BERLIN– Parking can be a major headache in any small town, especially those that depend on a thriving, historic Main Street that predates modern drivers and automobiles.
In Berlin, shoppers and shopkeepers have sounded off recently about the lack of downtown parking and the abuse by some of the town’s relaxed ticketing policy. Resident Dimitra Cousois says the people who live in downtown apartments share the frustration caused by increased traffic and the decreased availability of regular parking spaces.
Cousois worked at the Atlantic Hotel from 2002-2004 and said she never had a problem finding parking. When she moved back to the area in May, things were different.
“The problem with the parking is really Monday through Friday before 5 p.m.,” she said. “If I leave and come back I can’t find a place to park, so I’m really thankful that the town doesn’t tow.”
Last Thursday Cousois counted six cars outside of her Main Street apartment that had “made up” parking spots.
“Where else are they supposed to park?” she said. “Some days there just isn’t anywhere to park.”
Cousois said some downtown shops allow residents to use their parking spaces, while others seem to be constantly taking up disproportionally large amounts of space.
“I don’t think it’s seasonal traffic, because half of the lot is filled up before 9 a.m.,” she said. “The merchants aren’t here before 9 a.m. The guests to town aren’t here before 9 a.m. It’s the dentist office, the shops, the banks.
“The girl that lives right beside has complained about having to park far away,” Cousois continued. “Sometimes you have to make a parking space, and then your car is at risk of getting hit. Lots of my friends have the same problem.”
Her answer? Start instituting residential parking permits.
“In Baltimore you pay $20 for the first car or $50 for the second car to prove that you live there, and you have a little residential area,” Cousois said. “I would be willing to pay $20 a year for a spot. Heck, I’d pay $50 a year.
“For the people that live here – I walk to the restaurants, I go to Zenna Wellness, I’m learning to knit at A Little Bit Sheepish – this is my community,” Cousois continued. “This is where I live. I have probably patronized every shop and every restaurant in town – some of them multiple times a week. I think I should be able to park in a spot.”
Berlin Mayor Gee Williams believes the town should approach the parking problem as two separate issues: event parking and everyday parking.
“Event parking has its own unique challenges and can be definitely identified way ahead of time by planning,” he said. “All of these events are planned at least a year in advance. If we have a plan in place I have great confidence that with the continued cooperation of the town, event parking will be the easier of the two fixes.”
Schools and churches in the immediate downtown area could act as satellite parking, Williams suggested, with shuttles bringing visitors to event sites.
“With relatively modest expense we can accommodate hundreds and hundreds of additional motor vehicles with the spaces that are already available,” Williams said. “I think that’s where we’re headed with that. We want to make it easy and fun for people to get to and from offsite parking to our events. It all has to be about fun and convenience, and I’m very optimistic about getting all of that squared away and making some progress on that before next spring.”
The everyday parking problem is seasonal, Williams believes, running seven days a week from April through December.
“That’s a wonderful problem to have and it’s exactly the opposite problem we had for 80 years,” he said. “We’re going to have to look for alternative ways for people to get around town so that they can park once and I think we’re going to have to create spaces for that – but not necessarily in the heart of town, which would ruin the whole appeal.”
Williams suggested the town look for creative answers to the problem by examining what other small towns are doing in similar situations. This could include a variety of alternative means of transit from new satellite spaces to the downtown shops.
“I think we need … not necessarily great big buses, but it could be anything from those little bicycle taxis to other alternate forms of hailing a few people at a time,” Williams said. “You wouldn’t need to move 40 or 50 people at a time – it would probably be somewhere between two to eight or 10 people at the most.
“That I think will take a little longer, but I don’t see the demand growing exponentially on the everyday parking as much as I do on the event parking,” Williams continued. “Unfortunately I think event parking will be the quicker fix of the two.”
William had said during a Mayor and Council meeting that we preferred to allow motorists to “self-police” rather than assign specific spaces.
“I think if you treat people like children they’ll act like children,” he said. “If you treat them like adults they’ll act like adults, and that’s going to be our approach as far as I’m concerned for the foreseeable future. I don’t believe in creating mounds and multi levels of regulation for a handful of people who just don’t have the courtesy or the good sense to know how to deal with being in public. The overwhelming majority of people are just fantastic.”
