Hertel Ave extending parking meter hours, adding parking meters

More parking meter changes are on their way in North Buffalo. Come September, the city will be adding more parking meters on Hertel Avenue - and that's not all. Paid meter parking hours will also be extended.

Existing parking meters in the Hertel Avenue Business District are currently in effect from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., but with these new changes, motorists will be required to pay for parking from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Parking Commissioner Kevin Helfer said this is consistent with the city's effort to move traffic and increase turnover.

"What we're trying to do here is to encourage turnover in parking so that people aren't parking in spaces in late afternoon paying one dollar or two and staying there all night long, that discourages business," Helfer explained.

In addition to these changes, the city will be adding meters to the two parking lots that they own on Hertel - both of which will also adhere to these extended hours.

Councilman Joel Feroleto said the additional revenue will be put back into the neighborhood and monitored by a new five-member board that will consist of city officials and local business owners who will collectively determine how the money will be spent to beautify the neighborhood.