As currently planned, the entrance to the new parking lot in Berlin will be on West Street with the exit on Washington. For the initial summer, the lot will remain grass with parking bumpers and signage added to the lot.

By Tara Fischer

Staff Writer

To alleviate a lack of suitable parking, particularly during crowded town events, the concept plan for a lot on the corner of West and Washington streets in Berlin went before the municipality’s planning commission last week, where issues of overnight parking, traffic, lighting, bumpers, and the entrance and exit strategy were discussed.

The Town of Berlin has historically struggled to provide visitors and residents ample parking, especially during jam-packed events. In recent years, the town’s popularity has resulted in chronic parking issues due to the demand exceeded current supply.

Earlier this year, to address the challenge, the Berlin Mayor and Council entered into a 10-year deal with William Esham, Jr., to lease a vacant 2.13-acre lot on the west side of West Street. The space will supply around 110 spots. The property’s grass surface will remain during the lot’s first year.

On Wednesday, May 14, Councilmembers Steve Green and Jay Knerr, joined by Jimmy Charles, public works director, and David Gaskill, the town attorney, presented the outlined lot to the planning commission. The municipality’s mayor and council are the official applicants of the proposal.

No formal action was taken as the planning team was meant to simply review the concept. A type of border, like a fence or a rope, will be placed around the property, and no material is currently expected to be poured over the grass. As such, the parking lot initiative did not require a building permit, site plan approval or stormwater management. Suggestions and possible improvements will continue to be evaluated to the ensure the lot remains useful and practical.

“I work a lot of events, and my thinking is, if we’re parking 50, 60, 70 cars, that will help eliminate the parking issues that we have throughout town,” Charles said.

The property will include signage to indicate the areas in which parking is permitted. In the site plan presented last week, the entrance will be set off West Street, while people will be asked to exit onto Washington Street. Signs will direct drivers in these directions. The hope is that the lot will remedy a lack of parking in downtown Berlin.

“This is very much needed for town events,” Knerr said. “People are driving in circles trying to find parking, parking where they shouldn’t be parking. We’re really hoping this will alleviate a lot of that, especially for the farmers market and all kinds of events. It’s very much needed.”

Green echoed Knerr’s sentiment, adding that the parking shortage creates a nuisance during more congested days. The proposed lot aims to attract more business to the town and ease the stress many feel as they try to find a space to leave their cars.

“We have all seen the motorists with the parking panic, driving around … sometimes blocking driveways unknowingly … This is something that will help us with events, help our businesses, and also help our residents who feel the strain of our parking shortage in town,” Green said.  “We will now have a pin where we can say, ‘Here’s a pin, put that in your GPS.’ Direct them right there to an open lot.”

According to Knerr, the new lot will also help with challenges businesses face. In April, town residents brought forward an issue revealing that patrons of Tracks and Yaks, a railbike excursion company on Broad Street that lacks suitable parking, have taken to using spots designated for Berlin Beer Company.

“Every day, businesses like Berlin Beer Company and Tracks and Yacks can divert their customers to this parking lot on any given day, which will help that situation,” Knerr said.

Officials are also hopeful that the new lot will increase revenue for downtown businesses, as additional parking will accommodate more visitors.

The town will likely implement ParkMobile, a pay-to-park app, for the new lot. Knerr said the town can utilize the system at no cost. Steps have yet to be taken to enact the application, but the councilman said, “It’s only a matter of time.”

Members of the planning commission expressed concern that if the lot charged visitors to park, they may search for spots in neighborhoods, exacerbating congestion issues.

Knerr noted that when ParkMobile is rolled out, West Street and the rear side of Washington will likely be enforced as resident-only parking.

Furthermore, when the plan came before the Berlin Board of Zoning Appeals last month, Berlin Mayor Zack Tyndall said that the amount and timing of the parking fee are unknown. However, users of the new lot will be charged eventually, as the town must pay the property owners for rent as well as making future improvements. The plan for this summer is for the lot to be grass.

“We are exploring the use of ParkMobile because we need to break even on the lease for the lot,” Tyndall said in April. “We have used American Rescue Plan Act funds to cover year one and year two, but it’s a 10-year lease, and we want a sustainable path forward. It’s possible there would only be a fee during peak times.”

The planning commission struggled to accept a one-way entrance and exit, arguing drivers should be able to enter and exit at both openings. The applicants assured that the plan is flexible and open to suggestions.

Still, Town Administrator Mary Bohlen noted that creating a one-way entrance and exit would have the advantage of limiting the size of the access points.

“Having the entrance and exit be one way only also significantly reduces the footprint of the entrance instead of having to have it wide enough so that passing vehicles have enough room,” she said. “If you’re going in one way and out the other, you don’t have to have quite as wide of a [space].”

The town may also put up a sign that says “right turn” only at the lot’s exit.

“As you exit, we were looking to have the exit to the right,” Charles said. “We would have two signs there, exit to the right … we’re just trying to get the majority of people to come out, make the right, head back around to Broad Street, and then they can disperse through that. We are trying to minimize traffic back into town by making suggestions.”

Charles added that LED lights will likely be placed on the poles facing the lot and will be app-activated. Staff could monitor the property and turn the illumination off as needed.

The issue of overnight parking was also mentioned at last week’s meeting. Charles said the town could erect signs prohibiting vehicles from being left overnight, but staff added this could be addressed on a case-by-case basis.

One concern is that many Berlin events serve alcohol. If an individual leaves their car in the lot and takes an Uber home, the town would not want to penalize someone for making a responsible decision. Bohlen noted that, instead, specific regulations may be made to restrict things like RVs and sleeping in vehicles.

“We can have some signage out,” Charles added. “We’ll have no overnight parking, but if the police officer shows up, there’s no one sleeping in the car, but if it’s there, after two or three nights, then we have an issue, and we can address it. Or if we see it and it’s a nuisance, we can address that.”

A concrete or stone pad could be placed at the property’s entrance. Members of the commission noted that rain will saturate the space and lead to mud on Washington Street as the cars enter the lot. Charles said that some sort of remedy could be implemented.

The public works director added that they are also looking at options for bumpers to control how visitors situate their cars to ensure the space’s full capacity can be utilized.

While the proposal is not perfect, the planning commission and the applicants agreed that the concept puts the town one step closer to its parking needs. The lot’s positives and negatives will be considered and identified throughout its use and improvements will likely be made in the future.