OLEAN, N.Y. (WKBW) — A proposed QR code-based parking system for downtown Olean was narrowly voted down by the Olean Common Council last week, leaving behind a $100,000 budget gap city officials must now address.
Currently, Olean offers free two-hour parking in its business district.
But the city had hoped to shift to a QR code-based paid parking system, where drivers would scan a code and pay via smartphone, in an effort to boost revenue.
WATCH: 'It should remain free': Olean City Council rejects QR code parking proposal
Mayor William Aiello said the idea was not just about modernizing parking, but generating new revenue without increasing taxes. “What they did is that we took every possible spot and said, okay, here is what we could get per day if everyone uses it,” Aiello explained. “And we reduced that down quite a bit, and said okay, here is a pretty good ballpark figure to put in the budget, of revenue of $100,000.”
The proposal applied to several key commercial areas in Olean's business district.
But the Common Council ultimately tabled the idea, citing concerns from residents and business owners.
“How can we generate some revenue?” Aiello said. “And the study showed that your prime business district's parking is very important.”
Aiello said city council members expressed concern that the paid parking system, which would rely on smartphones, could be challenging for senior citizens and could discourage foot traffic to downtown businesses.
Now, with the plan off the table, Aiello said the city faces a projected $100,000 shortfall in its current budget. “Now we have a 100,000 dollar gap in revenues that we're going to have to try to make up,” Aiello said. “If we don't, that'll be a shortfall at the end of the budget year.”
Some residents downtown agree that paid parking wasn't the way to allow the city to prosper.
“Those pay-by-credit-card and kiosk parking things are maybe difficult to grasp for some people,” resident Dan Jordan said.
Mary Rich, a longtime Olean resident, said she believes the city should be looking for ways to grow, but that this wasn’t the right approach. “I think it would hurt them,” she said, referring to the downtown stores. “Of course, we can go elsewhere and we can go online, so you need people to go uptown, make a stop here and there, and spend their money.”
“We need to bring it back up, and charging for parking definitely would not help that," Rich said.
Olean's downtown parking remains free, and city officials have not yet announced an alternative plan to recover the anticipated funds.
