I’ll be the first to admit it: parking downtown seems to be a problem. But, once you really think about, it’s not that bad! In fact, we’ve done a very unscientific study and found that there are over 300 public parking spaces within about a 3-minute walk (for those without mobility concerns) from our front door.

Dudas Law is located on the 700 block of East Main (between 7th Street and 8th Street), close to the middle of the block. It only takes three minutes to walk from the farthest parking spot in the garage (located south of East Main between 7th and 8th Streets). The problem with the parking garage is that there are less than thirty public spots in there, and it’s hard to determine which ones they are. They are on the very bottom floor and are marked spots 1 through 27. They are free.

There are five diagonal public parking spots on the north corner of 7th Street heading east on East Main. There are three parallel parking spots on the south corner of 8th Street heading west on Main. These are also free.

There are, of course, parallel parking spots all along 7th and 8th Streets between North A and South A. You’ll probably find that 7th Street is a little closer to Dudas Law than 8th Street is.

I and my office staff have paid reserved spots in the garage, and we are happy to use them. We will not take up street parking meant for those patronizing businesses downtown.

The lot to the north of the buildings on East Main is private and marked only for customers of Hometowne Dining Company, which closed its doors last year. We don’t know who is allowed to park there now, but you may not want to risk it unless you want to get towed.

The problem, which I pledge to help remedy, is that all free public parking is only for two or three hours. After that time, you could get a ticket. Unfortunately, you may be at my office for mediation, which can last several hours. If you get a parking ticket while at my office for more than two or three hours because you are at mediation, giving a deposition, or for some other reason, please let me know immediately. I will handle it.

After all, the revitalization of our downtown is important to all of us here in Richmond. And if business owners who invest in downtown to bring viable businesses here don’t have parking options when necessary for more than two or three hours, that’s not great. I will work to be part of the solution so that everyone is able to conduct their business downtown, no matter how long you need to do that, without setting a timer on your phone to move your car every two hours.

Happy parking! We look forward to seeing you downtown.