Cardinal News: Then & Now takes a look back at the stories we brought you over the last 12 months. Through the end of the year, we’re sharing updates on some of the people and issues that made news in 2025. This installment: Danville’s move toward renewed parking enforcement.
Six months after a revamped parking enforcement effort began in Danville, police Chief Chris Wiles said that he believes people have gotten used to time limits and ticketing. Enforced time limits will likely expand to additional streets in the River District next year, Wiles said.
In June, Pivot Parking, a South Carolina-based company that manages parking programs across the Southeast, began enforcing the time limit on parking spaces along certain streets in the River District.
After about 10 days of written warnings when enforcement first began, Pivot is now handing out citations with varying fees depending on the violation. Most parking tickets are $25, though this amount increases for parking in a fire lane or other restricted area.
Between June and November, Pivot issued 1,462 citations, which resulted in $24,372 in revenue, according to Brandon Lauterbach, the company’s CEO.
Before June, it had been at least two years since the city had a full-time parking enforcement officer working consistently. Signs spelled out parking time limits on the main roads in the River District, but the limits weren’t enforced and cars sat all day in spots marked for one- or two-hour use.
The city’s growth is putting pressure on parking, as more people visit and live in the River District. Lack of parking enforcement had impacted foot traffic for downtown businesses and created a headache for residents, Wiles said.
So far, it seems that people are getting used to time limits again, Wiles said. He hasn’t heard any negative feedback recently, and people have stopped parking all day in timed spots, allowing more foot traffic through the River District, he said.
Nick Piccolo, who issues tickets as Pivot’s parking enforcement officer, echoed this.
“Compliance is up, tickets are down” since June, Piccolo said.
Pivot uses license plate reader technology to track how long a car has been in one place, instead of the old-school method of chalking tires.
Data gathered by Pivot’s LPRs will not be used for surveillance or policing purposes, Wiles said, but it can provide insight about parking occupancy on different blocks.
Craghead Street and Bridge Street, which run parallel to each another, as well as the side streets that connect them, have seen increased activity in recent years, especially due to residential development there.
Wiles said timed parking will likely expand in this part of the River District in the near future. That decision was informed by LPR data as well as feedback from residents and business owners gathered by Pivot during outreach efforts.
“We suspected that with all the development down there … that Craghead and Bridge would likely need more timed parking, too,” Wiles. “Two hours is probably the right amount of time. It gives people time to get to and from businesses and retail, whether it’s a gym or a salon. Two hours seems to be about the sweet spot.”
Two hours is now the time limit on Main Street, too. When enforcement began in June, there was a one-hour time limit on both sides of Main Street, which some business owners said was too short.
Folks who wanted to come to the River District to eat and shop likely wouldn’t have time to do both in an hour, they said. Instead of moving their car to another spot, customers would just leave.
Wiles said that this feedback, as well as LPR data, informed the change from a one- to two-hour time limit on Main Street.
“The data collected from those LPRs really gives us the ability to make an informed decision about utility. How many spaces are utilized, how often they turn over,” Wiles said. “That puts us in a position to make those decisions with actual data instead of just guessing at it.”
The parking dynamic in the River District will change again soon. In October, the city held a groundbreaking event for a six-tier public parking garage on Spring Street, which is expected to add about 430 spaces.
The property is owned by the city’s industrial development authority and will be developed by Rivermont LLC, based in Durham, North Carolina.
During the groundbreaking, Michael Lemanski, chief executive officer of Rivermont, said that added parking will continue to spur growth and redevelopment.
“These buildings that surround us, the ones behind us, the ones across the street and around us, they require parking to be redeveloped,” Lemanski said. “We believe that this effort … is going to be a huge catalyst to encourage additional development.”
The parking deck is expected to be complete by the end of 2026.
The city still has no plans to implement paid parking, Wiles said.
“Paid parking is not something that’s on the table at this point,” he said. “It could be down the road, but we’re not at that point. If and when it ever comes to that, Pivot has the expertise about how to do that.”