BY PHIL CUSTODIO
Clarkston News Editor
Downtown is moving forward with a plan for paid parking after a split vote of City Council.
“We need to stop wasting the parking committee’s time,” said Mayor Steven Percival, who made the motion at the contentious April 10 meeting to go with paid parking. “We have to start somewhere.”
“This is really confusing,” said Council member Sharron Catallo during debate on the issue.
“This is where the decision is made,” said Council member Sue Wylie as Catallo was saying she was being asked to make a big decision without knowing all the details.
“One at a time, one at a time,” Percival called out.
At the end of the two-and-a-half hour meeting, the motion was approved 4-3. Voting “yes” were Percival, Wylie, and council members Rick Detkowski and Eric Haven.
Voting “no” were Catallo and council members Jason Kneisc and David Marsh.
Marsh pointed out City Manager Jonathan Smith’s report on five possible parking plans listed “changes the quaint feeling of the city” as a disadvantage of paid parking.
“It’s called City of the Village of Clarkston – now we want to take away some of the village feeling. I think it’s wrong,” Marsh said. “The village has been here a long time without paid parking. I think it’s criminal to do it.”
Percival said it was “criminal” to ignore possible earnings of $2 million, presented by a paid parking system.
“To indicate it was criminal, my gosh,” the mayor said. “We have a responsibility to the citizens to generate funds to operate the city. Right now we haven’t done that.”
Two paid parking kiosks in city parking lots wouldn’t take away from its charm, he said.
Kneisc, who is on the city parking committee along with Detkowski, Mike Besch, Cara Catallo, Jennifer Radcliff, and Kay Pierson, said the committee hasn’t had a chance to work yet.
“This is top down – it’s wrong,” Kneisc said. “Kick it to the parking committee. We formed it for a reason. There are a lot of steps that can be done before. This seems like the nuclear option to my mind.”
“We’re past that,” Percival said. “We’ve been at this for a year – they’re at a standstill.”
“We have not been at this over a year,” Sharron Catallo responded.
“We gave the parking situation to the planning commission last April,” Percival said.
“I don’t recall that,” Catallo said.
Percival, who was not mayor at the time, said he recalled reading about it in The Clarkston News. In a March 23, 2016, story “Committee looks for parking,” the parking committee, which included Catallo at the time, reviewed the parking situation with the Transportation Improvement Association of Michigan.
The current parking committee will work out details and present its recommendations to the council, Percival said.
“They play an integral part in the plan,” he said. “Today I’m only interested in if the council supports paid parking or not.”
Continuing the discussion depends on that decision, Wylie said.
“We are the ones voted in to make the decision,” she said. “There are a lot of arguments opposed to paid parking. One argument, the charm, I understand. Visually, four kiosks would not hurt the charm. Maybe the idea of it. To me, the cars all over town reduce the charm. Traffic reduces the charm. Cars circling affects the charm more than kiosks.”
A parking structure, which is not recommended, would cost $15,000-$20,000 per space, Smith said.
“It would be really cost prohibitive to put up a structure, and would not keep with the look of the village,” he said.
The cost could be shared with an investor, which would be difficult to arrange, he said.
Parking plans reviewed by the city manager included doing nothing; reinstate the parking deferment plan; businesses contract with private lots for valet parking; private lots reopened for paid parking while parking in city lots remains free; and paid parking in private lots and city streets.
The plan recommended by the city manager is to reach an agreement with the owners of the Clarkston Mills to reopen their two parking lots for paid parking; select a paid parking system supplier, and establish hours of operation and fees; provide funding assuming a one-year payback; establish enforcement rules for paid parking areas; install kiosks and signs; install “permit parking only” signs on some residential streets to promote use of parking lots; make plans for use of paid parking income, such as enforcement, parking lot maintenance, procurement of additional lots, and city hall renovations; monitor system effectiveness for possible upgrades or other changes; and leave Main Street and other street parking free.
According to the city manager’s report, estimated peak parking demand, including the new bank restaurant, is 630 vehicles. About 256 spaces are available in city lots and public street parking. When private but open lots are included, 376 spaces are available. An additional 153 spaces in the city are currently closed for public use.
No city funding is currently available for additional parking lots or to maintain existing lots, and the city Parking Deferment Plan, as provided for in the city zoning ordinance book and into which businesses would pay if they lack sufficient parking of their own, has not been enforced in many years, the city manager reported.
The city manager’s recommended plan would fall 124 spaces short of peak demand. Costs would include $30,100 for kiosk installation, $1,475 in annual costs, and $12,000 for enforcement. The city would make about $163,000, based on 50 cents per hour, 50 percent usage.
The two kiosks would accept coins or credit cards, including smartphone apps for payments and open-space searches.
In June 2015, the city approved site plans for two downtown businesses both short on parking – the Honcho restaurant, which is the renovated Morgan’s at Main and Church streets; and Brightside Dental at 55 S. Main Street, which was adding 1,500 square feet. Discussion at the time included parking deferment payments in lieu of creating parking. The value of a parking spot would equal the cost of planning, acquiring, and constructing a new space, about $10,000 per spot, Catallo said at the time.
According to zoning ordinance 20.02, the payment would be set by city council resolution after consultation and review by city engineers and planners. This resolution has not been made.
City Council hosted meetings with Clarkston residents and retailers about parking in August and October 2015, when it commissioned a free parking study through the TIA. The study, which found the city would be short by more than 80 spaces, was complete and released in September 2016.
The site plan for the restaurant in the former bank at 15 S. Main Street was approved in October 2015, also with an exception to parking requirements.
The restaurant plan meets requirements of the section permiting exemption in the Parking Space Deferment District “if the applicant can demonstrate and the Planning Commission finds that adequate public parking is provided within a reasonable walking distance from the subject site.”
The Parking Space Deferment District includes downtown Main Street from just north of Washington Street to Waldon Road, including the Clarkston Mills on W. Washington Street.
“In my opinion, there is reasonable parking within walking distance to the site,” said Mike Sabol, who was serving on City Council and the Planning Commission at the time.