In Berlin, shoppers and shopkeepers have sounded off recently about the lack of downtown parking and the abuse by some of the town’s relaxed ticketing policy. Resident Dimitra Cousois says the people who live in downtown apartments share the frustration caused by increased traffic and the decreased availability of regular parking spaces.
Cousois worked at the Atlantic Hotel from 2002-2004 and said she never had a problem finding parking. When she moved back to the area in May, things were different.
“The problem with the parking is really Monday through Friday before 5 p.m.,” she said. “If I leave and come back I can’t find a place to park, so I’m really thankful that the town doesn’t tow.”
Last Thursday Cousois counted six cars outside of her Main Street apartment that had “made up” parking spots.
“Where else are they supposed to park?” she said. “Some days there just isn’t anywhere to park.”
Cousois said some downtown shops allow residents to use their parking spaces, while others seem to be constantly taking up disproportionally large amounts of space.
“I don’t think it’s seasonal traffic, because half of the lot is filled up before 9 a.m.,” she said. “The merchants aren’t here before 9 a.m. The guests to town aren’t here before 9 a.m. It’s the dentist office, the shops, the banks.
“The girl that lives right beside has complained about having to park far away,” Cousois continued. “Sometimes you have to make a parking space, and then your car is at risk of getting hit. Lots of my friends have the same problem.”
Her answer? Start instituting residential parking permits.
“In Baltimore you pay $20 for the first car or $50 for the second car to prove that you live there, and you have a little residential area,” Cousois said. “I would be willing to pay $20 a year for a spot. Heck, I’d pay $50 a year.
“For the people that live here – I walk to the restaurants, I go to Zenna Wellness, I’m learning to knit at A Little Bit Sheepish – this is my community,” Cousois continued. “This is where I live. I have probably patronized every shop and every restaurant in town – some of them multiple times a week. I think I should be able to park in a spot.”
Berlin Mayor Gee Williams believes the town should approach the parking problem as two separate issues: event parking and everyday parking.
“Event parking has its own unique challenges and can be definitely identified way ahead of time by planning,” he said. “All of these events are planned at least a year in advance. If we have a plan in place I have great confidence that with the continued cooperation of the town, event parking will be the easier of the two fixes.”
Schools and churches in the immediate downtown area could act as satellite parking, Williams suggested, with shuttles bringing visitors to event sites.
“With relatively modest expense we can accommodate hundreds and hundreds of additional motor vehicles with the spaces that are already available,” Williams said. “I think that’s where we’re headed with that. We want to make it easy and fun for people to get to and from offsite parking to our events. It all has to be about fun and convenience, and I’m very optimistic about getting all of that squared away and making some progress on that before next spring.”
The everyday parking problem is seasonal, Williams believes, running seven days a week from April through December.
“That’s a wonderful problem to have and it’s exactly the opposite problem we had for 80 years,” he said. “We’re going to have to look for alternative ways for people to get around town so that they can park once and I think we’re going to have to create spaces for that – but not necessarily in the heart of town, which would ruin the whole appeal.”
Williams suggested the town look for creative answers to the problem by examining what other small towns are doing in similar situations. This could include a variety of alternative means of transit from new satellite spaces to the downtown shops.
“I think we need … not necessarily great big buses, but it could be anything from those little bicycle taxis to other alternate forms of hailing a few people at a time,” Williams said. “You wouldn’t need to move 40 or 50 people at a time – it would probably be somewhere between two to eight or 10 people at the most.
“That I think will take a little longer, but I don’t see the demand growing exponentially on the everyday parking as much as I do on the event parking,” Williams continued. “Unfortunately I think event parking will be the quicker fix of the two.”
William had said during a Mayor and Council meeting that we preferred to allow motorists to “self-police” rather than assign specific spaces.
“I think if you treat people like children they’ll act like children,” he said. “If you treat them like adults they’ll act like adults, and that’s going to be our approach as far as I’m concerned for the foreseeable future. I don’t believe in creating mounds and multi levels of regulation for a handful of people who just don’t have the courtesy or the good sense to know how to deal with being in public. The overwhelming majority of people are just fantastic.”