A parking study given to the city by the Traffic Improvement Association of Michigan on Sept. 13 was not listed on the City Council’s meeting agenda for Oct. 10, but was added at the meeting by Council member Michael Sabol.
Mayor Joe Luginski called for the study, which was discussed at the September parking committee meeting but not officially released, to be placed on the city’s website and made available to the public.
The city is projected to be short 26 parking spaces when the Union Joints’ Honchos restaurant and the restaurant in the former Clarkston State Bank opens. Honchos opened this week, and work on the former bank continues steadily.
TIA recommendations include creating new parking spaces, working with private lot owners for more access, offsite parking, using shuttle or valet service, and further study once changes are made.
A parking inventory earlier this year counted 394 parking spaces in public and private lots available for use by the public at least after normal business hours, not including those on East Washington Street and East Church Street.
Three lots, Health Quest, Creekside Salon, and the lot across Depot Road from City Hall, do not allow public usage after their normal business hours. With the gated closing of one parking lot, 56 spaces, on Depot Street after June 30, it is calculated that between 82.7 and 87.9 percent of the spaces are used. The two new restaurants will require an additional 192 parking spaces, pushing usage over 100 percent.
The new Union Joints restaurant includes seating for 95 patrons inside and 20 outside. The estimated parking requirement is for 69 vehicles, based on the ordinance requirement of 0.6 spaces per seat ratio. The site plan shows six proposed on-street parking spaces on Church and Main streets.
The restaurant plan in the former bank includes seating for 114 on the main floor, 71 on the lower level, and 20 outside. Estimated parking requirement is 123 vehicles, using 0.6 spaces per seat.
City Council granted parking waivers to the restaurants when they were approved last year, under ordinance Section 20.02U, General Requirements, Parking Space Deferment. Exemptions are granted “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.
– Phil Custodio

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