City Council could introduce an ordinance to decrease the cost of metered parking in the city parking garage as soon as next Monday, a council member said last night.
The purpose is to get more cars off the streets
said council member Amy Flowers, D-at large.
If the ordinance passes, the cost to park in the garage would be the same as on-street spaces, 25 cents for 30 minutes, rather than its current 25 cents for 22 minutes.
Council members also discussed potential solutions to other parking problems, such as increasing the time limit for handicap parking spaces to four hours instead of an initially proposed three to better accommodate parking enforcement officer's routes. The meters will need to be reprogrammed, but not replaced, Mayor Ric Abel said.
The ordinance will allow people with handicapped permits to have more time to get into and out of their vehicles, as well as more time to get from their parking spots to their destinations, Flowers said.
There are not enough parking spots for the number of residents in apartments or houses, which causes people to use the streets for storage parking or to use extra fuel to move their cars every 24 hours, Patterson said.
Patterson suggested using some out-of-the-way streets such as Morris Avenue, Elmwood Place or Central Avenue to test the usefulness of a hangtag system in which property owners could buy a pass to allow residents to park for a period longer than 24 hours.
The details of the idea presented many questions, such as what problems it will solve, enforcement concerns and if citizens would agree with such a solution.
The parking garage could be used to solve the lack of employee-only parking for some Uptown businesses, said council member Carol Patterson, D-at large. Council members brainstormed different ways parking passes for the city parking garage could be bought by employers for more daytime employee parking.
In other council news, the 64-acre site of Holzer Clinic's East State Street outpatient facility soon will begin the process of annexation into city limits. Only 18 of the 64 acres are currently within city limits, leaving half of the proposed medical center covered by city services, said Sierra Meek, an attorney representing Holzer Clinic.
Annexation allows the city and property owners to agree on whether the city will provide city services, which depends on if the existing water and sewer infrastructure can adequately supply a planned structure and if the city's police and fire departments can realistically cover the area.
Council members asked to see more specific plans, particularly if any other structures or subdivisions would be built on the property. 17
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