BY PHIL CUSTODIO
Clarkston News Editor
Clarkston’s Parking Committee was put back to work after City Council kicked several issues back to it for further review, Monday.
Council voted unanimously to reconsider and send back two committee recommendations – paid parking in the Depot Road municipal parking lot and elimination of parking on Buffalo Street south of Church Street.
These measures, which were rejected along with others by City Council on July 9, were sent back to the parking committee for further review.
Council member Scott Reynolds, also a member of the parking committee, said it’s a good idea to reconsider the proposals.
“I think we have to be respectful as a council to these committees and subcommittees,” Reynolds said. “The parking committee pored over the data for five months, made a presentation to the planning commission, and received unanimous recommendation.”
Council member Al Avery said parking and capital-improvement financing are separate issues.
“It’s not the job of the parking committee to discuss finance – that’s the council’s job,” Avery said. “Paid parking, what does it solve? It makes money for the city, but what is it really solving? Or is it creating more problems?”
A new proposal to create resident-only parking zones in the city’s east side was also kicked to the committee, Monday night.
This proposal was to authorize changing E. Washington east of Buffalo, E. Church east of Buffalo, and Buffalo south of Church to resident-only parking, and also convert all two-hour and unlimited parking limits to three-hour parking limits and limit parking on the angled parking spaces on Depot Road to one hour.
“I think that probably needs to go back to the parking committee – there are too many things unknown,” said Council member David Marsh, who made a motion to send it to committee. “To decide now would be premature – I think we need to send it to the parking committee to hash out some fine details.”
Reynolds said the committee didn’t know anything about it.
“It was a little shocking to me to see this proposal in the agenda,” he said.
“We were kind of blindsided by it,” said Joe Luginski, member of the parking committee and planning commission.
Marsh said the measures would force employees to park in designated areas outside the downtown zone, thereby increasing parking for downtown patrons while protecting residents’ neighborhood parking spots.
“Just adding paid parking solves one of three things we’re shooting for – revenue, getting more parking in the city, and a long term agreement (with owners of the private Mills Mall parking lots),” Marsh said. “I thought it only solved revenue.”
A motion to send the proposal back to the parking committee and planning commission was approved 6-1. Avery voted “no.”
Reynolds made a motion to add Marsh to fill a vacant seat on the parking committee. The motion was approved 6-1. Council member Sharron Catallo voted “no,” after noting the previous parking committee member, Kevin Harrison, represented downtown business owners.
The parking committee recommended a long-term agreement with the Mills Mall to provide paid parking in the municipal lot to match the private lots’ pay-to-park policy. In return, the lot owner would provide free parking during city free-parking events, align its pay-to-park policy, mobile app, and payment system with the city’s, plow and maintain the lots, and grant the city first right of refusal should the lots come up for sale.