Pittsburg leaders shun plan for 24/7 downtown parking cameras
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A plan to constantly watch downtown Pittsburg, Kansas, parking is dead after the city commission unanimously rejected the proposal.
The city considered hiring WiseSight to install cameras to monitor 101 parking spaces along Broadway between Second and Sixth streets.
The system would have photographed vehicles, read license plates and notified city employees when it detected a possible parking violation.
The agreement also left open the possibility of eventually mailing tickets to vehicle owners.
City staff proposed the system as Pittsburg State University prepares to open its downtown Kelce College of Business facility, which is expected to bring hundreds of additional people downtown each day.
The proposal faced strong public opposition from residents who said a parking problem did not justify another network of license plate-reading cameras.
Others questioned whether constant surveillance would discourage people from shopping or spending time downtown.
Pittsburg would have paid WiseSight at least $42,000 a year or $5 for every detected violation, whichever amount was greater.
WiseSight guaranteed a minimum annual license plate-reading accuracy of 90%, meaning city employees would still need to review suspected violations.
The decision does not affect Pittsburg’s existing Flock Safety license plate readers, which are operated separately.
