Four new 15-minute parking spots potentially will be added to Albany Street in the near future in order to give shoppers the ability to find a convenient space to park while they run quick errands downtown. The village board discussed the potential parking change to add the new spaces — two at each end on different sides of the Albany Street downtown shopping district — at its July 1 meeting.
“People believe this will be helpful to the downtown business district,” said Mayor Kurt Wheeler.
Wheeler said that Village Parking Commissioner Jim Joseph, who was unable to attend the July 1 meeting, discussed the parking issue and potential changes with multiple Albany Street merchants, as well as members of the Historic Cazenovia Business District, and received “positive feedback” about the 15-minute parking spot idea. He said merchants felt that the inability of people to “park, run in and go” downtown was a problem.
The village board is proposing to create four new 15-minute parking spaces, two on each end of the Albany Street business district. Two would be located on the south side of Albany Street immediately after Mill Street (in front of AmeriCU), and two would be on the north side of Albany Street immediately after the entrance to the Telephone Park public parking lot (in front of Kinney Drugs on the street, not in the lot).
The new 15-minute parking spaces would be in effect throughout the day until 7 p.m.; after 7 p.m. they will revert to unlimited parking, Wheeler said. Police Chief Michael Hayes said they will not be extending the hours of the parking enforcement officer to enforce these new spaces, rather, the on-duty police officer will enforce them as complaints of illegal parking are received.
The rationale for choosing those four spaces to change from two-hour to 15-minute parking is that they are easy to pull into and out of during heavy traffic periods, they are just past the main business district block and they are near banks, which is a typical quick stop for people, Wheeler said.
There are currently already five 15-minute parking spaces in the downtown area — three in front of Oneida Savings Bank and two in front of The Lincklaen House.
The village is considering how best to sign the new spaces to indicate the change, such as new village signs or different colored curb paint.
The board did not vote on the parking proposal during the July 1 meeting. Village Attorney Jim Stokes said they had to deal with an attorney/client privilege issue in executive session before a decision could be made. No vote was taken after executive session, according to Village Clerk Kathy Burns.
The issue will be discussed during the board’s next regular monthly meeting on Aug. 3, Wheeler said.
Jason Emerson is editor of the Cazenovia Republican. He can be reached at [email protected].
