Matthews leaders are pushing back on a company plan that will eliminate a quarter of the town’s free parking spaces after offering a much higher price to keep them cost-free. The Charlotte Observer reports transportation company CSX approached leaders at the town of Matthews earlier this year with demands the town pay $130,000 annually to continue using nearly 200 parking spaces located on CSX’s right-of-way, according to Mayor John Higdon.
The town previously paid only $800 a year, according to its website. But CSX’s new terms were paying 162 times more for the parking spaces, or lose access to them entirely in October. The parking spaces, which sit along Old Depot Lane, West Charles Street and East Charles Street, account for 28% of the town’s downtown parking spaces, according to town manager Becky Hawke. Because the town refused, CSX will now turn the spaces over to a private company that will charge people to park, according to the town of Matthews and CSX
