Downtown Lafayette hosted a public forum on Downtown parking on February 3rd.
LCG proposed the increase, doubling meter fees and enforcing them around the clock and weekends, last month. But amid backlash, the changes never went into effect.
Right now nights and weekends are free.
Those who frequent the downtown area told KATC that they would like to see fees stay the way they are today.
Others, however, are not worried about the cost. They said there are bigger fish to fry when it comes to parking the area.
"I think over time people will get used to it," the passerby said. "It certainly would be easier if our meters worked properly or if we had something we could charge on our phones instead of having to come back and add coins since a lot of people don't have coins in their pockets now."
Downtown stakeholders are now hoping to come up with a better plan.
A forum was held at Acadiana Center for the Arts Wednesday morning. A small crowd gathered, hoping their input was considered. Many said they support the downtown community, others were people who work in the area. Most of those in attendance said Mayor-President Guillory's proposal does not think about the future, nor is it clear where the money from parking meters will go.
Lafayette Downtown Development Authority CEO Anita Begnaud says a committee is being formed to study how parking plans work in other cities. That information will be given to Lafayette Consolidated Government.
"We want to help deliver that to them. We represent downtown stakeholders, property owners, people who live downtown. So we want to get that information to LCG so they can have that while considering future decisions," Begnaud explained.
The forum was broadcast on the Downtown Lafayette Facebook page.
