Downtown Towson has a parking problem. Ken Mills thinks he has the solution.

The CEO of the Baltimore County Revenue Authority is thinking about requiring those coming to central Towson after the workday ends to pay for their parking. Currently, parking enforcement in much of downtown ends at 6 p.m. Mills wants to extend that to 10 p.m.

The change would fill the coffers of the county agency, which lists more than $18 million in current assets and has the ability to raise more money through bonds. The Revenue Authority owns and operates five parking garages with 4,400 spaces in Towson as well as three metered surface lots and 500 metered street parking spaces in Towson. Metered street parking is $2 for the first hour and $1 for each additional hour.

In October alone, the revenue authority reported $100,000 from county parking revenue. But Mills said it’s not about the money as much as it is about making room.

“There’s a huge demand for the spaces, and the spaces just don’t turn over,” Mills said. “Just ride around and see what’s going on. On-street parking is totally full. Everything is packed.”

Towson’s evening popularity comes after decades of boom and bust cycles in the county seat. Once talked about as “the next Bethesda,” Towson struggles with perceptions about crime that scare some people away, but remains lively thanks to vibrant student and growing residential populations.

Today, Towson has 94 restaurants within a square mile downtown, said Nancy Hafford, executive director of the Towson Chamber of Commerce.

Often, streets are impassable. Neighbors’ SUVs nose into busy intersections to grab takeout; shuttle buses disgorge students at downtown dorms, chicken fans park illegally for a fix at Raising Cane’s.

“There is more than enough parking in Towson, but everyone likes to park on the streets,” said Hafford, who often reminds businesses that the five area garages are cheaper than metered street parking.

Some restaurants, like Nacho Mama’s, valet park customers’ cars in the garages.

Hafford believes the Revenue Authority would not make a change without talking to local businesses first. She thinks most would not support such a change.

A test case street

But the Revenue Authority has in the past made such a change before with little public notice.

About a month ago, the agency extended enforcement hours until 10 p.m. on the block of West Susquehanna Avenue between Washington Avenue and Towson Row. Parking is permitted on part of the block for only 30 minutes; residents and business owners say that parking enforcement — which the Revenue Authority does not oversee — is vigilant.

“They just did it one day,” said Ashley Wrighten, a resident adviser at Altus Towson Row, a complex where hundreds of Morgan State and Towson university students live.

Wrighten, a Morgan senior studying nutrition science, said she learned of the change from another student. She said she’s heard students complain about tickets because they forget to pay the meter to run into their apartment for a quick meal or change of clothes. One student, she said, had $1,200 in fines.

Mills said that both the Department of Public Works and Transportation and the Office of Budget and Finance reviewed the Susquehanna Avenue proposal, and “stakeholders” weighed in.

They were able to make the change without County Council approval because it was just one street; if the Revenue Authority wanted comprehensive changes, the process includes more steps and approval from County Council, county officials said.

The Revenue Authority felt the change was necessary with Whole Foods and the new Towson hotel, the Hampton Inn, bordering a short and tight street that often saw illegal parking. And, Mills said, students were parking overnight in the spots, leaving little room for unloading hotel guests or for those stopping in to pick up takeout or a bottle of wine.

But Hafford, who lives and works just blocks from the street, said she was not aware. More than a dozen business owners interviewed on surrounding streets didn’t realize the hours had changed either.

Kahari Finley, a Morgan sophomore studying construction management, said he has paid $300 in tickets. Enforcement has been relentless, he said; he even received a ticket while moving in, when his car was clearly full of large items he needed to unload.

“It’s pretty unfair for us,” said Finley, who hopes to return soon to the Morgan campus.

Down the street, a new eatery, Hannah’s Cafe, offers an inviting space for breakfast. But the 30-minute parking limit means customers can’t linger.

“They would like to stay,” said Hannah’s employee Charlotte Butcher. “But they don’t want to get a ticket.”

‘That’s how it is downtown’

State and county officials say they’re not inclined to support extending the enforcement hours, which they say would deter those bound for Towson at a time when eating out is already pricier and downtown is recovering from a coronavirus-related downturn in business.

“I think the businesses appreciate that paid parking ends after 6 p.m.,” said Del. Cathi Forbes, who represents the area. “That’s how it is downtown.”

Councilman Mike Ertel does not dispute problems with double-parked vehicles, but said the better approach would be to dispatch a tow truck to ride around Towson and move them.

He called extending the enforcement hours “a mixed bag.”

“You don’t know who you’re helping or hurting,” Ertel said. “There’s no real way to quantify it in a good way.”

Towson’s robust ticketing hasn’t deterred illegal parkers. Ertel fears later enforcement hours could send frustrated diners to the asphalt pastures of Timonium instead of circling fruitlessly downtown.

“I don’t fault him for trying,” Ertel said of Mills’ efforts. “I just don’t know it will bring the results he’s looking for.”

The Golf People

The parking question shines a spotlight on a little-known agency headquartered under the Towson library’s parking garage that manages both the county’s parking and its five golf courses.

According to the bylaws, the Baltimore County executive appoints the Revenue Authority’s chairman; the chairman appoints the board’s three other members and its CEO, who is also on the board. Some county employees refer to the agency as “the golf people.”

Though normally self-sustaining, the Revenue Authority recently received nearly $6.5 million in county funds for improvements to the Rocky Point Golf Course.

Three members are attorneys. The fourth, J. Eric Schleibaum, was treasurer for Johnny Olszewski Jr.’s campaigns for county executive and is married to one of Olszewski’s top aides, senior adviser Samantha F. O’Neil. Mills has held his post since 2012 and had an earlier stint as Revenue Authority executive director from 1985 to 1993. Earlier this month. Olszewski won an open seat in Congress to replace Rep. C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, who is retiring.

The Revenue Authority board members would have to approve any change to parking after completing a study, said county spokeswoman Erica Palmisano. Then, they would request a change in enforcement hours from the county.

“Should change be officially proposed, the process could last anywhere from six months to a year,” Palmisano said.

This is not the Revenue Authority’s first spat with residents about parking. In 2014, Mills lowered garage prices and raised the prices of on-street parking — from $1 for the first hour to $2. He also wanted to charge for Sunday, though that didn’t get through. The senators, delegates and councilmen representing Towson expressed displeasure with the change and lack of notice.

“We were not included in the process until now,” David Marks, a Republican councilman who represented Towson then and now represents the Perry Hall area, told The Baltimore Sun in 2014. “We have subsequently talked to Mills at BCRA and made suggestions about scaling back.”