Las Cruces to place a two-hour limit on parking downtown

At Monday’s meeting, the Las Cruces City Council voted unanimously to limit parking in the downtown area to two hours in the near future.

“When I go to the downtown in pretty much any other city, including some cities here in New Mexico – not as big as ours – I just expect that I have to pay for parking in the downtown area,” said Councilor Gabe Vasquez, who represents district three.

Don’t worry: The change isn’t immediate. Mayor Ken Miyagishima told ABC-7 that he expects at least nine more months of parking with no time limit.

“The enforcement will come when the meters will come,” said Mayor Miyagishima.

“I would hate for this to be one of those things where people say, ‘I don’t want to go downtown, because they have that roundabout’,” said City Counilor Greg Smith, who represents district two. “‘And now they have… parking meters.'”

Following the installation of the free meters, council members might discuss the possibility of paid parking downtown. Paid parking is likely at least two years down the road, Miyagishima said.

“The idea of timed parking – and paid at that – is not new to our city,” said Kasandra Gandara, who represents district one. “New Mexico State University does it, if you frequent that university.”