Downtown Residents Lost in Parking Shuffle

There appears to have been an unintended consequence to the after the council acknowledged Wednesday night that downtown residents were overlooked when drafted, and may need to wake up early to avoid parking tickets. Still, the council reported, it's looking into accommodating affected residents as best it can.

Tiffany Mallard, of 18 South Broad Street, told the Ridgewood Village Council on Wednesday night that she holds an overnight parking permit, which allows her to park in the Hudson Lot. Her permit, which she renewed in August, gave her the option to park until 10 a.m., when the old parking ordinance enforcement time began.

Technically, however, Mallard and other residents with such passes were allowed to park until 7 a.m. But because the enforcement time began at 10 a.m. there was a "gap in coverage," as explained by Village Manager Ken Gabbert.

Recognizing her parking situation would be greatly impacted by the change–which now features enforcement from 6 a.m. to 6 a.m. in the lots at half the hourly rate–she appealed to the council to see if the arrangement could continue or if changes could be made.

"I dont think there's any other arrangement on the ordinance but we did change it from 2 o'clock to 6 [o'clock] so it's an hour shorter on each end," Mayor Keith Killion said.

Other than private parking, the council saw no immediate alternative spare finding businesses that may lease a spot, which would be a few blocks away. Killion acknowledged moving the car at 6 a.m. represented a hardship, but said there was no other way for the ordinance to get done.

"It seems to me an unintended consequence of the ordinance," Councilman Paul Aronsohn said. The councilman noted that during the arduous, difficult discussions, the impact on downtown residents did not come up.

Still, Aronsohn suggested the council consider not acting on the ordinance change to possibly allow residents to continue to park until 10 a.m.

"Maybe before we try this in the form of ordinance . . . because we have not acted on it maybe it's just something we can take back completely," he said.

As for the impetus of the 7 a.m. time, Mayor Killion explained the 7 a.m. timetable was to allow plows to operate and clean the parking lot between 10 a.m. when the lots started to load up.

Mallard and others need not worry in the short term about feeding the meter at 6 a.m. or moving the car to the street, officials said. Village Manager Ken Gabbert remarked there will be an official document that says the village will honor the 7 a.m. time. by Thursday.

"I really feel we should provide an accomodation . . . and we will honor that 7 a.m. time period for anyone affected by that becaues there will be that one hour of overlap," he said.

Although the residents of the Central Business District parking in the downtown lots will still be getting up at 7 a.m.–a far cry for the 10 a.m. time–Killion said the council will be brainstorming to address the issue to accommodate those living in the Central Business District.