NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Nashvillians and musicians are aggravated that there's now a time limit on metered street spots, so the Nashville Department of Transportation has enacted one change due to public outcry.
Free nights and weekends are a thing of the past at Music City's metered spots.
"It’s mind-blowing how much that box of death like messed up the whole vibe of the block," Seth Bell at Hops and Crafts said.
He said one of their regulars doesn't come to the gulch anymore due to the city's new parking system.
“Because the woman — she uses a walker and this is the easiest place for her to get out of her car — come around, come inside, so I saw them out and about. I was in Franklin, at the Franklin distillery, and I was like 'Hey, I haven’t seen you in a while,' and she’s like, 'Ever since the parking s*** we can’t come.”
Musicians and venue owners are also complaining to the city and the Nashville Department of Transportation. In the past, drivers could feed the meter when their time was up. Now, they must move their vehicle. The private garages and lots can be expensive.
"For a club owner, yeah you want to have people feel like they’re going to get in their club, and you’re not gonna walk outside at midnight and find their cars been towed or booted, or it’s got a ticket that you know adds a hundred dollars to the night out," said Dave Pomeroy with the Nashville Musicians Association.
NDOT said they're exploring solutions based on different entertainment districts. In the Gulch, they just changed the time limit from two to three hours due to public outcry.
"It would have been better if we had a little more consensus going in," Pomeroy said.
It's possible more changes to the parking system could come soon pending negotiations.
“It’s a very complicated time in our city, there’s no question that the growth and the tourism. The end of the pandemic has sort of created this imperfect storm of problems," Pomeroy said.
The good news is some of the state lots in downtown are still free after 5:30 p.m. without a time limit.
However, those cars need to be moved by the morning for state employees to come to work during the week. The lots are free on weekends but that excludes leased spaces.
