The Altoona Parking Authority approved a plan Tuesday for downtown that includes a payment schedule for on-street, open lot and garage spaces and spaces that organizers reserve for events; along with options for businesses to pay customer parking fees through validation.

The plan must be approved by City Council to go into effect for the on-street portion.

The plan calls for “scan to park” payments based on widely distributed signs bearing a QR code for all three types of parking facilities.

Scan to park will start Friday, but only in the garage, where signs bearing the QR code will be installed Wednesday.

To use scan to park for the first time, motorists should take note of their license plate sequence, scan the QR code on the sign with a smartphone, add phone number, license plate sequence and payment method to sign up on the system; then add the intended length of parking, according to instructions on the parking plan, which was created by SP Plus, the agency hired by the authority to manage parking in the downtown.

The system will alert motorists 15 minutes before time expires.

More time can be added through a link included in the expiration alert.

The company, now owned by Metropolis, does not refund payment for unused time.

Motorists who don’t own a smartphone can make payment arrangements with the business they are visiting or by visiting the authority offices next to the parking garage along the 1200 block of 11th Avenue, according to Jessica Bilko, senior manager for SP Plus.

The plan calls for a small increase and simplification of the payment schedule for the garage: $1 per hour, up to $6, which suffices until 24 hours after the parking session begins.

The plan calls for on-the-spot daily parking only in the garage and for now in the part of Lot 16 (which mostly parallels the 10th Avenue Expressway) that is adjacent to Heritage Plaza.

Otherwise, for now, the surface lots (there are five in total: Lot 16; Lot 6 near Holy Trinity Orthodox Church; Lot 17 across from the Devorris Downtown Center; Lot 20 across from the Mishler Theater and Lot 24 across 10th Avenue Expressway from the Altoona Housing Authority towers) are reserved for monthly parking, although there are daily payment schedules in the plan for those lots during off-hours: $1 per hour, except for Lot 24 at 50 cents per hour.

There is the potential that all the surface lots could be sold out for monthly parking, which would limit daily parking to the garage and the street, according to Bilko.

The authority plans to number all the spaces in Lot 16 so at least some of the parties that rent spaces by the month there would be entitled to specific designated spots.

There is the potential that those spots would carry a premium charge, according to officials.

Fines for illegal parking will be $20 per violation.

Enforcement is slated for 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Saturday, although initially, it will be 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday.

Businesses can validate part or all of a customer’s bill by arranging with SP Plus to pay for it themselves.

Monthly parking charges in the off-street facilities vary: $55 for a space in the garage; $46 in Lot 24; and $50 for all the other lots.

On-street time limits and fees will vary among seven zones.

Zone 1, comprising parts of 11th Avenue and 13th and 14th streets, will cost $1 per hour, with a two-hour limit.

Zone 2, comprising much of 12th Avenue and parts of 15th Street, will cost $1 per hour, with no time limit.

Zone 3, which includes most of the cathedral side of 13th Avenue, parts of Green Avenue and parts of 12th, 13th, 16th and 17th streets, will cost 50 cents an hour with no time limit.

Zone 4, which includes parts of 11th and 12th avenues and parts of 12th and 16th streets, will be free, with a 30-minute time limit.

Zone 5, comprising a short stretch of 11th Avenue, would allow parking for 15 minutes, for drop-offs only.

Zone 6 would be for preschool drop-offs only.

Zone 7 would comprise much of the side of 13th Avenue opposite the cathedral and would have no restrictions.

There are other zones that would prohibit parking from 10 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.

The authority would like to get the necessary ordinances passed so that the proposed on-street changes are in place before Penn State Altoona students return in August.

The parking management changes underway are not intended to make money for the city — although the hope is they’ll cover authority costs — but rather to ensure that enough parking remains available, convenient and affordable that parking issues don’t inhibit the business growth currently taking place, according to Bilko and authority Chairwoman Sherri McGregor.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.