NEW ORLEANS (AP) — A New Orleans City Council committee has approved the final steps in the city's controversial plan to raise parking meter rates.
The Advocate’s Jessica Williams reports that the changes, approved Tuesday, include higher fines for parking violations as well as an increase in the fees that companies must pay to block off curb spaces near parking meters.
If the changes are approved by the full council, most parking infractions will cost a driver $10 more, with the initial cost of a ticket rising from $20 to $30.
Companies would pay $70 a day to rent metered spaces in the Central Business District and French Quarter, and $30 elsewhere.
City Chief Administrative Officer Andy Kopplin detailed the latest version of the parking changes in December as a compromise with critics of the mayor's original plan.
