JUNE 7, 2025—As reported below, state representatives, including the governor's office, have repeatedly dismissed our request for parking relief, claiming that the Harrisburg parking rates are governed at the city level, but yesterday a contractor for the state acknowledged in messages to our parishioners that his company, which is based in Atlanta, Georgia, was involved in removing the code in order to bring in more money.
"The stoppage of the LUVHBG code is based primarily on the cash flow needs of the parking system," said Mr. John Gass, of PK Harris/Trimont, the contractor employed by PEDFA, an agency of Pennsylvania's Department of Community and Economic Development (DCED), in an email message sent to one of our parishioners.
"At this point there is no discussion on the matter," Mr. Gass wrote in a message to others.
While we are disappointed that this Atlanta-based corporation hired by the state of Pennsylvania to set parking rates in front of our church is not willing even to discuss this with us, we are grateful that the facts are starting to become public.
For weeks, we were given other reasons for the removal of the code. A message from one state representative's office, which was similar to messages received from several offices, said:
The “LUVHBG” discount code had to be discontinued because ParkMobile no longer supported it. New users were unable to create accounts to access the code, and the City and Mayor’s Office received many complaints about its functionality. Without software support, ParkMobile recommended ending the program to avoid further confusion and inconvenience.
We now know that this decision was "based primarily on the cash flow needs of the parking system," according to Mr. Gass.
Gov. Shapiro's office, which oversees DCED and PEDFA, wrote to our pastor (as noted in the May 24 update below): "It appears this issue is governed at the local level," but we now see that the parking rates are set by a state-hired corporation.
We urge you to continue to write to your state officials, and ask them to:
- overrule this Atlanta-based corporation, which has decided to remove our free Saturday parking, which inhibits our ability to practice our religion
- temporarily restore the LUVHBG code until an economic analysis can be completed to see if removing the code would even raise any more money—making parking more expensive continues to close businesses and eliminate religious activies, which brings even fewer people into Harrisburg, leaving many empty parking spaces with few people using them
- ask this company, at a minimum, to be more transparent and be willing to meet with parishioners and provide more information about its economic rational rather than saying: "there is no discussion on the matter"
- consider finding a different asset manager if this Atlanta-based company will not be more sensitive to the needs of the people of Harrisburg
Please provide your state representatives, senators, and the governor with copies of the messages sent to our parishioners. You can download a PDF here.
To find your state representative and senator, visit this webpage.
MAY 24, 2025—The response so far to our requests for help from our state's elected officials has mostly been disappointing, though there have been a couple of exceptions. In general, they tend to repeat the same incorrect information, stating that the parking rates are a local issue controlled by the city. This is not the case, as can be seen below.
For example, here is the response from Gov. Shapiro to the inquiry sent by the pastor:
Based on the details in your correspondence, it appears this issue is governed at the local level. For assistance, please reach out to your local authorities such as your mayor, councilmembers, or County Commissioners. The County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania maintains a list of county websites online at: https://www.pacounties.org/who-we-are/pa-county-websites.
Whereas, on the website of the state's Department of Community and Economic Development, the contract between the Pennsylvania Economic Development Financing Authority (PEDFA), which is part of the Department of Community and Economic Development, and the city of Harrisburg, states clearly on page 13 that PEDFA has the authority "to set parking rates for the parking system." Further context:
PEDFA Intergovemmental Cooperation Agreement means the agreement between the City and the Transferee providing for the transfer and delegation to Transferee of the City’s powers, functions and responsibilities (except the Parking Enforcement Powers and the Reserved Enforcement Powers) with respect to the On-Street Parking System and of the authority to set parking rates for the Parking System.
We at the parish continue to ask you to communicate this information to your state senators and representatives. Our request is simple: please temporarily restore the LUVHBG code for free Saturday parking until an economic impact study can be completed.
APRIL 27, 2025—As communicated via email recently, we have learned that free Saturday parking has ended, but we are doing everything we can to try to get it back or find some other relief. Until now, as described on our website, parishioners have had the option to use the mobile code LUVHBG to get free parking on Saturdays instead of paying the very high fee of $4 per hour between 8am and 5pm.
The parking fees for Harrisburg are subject to oversight from the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development because of an agreement struck between the city of Harrisburg and the state years ago to avert the city’s bankruptcy.
Many of you have contacted your state senators and representatives, for which we are grateful, but even the elected officials are not aware that the parking rules fall under state authority. We ask you to continue your efforts, while also writing to the govenor, making the following points:
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Parking rates and rules are under the Department of Community and Economic Development due to the city-state agreement.
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Until April 26, 2025, parishioners could use the LUVHBG parking code for free on Saturdays. This has been taken away, and we had only a couple of weeks notice about it.
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This is a mistaken policy, which will eliminate many Saturday activities at our parish by making it too expensive to park here on Saturdays between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.
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Please ask your state officials to reinstate free Saturday parking until an impact study can be completed.