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Today's Poll!City seeks to perform a parking balancing act
Other communities weigh in on solutions for resident and business parking
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Jefferson City is looking to start an official downtown resident parking program to accommodate the needs of residents in the area, and it’s not the only city that has struggled to find a balance between residents and businesses.
As the City Council reviews the proposed ordinance for the program, many members have said they have received calls from business owners who are dissatisfied with the proposal and are afraid it will negatively impact their businesses.
But what have other communities done to try to strike that near impossible balance between businesses and residents when it comes to parking needs?
Richard Sheets, deputy director of the Missouri Municipal League, said it’s a problem that’s becoming much more common in communities across the state.
“For a long time ... a lot of cities prohibited residents in downtown; that’s really changing,” Sheets said. “That is something that cities are certainly struggling with.”
Sheets said cities across the state have found solutions through various parking requirements.
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Comments
GrandmaTo3 1 year, 7 months ago
Residents have trouble parking even if they don't live on a metered parking street. My daughter was told by a local business owner that it was a privilege to be able to park in front of her own apartment.
With small children she shouldn't have to park two blocks away and walk with them to her own home. This is a two way street and business's shouldn't be the only concern. She has had to wait up to 2 hours for a parking place just to take her kids in her own home. All she has is on street parking. So when the bar/grill is busy on the weekends if she leaves to go to the store she can't even park when she returns.
RonCon 1 year, 7 months ago
Behind most businesses are parking spaces. Those could be made available after hours. But there's no reason anyone living uptown should expect a parking space during business hours. The businesses were there when they chose to move in, they take precedence. If they want to make changes they need to get all floors from 2nd upward rezoned for family residence. And they would have to go through the entire hearing process just like any other zoning. Yes, they can zone separate floors for different uses, just take a look at a true city zoning map, which means someplace else besides Jefferson City. That would confuse our small town leaders.
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