The Silver Spring Penguin

Gather those spare nickels and dimes, people. Parking rates in downtown Silver Spring could be on the rise.

According to Rick Siebert, parking operations chief with the department of public works, the county executive has recommended rate increases for Silver Spring’s central business district. It’s now up to the county council to decide whether to approve the county exec’s idea.

If the rate increase is approved, drivers can expect to drop an extra 15 cents for short-term parking at the Wayne Avenue garage or Ellsworth Drive’s Town Square garage, bringing hourly rates up from 60 cents to 75 cents. The same goes for other short-term lots, garages and street meters in the central business district.

Rates for long-term and monthly parking also could increase, Siebert said at a public meeting Wednesday night. Silver parking meters, which allow all-day parking, could cost an extra nickel, up from 45 cents to 50 cents per hour. A monthly pass at the Kennett Street garage could jump from $85 to $95, Siebert explained.

If the county council okays the increase, changes would hit on July 1, Siebert said.

On top of the possible rate increase, Siebert announced the temporary closure of a parking garage on Colesville Road at Spring Street. The 30-year-old facility will undergo an 18-month-long facelift to resurface roadways and to spruce up the facade, Siebert explained.

However, construction on an office building has started around the corner at Spring and Cameron streets, and a residential project is cooking on that same block, at Cameron near Fenton Street.

“It’s gonna be pretty dicey there with three projects going on,” said Ben Stutz, a downtown resident and legislative aide to council member Valerie Ervin. His concern was for pedestrians navigating the construction zone.

Don’t sweat it, Siebert responded. Either concrete barriers or covered walkways would be used to separate people from traffic, he said.

And for all those sneaky bastards who store their cars in public lots for free, those days are over. Siebert spelled out the scam:

To avoid monthly rates at private garages, some downtown residents roll into county lots and then roll out only on weekends, when some facilities open their gates for free entry (and exit). Other drivers might tell lot attendants that they’ve lost their parking stubs. In that case, drivers would be asked to pay only the maximum one-day fee, Siebert explained.

New fee-collection machines could dissuade such activity, as could overnight security patrols at area garages, Siebert said.

Photos: (top) a silver all-day meter and (left) a blue short-term meter on 13th Street. Credit: R. Pace/SSP.

Updated Mar 13, 2008, at 9:15 p.m.