After years of consideration, the Orange City Council will vote Tuesday night, Jan. 28, on a proposal to implement paid parking in its popular Old Towne.

If approved, paid parking near the Orange Plaza would take effect this fall. 

On the eight city blocks closest to the plaza area, the city proposes charging $1.25 per hour for city parking lots and $1.50 per hour for street parking. The city would charge $2 per hour in marked parking spaces around the traffic circle. 

The charges would be in effect from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day of the week. The City Council is also expected to consider time limits — such as “2-hour” or “3-hour” parking — in the area to “achieve the desired turnover” outside storefronts and restaurants. 

Street and garage parking east of Grand Street and west of Lemon Street, including in the largest city lots, would remain free under the proposal. 

Parking north of Maple Avenue would remain permitted residential and the city would explore adding permit parking south of Almond Avenue, officials said.

Parking would cost $1.25 to $2 per hour in the yellow zone, would remain free in the green and red zones and would remain or become permitted in the blue zones, according to this proposal to the Orange City Council on Jan. 28, 2025 (Credit: City of Orange).

If approved, the city would first need to onboard a vendor to install a parking management system, a process that could take four to six months.

A staff report to councilmembers said Orange could eventually expect to net $1.2 million annually from the proposed paid parking plan.

The proposal comes as the City Council continues to explore ways to close a long-running, multimillion-dollar budget deficit. Earlier in January, the city reduced hours at its libraries, including closing two branches for three days a week.

A half-cent sales tax measure to boost city revenue by approximately $19 million per year narrowly failed on November’s ballot.

City staffers said in their report that “key players, including, among others, the Orange Chamber of Commerce and many of the downtown merchants” have said they support paid parking in the plaza area. 

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Since 2022, the city funded both an Old Towne Parking study and a parking technology implementation plan.

Based on those reports, city officials expect charging a “nominal fee for parking near the plaza” will improve the economic potential of Old Towne by encouraging parking turnover along storefronts. 

Although the city eventually expects to net about $1.2 million from this paid parking program, staff say the initial capital outlay for a parking management system will cost $700,000, reducing revenue in the first year to approximately $500,000.

As Old Towne evolves, the staff report said, the City Council may vote to expand the paid parking footprint beyond the city blocks closest to the Orange Plaza.

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