No free lunch: Paid parking comes to Belmont

When the ParkMobile signs went up June 15, the paid parking designation caught Belmonters by surprise. Parking can be a challenge in the neighborhood, and customers at two new restaurants, Belle Coffee & Wine and No Limits Smokehouse, had been using the adjacent lots for free. Now, they’ll have to pay. Belle Coffee & Wine […]

In brief: New monikers, old murder case, hot market and more

Goodbye, Robert E. Lee The statue remains in the former Lee Park, but the park’s name has changed—twice—in the past year. That trend is happening across the state, most recently last week in Staunton and Lexington. By name Lee Park is now Market Street Park. Robert E. Lee High School in Staunton will be renamed, […]

In brief: Bad prank, bad parking, bad practices and more

Meter’s not running Crews are set to start ripping meters out of the ground this week after City Council voted at its January 2 meeting to indefinitely suspend the parking meter pilot that began on streets surrounding the Downtown Mall in September. “It seemed pointless to try to convince the manufacturer to continue to loan […]

Downtown visitors get a parking break

Some business owners say the Downtown Mall hasn’t been quite the same since shield-wielding white supremacists and neo-Nazis invaded it over the summer, followed immediately by the onset of a pilot parking meter program that required drivers to pay to park for what was once a free space. So what better way to welcome back […]

Business owners worry as city proceeds with pilot parking meter program

While the city is moving ahead with plans to install more than 150 parking meters around the Downtown Mall, some local business owners are expressing their displeasure. The city intends to contract with IPS Group, a major national parking meter vendor, to install meters for a six-month pilot program and expects to have the program […]

Spaced out: Low-wage earners will feel parking pain

  The already difficult downtown parking landscape is about to become more challenging in the next couple of years. Major construction projects like West2nd, the Dewberry Hotel and Belmont Bridge promise to further clog streets and decimate an already dwindling parking supply. And then there’s the pilot meter program coming in August. Hardest hit will […]

In brief: Basketball hair, parking layoffs and more

What about London Perrantes? The New York Post said first-year Hoo Kyle Guy has the best hairdo in college basketball for his man bun/top knot hybrid, but Perrantes’ high-top fade is pretty impressive, too. ACC bummer The Cavs exited the tournament in the quarterfinals March 9 after losing 58-71 to Notre Dame. But UVA got […]

Space invaders: City promises more parking downtown

Charlottesville officials held a press conference November 15 to announce their latest step in solving the city’s parking crisis. “We hear you and we want to help,” Mayor Mike Signer said before announcing the city’s acquisition of a $2.85 million half-acre parcel currently housing Guadalajara and Lucky 7 and located on the northeast end of […]

DBAC meltdown: Downtown business org in disarray; chair resigns

Simmering undercurrents from the parking war between the city and Charlottesville Parking Center over the Water Street Garage have splintered the Downtown Business Association of Charlottesville, whose chairman abruptly resigned August 8 after being told he was illegally elected. The move leaves some members confused about who’s in charge and one who is working to […]

CPC floats four parking scenarios

The parking wars have quieted since a judge rejected the Charlottesville Parking Center’s petition for an emergency receiver June 27 and CPC owner Mark Brown decamped to Greece. But here in the dog days of August, CPC general manager Dave Norris, whose June 24 proposal was rebuffed by the city, offers four scenarios for settling […]