West Chester council extends free parking for gallery walks and small-business weekend, approves parking time limits and appointments

At its March 18, 2026 meeting, the West Chester Borough Council approved multiple items affecting downtown parking and municipal committees. Council members voted to extend free on-street parking by one hour for two gallery-walk evenings, to authorize free on-street parking for the Small Business Weekend (Black Friday and Small Business Saturday), and to change the borough's parking meter time limits to three hours in town and four hours in the West Chester University area. The council also approved several appointments to commissions and the consent agenda.

Staff provided revenue estimates for the measures. For the gallery-walk extension staff said a one-hour Friday, if every on-street space were full for the hour, would generate $574.50; staff said the two evenings' estimated loss of parking revenue would be "around $1,200." For the Small Business Weekend staff estimated total forgone on-street parking revenue of about $13,213.50, based on enforcement hours (16 hours Friday, seven hours Saturday), $1.50-per-hour enforcement and an estimated 383 spaces.

Opinions among council members differed. One member said the gallery walks bring people into town and could boost business; another said they oppose free parking on principle and questioned whether the borough should forgo parking revenue. Public commenters asked whether the revenue impacts were reflected in the budget and suggested alternatives such as privileging lot parking to encourage turnover.

Roll-call votes: the motion to extend gallery-walk free parking passed 6–1; the Small Business Weekend free-parking measure passed 6–1; the parking time-limit change (3 hours in town; 4 hours at the university) passed unanimously. The council also moved and approved appointments to committees and the consent agenda during the meeting.

The council directed staff to note the revenue effects in budgeting discussions and to consider longer-term changes to parking rules during a chapter update this year.