Council Hears Pros and Cons Regarding Downtown Parking

The pros and cons of regulating downtown parking were discussed at Tuesday night's Effingham City Council meeting.

The City has guidelines on the books regulating parking with two-hour spaces and 15-minute spaces, but there hasn't been enforcement of the guidelines for several years.

City Police Chief Jeff Fuesting and City Engineer Jeremy Heuerman asked the Council to consider metered parking, with Fuesting mentioning kiosks were used in one community where he worked so people could purchase minutes they needed.

Property owner and businessman Boris Bonutti thinks the City "needs a better understanding of the needs downtown" before any action is taken. Bonutti asked, "Do we want visitors to have to leave when their two hours are up?"

Galen Bourland, who owns Noah's Ark Pet Shoppe downtown, identified himself as "complainer in chief" regarding parking downtown. In the 19 years he's owned the business, Bourland said a majority of the on-street parking is taken up by tenants or employees downtown, and that limits the spaces available to shoppers. He thanked the City for making the effort to "start talking". 

Jordan Chesnut of Chesnut Family Music suggested a survey of those who utilize downtown. Chesnut suggested that if people are ticketed when shopping downtown, people can open their phones and buy online.

Effingham County Resident Circuit Judge Kimberly Koester said the County doesn't have enough parking spaces to accommodate all of their employees. She said add to that days when juries are being selected for upcoming trials and there is a pressing need to use on-street parking.

Heuerman said the City has worked to better identify where parking lots are located and said there are parking spaces a block away from heavily parked areas that sit empty. Supporting the idea of metered parking, he said spaces right in front of businesses are "premium parking" and charging to park there is similar to event parking. Any revenue from metered parking could be plowed back into improvements on those streets.

City Commissioner Don Althoff, as a former downtown business owner, said people shouldn't park in front of their businesses. Althoff said it is a continual problem.

Mayor Jeff Bloemker said the issue needs additional study and said that will be pursued.