Downtown business owners and residents fill city hall during a City Council special meeting about paid parking, Monday. Photo by Phil Custodio

BY PHIL CUSTODIO
Clarkston News Editor
After two weeks, parking disputes drove City Council to change paid parking in its downtown lot.
After about an hour’s discussion at a special meeting, Monday, council voted 6-1 to approve new hours for the city-owned Main and Washington parking lot. The new hours are 4-9 p.m., Monday-Friday; 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Saturday; free on Sunday.
Voting “yes” on the motion, made by Mayor Steven Percival at the April 16 meeting, were Percival and council members Sharron Catallo, Rick Detkowski, Eric Haven, Scott Reynolds, and Sue Wylie.
Council member Jason Kneisc voted “no.”
Previous hours were 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Monday-Saturday; free on Sunday.
The change was needed to “lighten the load down here on the Depot Park lot during the day,” Percival said at the meeting, filled to standing-room-only with downtown business owners and residents. “It’s a matter for us to come together and take a hard look at the hours of operations in the paid lot, and the need to adjust the hours immediately and not wait for the data to come in.”
Kneisc said they need the data, and the decision to change pay-to-park hours was too soon.
“My concern is, we have a room full of (angry) people, fights in the parking lot, pictures of people standing at the meter looking to pay – I feel like, in a week, we’ll make another knee-jerk decision caused by all these issues,” he said. “I still don’t think we’ve done the proper amount of homework.”
At issue were four parking spots at the eastern edge of the mostly city-owned parking lot next to Depot Park. The spots are among 12 spaces owned by Neil Wallace, who owns the 39 S. Main Street building.
“The 12 spots are legally his, he has been allowing the city to use them,” said City Manager Jonathan Smith. “Now, with parking constrained, he asked for signage to have the spots designated.”
The new signs say “permit parking for 39 S. Main Street only.”
The agreement to allow public parking in the spots was made by a prior owner with the city before it became a municipal lot, said building owner Neil Wallace at the meeting.
“The city has been drawing more concessions out of me,” Wallace said. “I did not give that property to the city – the city has a limited easement to use that property.”
The signs drew angry complaints from other downtown business owners, Smith said.
The response, which included outbursts to city staff at city hall, will not be tolerated, Percival said.
“A few angry, irate, unprofessional people came into the office, yelling at employees – it’s uncalled for, it’s unacceptable,” he said. “We do not need that kind of behavior in here when we’re trying to conduct business.”
However, he understands the frustration of the small business community during the daytime, when the pay-to-park lot has been mostly empty so far and the Depot Park lot, completely full.
“From 11 to 3, parking was low, and some days, nonexistent. The second week, it was predominantly the same thing,” the mayor said.
The kiosk has driven people to fill the Depot Park lot, making spots there a premium, Smith said.
“We found we have an inordinate amount of employee parking here during the day,” he said. “We have a huge influx of parking needs downtown starting at 9 a.m. I feel guilty looking at that lot sitting empty, when the lot here is jammed, with people parking on the grass, almost getting into arguments over parking spaces. It’s really gotten ugly in the past week.”
Smith said owners of the Clarkston Mills private lot on Depot Road will soon install a pay-to-park kiosk for their lot, which will be open 24-7.
“It would help relieve some pressure,” he said. “Judging by input and anger of employees past week, we need some relief now.”
However, Bob Roth, one of the property owners, said the city’s pay-to-park changes call into question their plans to install a kiosk in their private lot.
“It sounds like next meeting, we’ll pull paid parking out – I don’t know now,” Roth said. “It sounds like you want to get us to put a machine in and then you’ll pull your machine out.”
“That’s definitely not going on,” Percival said.
Reynolds said revenue is needed for needed infrastructure repair in the city.
“The success of downtown properties is tearing the streets up,” he said. “Roads are deteriorating. We need to find some balance here to do these repairs – we have no funding stream to address that.”
Christina Calka, owner of Village Boutique at Main and Washington across from the city’s pay-to-park lot, said her business relies on shoppers stopping in for brief visits.
“It’s very important to have people stop in and just check the availability of something – inventory is always changing,” Calka said. “I need that opportunity, for a quick flip of customers coming in and out. A lot of people have expressed concern for their continued patronage if they have to pay to park.”
Union Joints owner Curt Catallo said the city is arrogant to impose parking restrictions on businesses.
“I feel we’re at a precipice right now,” Curt said. “Charging to park is not being hospitable to the people who support Clarkston – they decided to come here instead of to any of the other options they have.”
Also, a full pay-to-park lot is not necessarily a sign of success, he said.
“People are paying for that instead of buying something, or a dessert or appetizer,” the restaurant owner said. “All I ask of the council is, put yourselves in our shoes.”
Parking has also shifted into his Union and Woodshop parking lots on the east side of Main Street, which he is fine for now, he said.
“Your decisions directly impact our businesses – I would never think to come to your businesses and say, this is what you should do,” he said. “It seems you are making decisions based on instinct, gut feelings, and squeaky wheels.”
All should share in the solution, Curt said.
“It needs to be a bed of nails approach, everybody carries part of the burden. This makes restaurants bear the highest nail,” he said. “It’s unfair to our guests to be taxed at that rate.”
The change may not be the answer, but at least City Council has listened to residents, said Sharron Catallo, Curt’s mother.
“If we have to listen again, we’re willing to do it,” she said.
Wylie agreed.
“This is a small-town city council and small-town businesses, we can be responsive,” she said. “It’s so much better to hear from you directly rather than through Facebook.”
Main Street resident Lorry Mahler agreed with Kneisc.
“There is a fix, but it won’t happen overnight,” Mahler said. “To change everything after one week (after the Easter break), you’re going to change it all the time. Stick with something for a while and see how it works.”
The decision is a good compromise, Percival said.
“Right now something was needed for the business community and daytime patrons,” he said.
City Council previously referred the parking issue to the city Planning Commission, which is reviewing it with advice from the city planner. It will present recommendations to the council at a future meeting.
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City Council voted 5-0, April 9, to approve a pay-to-park app for the Main and Washington street lot.
The city will use the Passport Payment and Passport Parking Enforcement apps.
Passport will charge drivers a 25-cent flat fee per use. The city charges $1 per hour during pay-to-park hours. The app is free to the city, but usually requires as least $500 a month, with shortages to be made up by the municipality.
The app company agreed to waive the minimum monthly billing in exchange for $3 paid to Passport for every parking ticket, Smith said.
Tickets are $25, so the city would receive $22 per ticket.
“Apps are the ways anyone under 40 pays for parking,” Smith said. “There are several apps out there – we can have only one.”