It would be an understatement to say this topic is not an easy one to wade into right now. Residents are stuck at home, or working from home, with nowhere to park their car while businesses are fighting for their very survival relying heavily on pick up. This is creating a competition for parking that is not typically seen in a normal year.
Prior to the pandemic, a non-permit zone was created around the train station to keep commuters from parking on our streets all day and to encourage them to use the SEPTA parking garage; a practice almost every other community in our area uses. Early in the pandemic it was decided that enforcement of the non-permit zone would cease to help mitigate the challenges of the pandemic and to encourage pick-up for businesses. However, this has created a push and pull for parking between residents and businesses that is starting to reach a head. Businesses want to see more turnover in the parking spots (through enforcement) while residents, understandably, are in a difficult position of being at home and not having a place to park legally all day. Additionally, enforcement needs to be equal for all. We cannot ticket some and not others; creating a difficult situation for all parties involved.
Over the last few days, I have been working with the police chief, borough manager and president of council to find a middle ground for all parties involved. This has not been an easy task as it requires auditing all the available parking in our downtown area and estimating how many vehicles around Main, Madison, Wood, and Green need to be addressed and then creating a scenario that meets the needs of most people.
It is our hope to identify around 65 parking spots that residents will be able to use for parking throughout the day. Residents who would like to park in these spots will need to apply for a free permit that requires only showing proof of residence (mail, driver’s license, etc.). Spot locations are likely to be centered around Courtland, Madison, and the public end of the Madison Lot. If this change is made, spots will still be first come, first served but they will require a permit to park in. Additionally, when the SEPTA garage reopens, it is likely that there will be additionally spots available to the Borough to use for this program, which will help immensely.
While imperfect, this plan allows us to resume parking enforcement where there are metered parking spots in our community encouraging reasonable turnover for businesses to continue to do pick-up and dine-in service while giving residents a location to park all day without incurring fines or tickets. Additionally, there will continue to be two dedicated “pick-up” only spots on Main St. (next to the Auto Parts building) which will continue to help with business operating under a new pandemic driven business model.
There are still details to be worked out on this and there will be more to come as it is settled. However, we believe there is a reasonable solution that can be achieved that works for the remainder of this pandemic. To the residents and businesses that are struggling with this problem, we hear you and we are working on your behalf to try and improve this delicate situation. I am sure everyone realizes how difficult this time has been for every resident and business alike and we are going to make every effort to improve the situation as fast and as reasonably as we can.
(Mayoral Musings is a weekly op-ed column submitted to North Penn Now, courtesy of Lansdale Borough Mayor Garry Herbert.)
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