By Dave Fidlin
Correspondent
On the heels of Whitewater’s 2-year-old zoning rewrite project, city officials are picking up their red pens and making a series of proposed revisions to an oft-discussed issue in the community: parking.
Members of the Plan and Architectural Review Commission on July 11 hashed over a series of issues specifically related to the city’s downtown area. A number of recommendations also were presented at the meeting.
The downtown-specific parking review is the second phase of a process aimed at offering greater accommodations to motorists in some of the city’s denser areas. The first phase of the review pertained to residential parking accommodations across many areas of Whitewater.
In the road ahead, potential parking changes downtown could include simplified on-street parking regulations, calling for either a 2-hour or 15-minute maximum. Depending on the location downtown, current regulations include a mix of regulations, ranging from 15 minutes to 10 hours – and a number of figures in-between.
Another proposal on the table calls for simplifying parking regulations within lots. One potential plan includes a 10-hour maximum and requiring motorists have a permit. Overnight accommodations, in the proposal reviewed last week, would be offered in one of the municipal lots.
In the hopes of curbing drunken driving, city officials are considering lifting overnight parking restrictions within lots on the weekends. If implemented, motorists could park without a permit in lots early Saturday and Sunday mornings, so long as snow removal is not necessary in the winter months.
Efforts to meet business owners’ needs also are intertwined in the list of possible changes. For example, owners and operators of downtown-based businesses could be granted up to four hanging permit tags if employees need to park outside an establishment between 2 and 5 a.m.
Additional components of the review include possible reverse-angle parking accommodations and restriping areas of Main Street for compact vehicles.
Chris Munz-Pritchard, neighborhood services manager and municipal planner, said the city has made a number of overtures toward the community, including collaboration with Downtown Whitewater Inc., a local organization that promotes businesses and plans a series of community events.
Additional steps included gathering feedback from city staffers and police personnel, holding two focus groups and administering a survey.
Results from the recently closed survey revealed respondents appreciated a number of parking-related features downtown, including free parking and a general consensus there are parking spaces near local businesses.
Of the 138 people taking the survey, about three-quarters asserted they would not be willing to pay to park closer to their destination.
The majority of the respondents visit downtown frequently. About 40 percent said they did so daily, and an additional 55 percent parked downtown at least once a week.
Further discussion of the proposed changes downtown is anticipated in the months ahead. Next steps include amending the city’s parking ordinance and making changes to all existing documents so information is consistent.
