Parking meter rates are going to quadruple in downtown Nevada City, but residents and businesspeople don’t seem to be upset about it. The City Council voted unanimously to increase the rates from 25 cents an hour, to a dollar, with 20 percent of the revenue to go toward wildfire mitigation efforts. Council member Erin Minett did her own survey, and found overwhelming support…

Minett, referring to a siren warning system that the city has been talking about. The original proposal was to go to 75 cents an hour, which council member Duane Strawser objected to, but when he found out you could still use nickels and dimes in the meters, he changed his mind and went a step further…

The measure passed unanimously, and no one from the public spoke either for or against the measure. Two pay stations will also be added for the Commercial Street lot, and for a new pay lot on Spring Street–both will also be a dollar an hour. Nevada City currently has 235 parking meters that officials say generate about under ten thousand dollars a month. It has not yet been determined when the rates will go in effect.

–gf