{"id":393428,"date":"2026-07-10T14:26:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T14:26:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/393428\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T14:26:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T14:26:07","slug":"old-towne-orange-commuters-weigh-in-on-paying-to-park-they-list-pains-and-pros-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/393428\/","title":{"rendered":"Old Towne Orange commuters weigh-in on paying to park. They list pains and pros \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

Andelina Rachi was strolling toward Francoli Gourmet, an Italian restaurant nestled in the heart of Old Towne Orange<\/a>, when she spotted a parking kiosk, prompting her to return to her car, wondering, \u201cWait, do I have to pay for parking?\u201d<\/p>\n

Rachi had missed the parking memo.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s been nearly six months since Rachi, a lifelong Orange County resident, visited Old Towne<\/a>, the state\u2019s largest historic district known for its quaint antique shops and restaurant scene.<\/a><\/p>\n

And since her last visit, the city launched its downtown paid parking program in February<\/a> with 18 kiosks spanning two blocks<\/a> out from the traffic circle and Plaza Square Park to accept payments.<\/p>\n

It costs between $1.25 to $2 an hour to park in parts of Old Towne between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., with a three-hour limit. Parking is still free in several city-owned lots, as well as the Lemon Street parking structure, and most free spaces do not have time limits.<\/p>\n

The idea behind the paid parking, city officials have said<\/a>, is to alleviate parking congestion in Old Towne while bolstering the city\u2019s coffers, which have struggled with a mounting, multi-million-dollar budget deficit.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBased on current daily averages, the program is projected to generate approximately $1,130,000 in parking meter revenue this year. At the six-month mark, the city anticipates about $565,000 in meter revenue,\u201d city spokesperson Charlene Cheng said, adding the figure did not include citation revenue.<\/p>\n

And as the parking program ages, city staffers will \u201ccontinue to evaluate and adjust its components as needed,\u201d Cheng said.<\/p>\n

They already plan to add additional signage for paid parking areas after receiving community feedback, Cheng said, \u201cat the request of patrons and following a review of parking data.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the city council on Tuesday, July 14, is expected to decide whether to up parking time limits in the downtown district by an additional hour.<\/p>\n

So, as the dais plans for discussion, Old Towne Orange commuters \u2014 shoppers, business owners, employees and city officials \u2014\u00a0weigh in on the program\u2019s inaugural months.<\/p>\n

\"Street<\/p>\n

Street signs in Old Towne Orange on Wednesday, July 8, 2026 lets visitors know they can use the Park Mobile app to pay for parking in Old Towne Orange. It\u2019s been nearly six months since Orange launched their paid parking program in Old Towne Orange. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A parking kiosk on Glassell Street in Old Towne Orange on Wednesday, July 8, 2026. It\u2019s been nearly six months since Orange launched their paid parking program in Old Towne Orange. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A parking kiosk on The Circle in Old Towne Orange on Wednesday, July 8, 2026. It\u2019s been nearly six months since Orange launched their paid parking program in Old Towne Orange. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

A parking kiosk on Glassell Street in Old Towne Orange on Wednesday, July 8, 2026. It\u2019s been nearly six months since Orange launched their paid parking program in Old Towne Orange. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

\"Street<\/p>\n

Street signs in Old Towne Orange on Wednesday, July 8, 2026 lets visitors know they have to pay for parking in Old Towne Orange. It\u2019s been nearly six months since Orange launched their paid parking program in Old Towne Orange. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Show Caption<\/p>\n

1 of 5<\/p>\n

Street signs in Old Towne Orange on Wednesday, July 8, 2026 lets visitors know they can use the Park Mobile app to pay for parking in Old Towne Orange. It\u2019s been nearly six months since Orange launched their paid parking program in Old Towne Orange. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register\/SCNG)\n<\/p>\n

Expand<\/a>
\nWhat do you think?<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s ridiculous,\u201d Rachi said, peeved at the parking hiccup.<\/p>\n

A Garden Grove resident, \u201cI come to Orange Circle all the time,\u201d she said, but the new program will make her think twice about frequent visits.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause everything is getting so expensive. I mean, people don\u2019t want to go out because of it,\u201d she said. \u201cYou\u2019re paying just to have a quick bite to eat and you have to pay on top of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Still, she paid the $3 fee to park her car and continued on with her dinner date plans with a childhood friend.<\/p>\n

But in the future, Rachi said she\u2019s hoping for a parking validation program.<\/p>\n

Marty Underwood, manager of Antique Station, only has one problem with the parking program. But it\u2019s \u201ca big one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOn the street, you can only park for two hours. And you can\u2019t add more money. You have to move your car,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Underwood, 55, is a long-time Orange resident. She says business, for at least her shop, one of the largest antique stores in the historical downtown, hasn\u2019t slowed. But she\u2019s heard complaints from customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow are our customers supposed to have lunch and go antiquing in two hours?\u201d<\/p>\n

Philip Hernandez, co-owner of Circle City Barbers on the outskirts of the Orange Circle, said the program \u201cdoesn\u2019t seem to be a major issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hernandez, 52, has worked at the shop for 17 years. If anything, he\u2019s noticed positives, he said, since the parking program started.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt keeps things moving,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere were a lot of people that were parking, leaving their cars all day in one spot. So, that does help to open up spaces,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Lacey Sheridan, 33, has worked across the street from the barbershop, at Finney\u2019s Crafthouse \u201cfor a year and a half now.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt kind of sucks having to walk from the parking structure,\u201d she said. She usually parks at the Lemon Street Parking structure, about a three-minute walk away, but \u201cthere\u2019s definitely more room for customers to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

She\u2019s hoping for a permit program for Old Towne employees, saying \u201cI\u2019ve had feedback from other employees that said with events going on and everything \u2014 the chili cook-off and World Cup this summer \u2014 it sucks having to find parking on top of having to pay for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The parking program has also added another step in Sheridan\u2019s routine with the diners: \u201cWe warn our guests about it and tell them to keep a timer on their phone.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the city of Orange, the parking program enables more city services, spokesperson Cheng said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city has used parking revenue to restore previously discontinued services,\u201d she said, \u201csuch as plaza steam cleaning, and staff are exploring opportunities to enhance downtown services using paid\u2011parking revenue.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Andelina Rachi was strolling toward Francoli Gourmet, an Italian restaurant nestled in the heart of Old Towne Orange,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393429,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[163,165,164,7,179,1071,23,171,57491,611,136],"class_list":["post-393428","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-anaheim","tag-anaheim","tag-anaheim-headlines","tag-anaheim-news","tag-california","tag-community","tag-local-government","tag-local-news","tag-orange","tag-orange-circle-plaza","tag-orange-county","tag-top-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393428\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393429"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}