Businesses will now be allowed to rent metered parking spaces

Businesses in Las Vegas will be able to rent metered parking spaces for their customers to use under a bill approved Wednesday by the City Council.

The council voted unanimously in favor of a code change that allows the city to let some people park in metered spaces without putting coins in the meters.

The immediate beneficiary of the change is the Gold Spike hotel-casino at the intersection of Las Vegas Boulevard and Ogden Avenue, which currently rents spaces in the city-owned garage underneath Neonopolis for valet parking.

Previously, city code had no mechanism to allow people to park in metered spots without feeding the meter. The Neonopolis garage is city-owned but uses a gate arm and collection window, not meters, which is why Gold Spike was able to rent up to 50 spaces for $500 per month.

Under the new setup, the Gold Spike will be able to use metered spaces in the City Hall garage, which is closer to the casino and doesn't require valets to cross several lanes of traffic on foot to get back to their work stations.

But the measure has broader implications. It allows other businesses to strike agreements similar to the Gold Spike's to use metered spaces for the benefit of their customers.

It comes as the city has hired its first downtown parking czar and is seeking to make parking regulation simpler for residents, workers and businesses.

Contact reporter Benjamin Spillman at
bspillman@reviewjournal.com or 702-229-6435.