HAMILTON — City officials are backing off a proposal to return parking meters to High Street downtown.

        Business owners and some City Council members criticized the proposal at Wednesday's council meeting, saying it would cripple efforts to revive the struggling downtown.

        In 1999, parking meters were removed and motorists were permitted to park on High Street between Monument Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard for one hour for free. After the hour, they must move their vehicles.

        To generate more revenue, city officials are considering putting the meters back on High Street and raising the parking meter rate from 50 cents to 75 cents per hour.

        The city parking fund is operating at a $70,000 a year deficit. In 1999, High Street's parking meters collected $14,792.

        But George Schmidt, president of the Downtown Hamilton Special Improvement District, called the proposal “penny wise and pound foolish.”

        “The timing for this proposal couldn't have been worse,” he said. “It's holiday time. The time merchants make or break their year is right now.”

        Don Taylor, a Hamilton resident, said returning parking meters would make it more difficult for Hamilton to attract businesses to its downtown and would hurt the existing businesses.

        “It could possibly cause several of the few businesses left on High Street to leave the downtown area and maybe Hamilton,” he said.

        “Let's not make Hamilton a drive-through city,” said Bob Estridge, executive director of the Hamilton Central YMCA.

        Councilman Richard Holzberger said city administrators had indicated to him that they might be able to find other revenue sources to help balance the parking fund's budget.

        He said he had received about 30 calls in the past three days from people opposed to returning parking meters on High Street.

        Vice Mayor Tom Nye said parking meters should not be used to boost revenues.

        Councilwoman Katherine Becker also said she opposed putting parking meters back on High Street.

        Council members said they would discuss the matter further at future meetings.

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