Customers on Mt. Vernon Avenue were met with a surprising change Thursday evening when paid parking was instituted in the lot behind , , and other popular businesses.
Scott Mitchell, who owns the lot and the properties on the block of Mt. Vernon Avenue between E. Oxford and E. Uhler avenues, has hired a company to manage the parking. He said the lot is being overused and that regulation was necessary.
From 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Friday, people will be charged $3 for the first hour of parking, $3 for the second hour and a total of $7 for any amount of time in excess of two hours. The same rates apply for weekends and holidays, but paid parking will be enforced from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.
An attendant oversees the lot during the hours of enforcement.
Customers using Virginia Commerce Bank, , , Cheesetique, , and Caboose Cafe will have two hours of free parking with validation from these shops.
Business tenants and apartment renters on the east side of the 2400 block of Mt. Vernon will have parking passes.
Mitchell said he’s working with Pat Miller, market master of the , to create a system enabling vendors to pay an annual fee to park in the lot and then set up their booths in the farmers' market space on the other side of E. Oxford Avenue.
Alexandria’s Community and Human Services office uses the lot Monday through Friday during business hours. The lot has been used in the past for the .
Parishioners of use the lot for services. It remains to be seen how the enforcement will affect them.
The establishment of paid parking in the lot comes at a time when the city is exploring shared-parking options on Mt. Vernon Avenue. The city is currently going over the final draft of a recent parking study of Del Ray performed by Kimley-Horn and Associates. City staff has discussed with citizens and business owners at a .
What do you think about the establishment of paid parking in the lot? Will it change your driving and parking habits? Tell us in the comments.
I do think it would be a nice gesture to provide an exception to the requirement to pay for the Saturday market.
Prior to that, we were "dark skinned criminals" just waiting to pounce on them wealthy white folk! Think of all the rats! Seriously, the level of snobbery and exclusion here is unbelievable. Shame on the moderator of this site!!!
What if you're cruising around for two hours, and then go to Cheesetique? Your parking will not be free, because you'll be entering the third hour; so you'll be paying $1.00
Wow. That almost trumps me having been born and raised here. Just almost. All of Del Ray has been very nice since at least 1990. Before that it wasn't even bad. It just wasn't full of $200,000 a year households so not every house looked like something from a Pottery Barn magazine. When you're raising a family on a cop's salary there isn't much left over for landscaping, slate walkways and tri-color, period-appropriate exterior oil paint . But that doesn't mean that the area is somehow bad. What bothers me most about all these newcomers referencing the dirty and dark past of Del Ray is that it's almost always some sort of self-congratulatory grandstanding. As if they're to be congratulated to moving to a "once blighted" area. Like it's earned them some cred or a badge. "Oh, Mason, let me tell you how this area used to be! Honestly, there were real live BLACK people here. MEXICANS too! Can you believe that? Right here in these adorable bungalows! I mean, they didn't even know how to pronounce "wainscoting" or "pergola!" Some of them still live here You just need to look for the aluminum siding."
However in the interest of full disclosure, I'm one of the white people that moved to Del Ray in 2002 and does in fact take most of the credit for changing this neighborhood for the better. But this discourse on the blog boards is far better entertainment than "The Bachelor" anyday. And I probably know a few of you without realizing it. "Get Real" you are the best! Please never leave this paradise called Del Ray.