In advance of the new Kings arena opening this fall, Sacramento is poised to make major changes to parking rules, pricing and enforcement.

This Tuesday, city council will vote on a plan that would, among other things, implement tiered pricing for metered spots, and also extend parking-enforcement hours of metered and non-metered spots from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. west of 16th Street. There will also be an increase of operating hours for all metered and non-metered spots on the east side of 16th
Street to the east side of 19th Street to 8 p.m. Free parking will go into effect only after that time.

These new rules come on the heels of increases to metered-parking this past November (from $1.25 an hour to $1.75). The new tiered rates and hours would apply only to downtown (not Midtown … at least not yet), from Front Street to 16th, and on the central-city grid from C to W streets.

The city initially proposed extending parking enforcement until 2 a.m., but business owners and neighborhood groups strongly objected.

The city’s new tiered-rate plan, also called SPOTzone, was piloted earlier this year in Midtown and Old Sacramento at nearly a dozen parking spots. The city will install special sensors on meters and new signage in the central city and Fort Sutter districts, and will allow people to use an app to pay for extended parking of up to four hours at an increased rate.

Look for more in this week’s SN&R.