CHAPEL HILL - The Town Council has approved a $27,000 payment to the Chapel Hill Downtown Partnership for hiring a consultant to conduct a downtown parking study.

In June, the council voted to make parking free on Sundays at the Wallace Deck and Parking Lot No. 2, both on East Rosemary Street near Columbia and Franklin streets. It voted also to lower the hourly rate at the Wallace Deck to $1 from $1.30. The council also called for a parking study by the Downtown Partnership.

The changes followed a year of deliberation by a downtown parking committee. The committee recommended many other ideas, such as grace periods and parking validation, that the council rejected.

The study will help determine who is using which parking spaces, when and for what purposes. It could lead to changes to parking rules and rates.

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