There are big changes coming to Royal Oak's infamous parking meters after months of complaints.
The city has signed off on extending the grace period for on-street parking from 5 minutes to 15 minutes, and time limits will increase from two hours to three hours for meters.
Several business owners, residents and even visitors have complained about the parking fiasco in Royal Oak, where they say they got tickets in the mail for $20.
The changes will be completed by the end of April after they reprogram the meters and change out the signage.
MI Nutrition in Downtown Royal Oak has a business model that requires clients to come in for a consultation for their fitness and health.
"A typical customer interaction last 30 minutes or so that's more than the grace period," Ethan Freedman said.
That current five-minute grace period is the amount of time you can pull into a parking space without getting charged.
"It is hopeful, it is definitely a step in the right direction. We were all in the dark when they signed this 5-year contract with Sentry to my understanding," Freedman said.
The city has logged thousands of complaints from angry residents and business owners who all say the Sentry parking was diminishing their quality of life.
On Monday, that changed after City Council voted on extending the grace period.
City Manager Paul Brake said the city did studies and even hired a consultant.
"Our hope is that with the quality improvements over time and with making these modest adjustments, that the numbers of complaints should subside," Brake said.
People like Nick Cummins, who has gotten five tickets for running quick errands in the past year, are exciting about the change.
"It is infuriating. I am just trying to live my life and run errands," he said. "The grace limit is huge I think that is probably the biggest one."
Brake said they wanted to make the changes earlier and are now working with the company to improve the user experience.
"We wanted to implement that as soon as possible and then work our way through these other issues here," Brake said. "We are in royal oak people are out the weather is nice the timing is right."
On paper, the interim agreement expires after 120 days, but Brake said he anticipates the changes will be here to stay.
