Tom Dell
Tom Dell
After months of discussing possible changes for downtown parking, the Columbus Parking Commission has decided to recommend that the city try enforcing a smaller area.
The commission voted Thursday to recommend to the Columbus Board of Works that the city should limit the enforcement of three-hour parking to just Washington Street from First to Seventh Street for a trial run during the first quarter of 2023.
Columbus City Councilman and Commission Chairman Tom Dell and City Engineer Dave Hayward indicated that they would look to bring this request before the board in mid-to-late December.
Dell noted that, if the trial run is approved, the city would also continue to enforce handicapped parking and leased spaces in other downtown areas.
Prior to settling on their approach, the commission discussed other ideas as well, including shorter time limits, doing a trial run with no time limits, or implementing paid parking, though the latter idea has garnered criticism from some downtown merchants.
Commission member Kevina Schumaker noted that the commission will also need to listen carefully to the feedback they receive during the trial run.
“I would like to know what the frustrations are,” she said.
During the time for public comment at Thursday’s meeting, Viewpoint Books owner Beth Stroh spoke, reiterating her opposition to paid parking and saying that the city should work with business owners to come up with creative solutions to parking problems.
Dell, who co-owns a men’s clothing store along Washington Street, replied that the city has had multiple conversations with major employers over the years to discuss issues with employees’ parking habits, and the businesses haven’t been willing to take action. He added that he believes that completely removing time limits — as Stroh has suggested and some commission members discussed — would increase problems with turnover.
“I’m suffering economically, because my block is usually full, and there’s not available space,” he said. “And I’ve got customers, the only time I see them is when they happen to find a space out front and they stop in. But most of the time, they don’t shop. And that’s economically devastating. And so you all sit there and say that … I’m going to kill the downtown. It’s already killing me.”
“If we’ve had those conversations with other employers, then I’m equally disappointed in them, that they don’t consider that part of their responsibility,” said Stroh. “I frankly don’t understand that, because that’s not who I thought we were, as a community.”
Erin Hawkins, director of marketing for the Columbus Area Visitors Center, expressed a similar sentiment. She also encouraged the city to study trends on paid parking and whether more communities are removing or implementing meters post-pandemic.
The commission also heard from a couple of other downtown merchants, who suggested ideas such as numbering spaces to remind people of enforcement and creating designated spots for each business.
In other news, Hayward said that Jay Frederick, the Columbus Police Department’s previous representative on the commission, is passing his position to Sara Foreman. According to Frederick, Foreman is the newly appointed manager of CPD’s records division, in charge of parking enforcement.
The parking commission’s next meeting will be held at 2:15 p.m. on Jan.12.
