Raleigh extends free parking for small downtown businesses through June
Some Downtown Raleigh workers will continue to park for free after the Raleigh City Council voted Tuesday to extend its small business parking relief program through June.
The program gives free parking passes to small downtown businesses that meet certain eligibility requirements. It was set to expire in March.
But some downtown restaurant workers called on the city Tuesday to keep the free parking until more people return to the city center and fill up parking garages.
“My paychecks are over a little over half of what they were in 2019,” said Joshua Janowiak, who works at Beasley’s Chicken + Honey. “And due to inflation, unprecedented rent increases in this area, the rising cost of fuel, the economic crunch is crippling. So the prospect of paying $15 for parking during a work shift where I make a little over $100 has made me and many of my co-workers extremely worried.”
The program was implemented during the height of the pandemic when numerous COVID-19 cases and government mandates caused downtown businesses to shutter and mask rules to be implemented. While mask mandates have been lifted in Raleigh and Wake County, downtown offices have not returned to pre-pandemic levels.
The parking has been limited to storefront businesses with fewer than 50 employees. Each business can have a maximum of 10 parking passes to use in the city’s parking deck. There is no cost to participate.
“I’ve made my living working in restaurants in Raleigh for over a decade,” Janowiak said. “Like many professionals in the industry, I was forced into unemployment for nearly two years during the pandemic.”
He said he was lucky because he was able to get unemployment, but other service workers weren’t as lucky and are now living paycheck to paycheck.
Alyssa Tenace, who also works at Beasley’s, said the program has made a significant difference to the employees at the restaurant.
The council agreed it would return with better criteria to decide when to end the program.
“This cannot be a sustainable long-term program,” said Council member Jonathan Melton. “But I love the idea of working with y’all on what could be a long-term program.”
