Downtown Parking

It was 2006 when John Mica, US Representative, Seventh Congressional District of Florida, came to St. Augustine to officially dedicate the Historic Downtown Parking Facility (HDPF) and the remodeled St. Augustine & St. Johns County Visitor Information Center. The parking facility, which has accommodated over 350,000 vehicles since it opened for business on July 1, 2006, is just one part of a seven-point plan to manage the city’s parking and traffic.

Now, another major component of the plan has come on line: an end to free parking in the city’s most prime parking location, the downtown business district. In its place is a pay system that utilizes easy to use, attractively designed, and conveniently located parking pay stations.

The elimination of free parking has eliminated the attractiveness of day-long parking in the city’s most prime parking area. Instead, short term parking is more readily available where residents and visitors need short-term parking the most.

The new pay stations have been installed along King Street and Cathedral Place between Charlotte Street and Cordova Street and at the public parking lot at the corner of Cedar and Granada Streets. The stations accept cash (any combination of coins or one dollar bills) and credit and debit cards (Visa or MasterCard). Parking is available at the rate of $1.50 per hour with a maximum of two-hours and may be purchased in increments as small as 10-minutes. Use of a credit card requires a minimum purchase of one dollar.

Parking in downtown is available at a 2/3 discount when using the new ParkNow card.

Frequent users of downtown parking will want to purchase a ParkNow card which the customer can purchase parking-time in bulk and at a discount rate. Instead of searching for coins or charging the cost of parking to a credit card, the ParkNow card allows the user to deduct from prepayment just the amount of parking time needed at a 66% discount-just 50 cents per hour. Cards cost $2.50 for a first time purchase and time may be purchased in increments of $20, $50 or $100.

In its 18-months of operation, the Historic Downtown Parking Facility (HDPF) has been enthusiastically embraced by not only visitors but residents as well, including those who work in downtown businesses, those who are Flagler College students living on campus or commuting and those seeking a convenient place to park while shopping or to attend a special event.

Both the parking facility and the elimination of free parking in primary parking locations are working in tandem with the other elements of the city’s Parking and Traffic Master Plan to better serve a diverse public’s wide variety of parking needs in the Nation’s Oldest City.

For more information, call the city’s Customer Service office at 904.825.1030.

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PARKING INFORMATION SUMMARY

Metered Lot parking
• Locations: throughout the downtown area including the bayfront (except the lot at Castillo de San Marcos)
• Rate: 25 cents or 50 cents per hour

Pay Station parking
Locations: King St. and Cathedral Pl. between Charlotte St. and Cordova St. and lot at corner of Cedar St. and Granada St.
Rate: Cash or credit - $1.50 per hour / 3-hour maximum
Rate: ParkNow card - 50 cents per hour / 3-hour maximum

ParkNow
• One-time cost of card: $2.50
• Pre-paid amounts available: $20, $50 or $100
Available at the city’s Financial Services Center, 50 Bridge St., Monday-Friday, 7:30 am-5:00pm

Historic Downtown Parking Facility
• Location: At the Visitor Information Center on West Castillo Drive
• Rate: $1.25 per hour / $7.50 maximum per day
• Rate: $7.00 all day flat rate for designated dates (see www.vicparking.com)

• ParkNow cards are accepted at the HDPF

Enforcement
All on-street parking and parking lots are patrolled by enforcement specialists Monday-Saturday from 8:00am-5:00pm.

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