Fill out our online poll on this topic, the link is at the bottom of the story.
With the announcement of ‘Downtown West’ plans this week, parking has once again became a hot topic. Parking in Downtown Sulphur Springs is a long debated subject that just wont die. The heart of the issue seems to be Main street and Conally street between Gilmer and Davis. These parallel parking spots are always in the mix. For customers, these spots are the go to for shops along Main and Connally Streets. Apparently business owners, employees and downtown residents seek these spots as well.
Getting business owners, employees, and downtown residents, to stay out of the prime spots and leave them available for customers will not be an easy. KSST spoke with several local business owners and they all said that the current policy of ‘self policing of the spots’ is not working.
One downtown business owner we spoke to suggested parking time limits and someone to ‘chalk tires’. “All you would need is someone to go around at around 9:30 am and mark all the tires with the time. Then come back in 2 hours and start writing tickets. That would solve the problem quick.” The fear of receiving a citation could be a powerful deterrent to anyone thinking of parking downtown. On the upside, owners, employees, downtown resident and visitors would all be expected to follow rules equally. This should eliminate finger pointing and increase parking space turnover downtown.
When it comes to downtown parking, a few solutions have been tossed around in the past.
- A parking structure
- More spots close to downtown should make everyone happier.
- Too expensive, not feasible.
- 2 hour parking zones
- May chase off business due to time limits.
- Would require enforcement, and probably additional city employees.
- Parking stickers for business owners and employees
- Would require enforcement, and probably additional city employees.
- Enforcement would be difficult.
Shifting from a cooperative effort to City enforcement could create bad feeling toward city officials. It would probably require additional City employees, and would cost the city money. The political fallout from residents receiving parking citations might be a political hot potato.
The reality of parking in downtown Sulphur Springs is that there are parking spots available. They may not be as close as we would like, but they are there.
KSST has published a poll for feedback on this topic. You can find it here.
