“Two-hour meters are there to create turnover, get spaces open,” said Perry Gordon, assistant to the police chief for parking and transportation. “I think that’s good for business. It gives other people the opportunity to park and shop.”
Of course, he hears complaints about having to “feed the meters” and pay fines for letting the time expire but it is the complaints about not having a place to park that drives business away from Uptown merchants.
“I hear people say, ‘I will not shop Uptown. There is no place to park.’ I hear that now. Ideally, meters give people a time limit,” Gordon said.
The parking meter system has changed in 65 years and continues to evolve, but Gordon said the cost is still relatively the same.
“Really, it is about the same, when you adjust for inflation. The revenue is equivalent to about what we make,” he said. “The initial complaints by business owners were that they would scare away business. People did not like paying meters.”
A front page story in The Oxford Press of Oct. 7, 1948 reported, “Trial of Parking Meters Given Council Approval.” The story said that Village Council had approved, on a 4-2 vote, installation of parking meters on a trial basis for six months. The village clerk was to take bids, with the firms to take a survey and determine where they were to be placed and how many were needed.
The story noted that council had debated installation of parking meters for several years.
A story in the paper on Dec. 23, 1948 said 195 meters had been installed and would be in operation the following Monday, Dec. 27. Meters were placed on High Street, around the parks and on Poplar, Main and Beech streets to the alleys adjacent to High Street.
Cost was set at 10 cents for two hours, 5 cents for an hour and a penny for 12 minutes. Fines were 10 cents if paid within the hour, $1 if paid within 24 hours and $2 thereafter.
Paul Flanagan was named as the officer in charge of checking meters after returning from a school of instruction in Canton, Ohio.
The Oxford Press story also noted that 50 businessmen had met to consider seeking an injunction against installation of the meters, but a Hamilton attorney called by the group recommended against it. After discussion, the group decided to take no action.
It was also mentioned that the meters cold be removed after six months at no cost to the village if they were to prove unsatisfactory.
An editorial in that edition of the paper urged residents to give meters a fair trial.
“As long as human beings are the ‘ornery cusses they are, it’s too much to ask that all-day parkers do more than park their cars in front of their neighbor’s place of business, and the installation of meters will force these selfish critters to find a spot on the side streets,” the editorial read, in part. It noted that Mayor Edwin E. Morgan had said meters would encourage traffic turnover. “We believe only a test will provide the answer.”
The Oxford Press of Jan. 27, 1949 noted that meters had brought in a total of $728.50 in parking fees for the first four weeks of operation, not including fines. Half of that money was being used toward cost of the meters.
Today, Oxford has 779 meters, centered on High Street but ranging outward, and for varying lengths of time. There are 350 ten-hour meters, 418 two-hour meters, an additional eight 30-minute meters and one 20-minute meter.
Two-hour meters are primarily on High Street with the aim of traffic turnover to open up parking spaces for shoppers. Parallel streets — Walnut and Church — have 10-hour meters to allow business owners and employees a long-term option. The 10-hour meters are also located on South Campus Avenue for parking in the Miami campus area. There are 129 of them there and another 56 in the Walnut Street parking garage.
Meters themselves have changed with the times, too.
Most Oxford meters are now digital, but 60 are still the old mechanical type, which require the user to turn the crank after inserting the coin.
“It is old technology. It’s hard to get parts. They are really unserviceable. About 7 percent of the inventory is old technology. We have gotten our money’s worth,” Gordon said.
Meters are projected to bring in an estimated $360,000 to the city in 2013. Year-to-date figures through October show meter revenue about $10,000 ahead of last year.
“Parking is one of those issues that will always be in the forefront of people’s minds. It’s part of the culture now,” Gordon said. “There have been 65 years of parking meters in Oxford. I don’t think anybody is making a birthday cake. In 1948, Oxford was a village and meters were debated back then. There is a demand for parking and it is a good way to manage a limited resource.”
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