The signs tells drivers to pay at the meters but the meters
are covered up. Does that mean that parking is still free on Main Street in Ellicott
City ?
Yes and no.
The old two hour limit is still being enforced even though
the new meters are not yet operational. If you park on Main Street for over two hours between
10 AM and 6 PM, you are likely to get a ticket.
“It’s confusing to our customers,” Dave Carney told me. Dave
is the owner of The Wine Bin and president of the Ellicott City Business
Association. “People are getting tickets because they don’t know what’s going
on.”
The new metered parking system was supposed to be
operational on the first of the year. Two weeks later the pay stations remain
covered up and none of the business owners I spoke with seemed to know when
they will be working.
“ I've heard that they are still working out some bugs,” Dave
shared.
He also suggested that anyone who gets a ticket in this
interim period should challenge it. He knows that the county has waived these
fines for some who take the trouble to do so.