PROVO — Parking around the 4th District Judicial Center now has a big-city flavor, and many in the legal profession are not pleased about the change.
This week, court officials began charging a fee, $1 per hour or $5 per day, to park in the state-owned lots surrounding the courthouse on the block between Freedom Boulevard and 100 West and 100and 200 North. The lots are now under the management of Diamond Parking, which will go through the lots five times a day to check for violators.
"We understand that it's probably something new for Provo, but there are other parking lots in the area that charge a fee," said Paul Sheffield, 4th District court administrator.
State court officials, at the suggestion of a legislative appropriations subcommittee and the state building board, decided to impose the parking fee to recoup the expense of buying the land from Provo and the cost of paving the lots. The Matheson Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City has a paid parking lot.
Also, court officials hope the fee will keep clients of nearby businesses from occupying the court's parking spaces.
"It's become clear that all of the surrounding businesses are to a large degree using the court's lots," Sheffield said.
The lot west of the courthouse is being used by employees of other businesses for overnight parking and even on occasion a place for those traveling in motor homes to roost for the evening. Court officials are mainly concerned that the lot is being used by patrons of the Provo Marriott, who want to avoid paying a fee at the hotel's parking structure.
"The day they held a job fair over there we didn't have an empty spot, and that's not a good situation for court patrons," Sheffield said.
The state purchased the land west of the courthouse for future expansion, but that won't occur for several years. Officials considered leaving the lot north of the courthouse, the one used by most court patrons, as a free lot. However, those using the west lot would then just move to the north lot.
"We felt the solution to that is to charge for both lots," Sheffield said.
Most attorneys who conduct business at the courthouse believe a state-owned public facility should have free access because most who go there are conducting the state's business.
"Most are constitutionally required to be there and now they're going to charge them," Utah County Attorney Kay Bryson said.
Bryson said his 12 prosecutors will now be charged a daily fee for basically enforcing the state's laws. The fees could cost the county $7,000 for the attorneys and possibly as much as $20,000 if it has to cover the parking expenses of public defenders, witnesses and jurors.
"Our budget is very tight and we just can't pull money like that out of thin air," he said.
County commissioners have expressed their displeasure over the new parking fees to state leaders. Sheffield said court officials understand the parking fees will add up for those required to be there on a daily basis. He believes a compromise will be negotiated for those working for other state agencies, witnesses and jurors.
"But I don't know where we'd draw that line," he said.
Nearby businesses say the fees will force cars onto nearby streets and the parking lots of stores like RC Willey and Smith's Food and Drug. Just as the courthouse lots were used to avoid paying fees at other lots, court patrons will now park somewhere else to avoid the court's parking fees.
The effect is already being noticed. On Monday the streets within a few blocks of the courthouse were lined with cars. Some fear the eventual result, so the city can control the on-street parking, will be the installation of parking meters.
E-MAIL: jimr@desnews.com