — a very visible one like this — and then removing it?"

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The town collected roughly $50,000 annually from the parking meters, said Town Administrator Eric DeMoura. The funds were not used specifically for park operations; instead the money went directly to the town's general fund.

The town's proposed 2013-2014 budget is $87 million and it will put roughly $1 million into its fund reserves.

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The decision to remove the meters was not unanimous. Mayor Billy Swails, Councilmen John Burn, Ken Glasson, Chris Nickels, Linda Page, Craig Rhyne and Thomasena Stokes-Marshall voted to remove the meters. Councilmen Elton Carrier and Chris O'Neal were against the proposal.

The meter removal won't have an impact on staffing levels, DeMoura said. Town police officers were in charge of patrolling the meters. They'll simply go back to regular policing duties, DeMoura said. The meters will be removed this week.


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