By Ashley M. Casey

Associate Editor

A group of about 16 business owners and village officials gathered at Baldwinsville Village Hall on Monday evening to discuss an increasing concern in the village: parking.

“It’s not that there’s not enough parking. It’s an issue of perception,” Mayor Dick Clarke said.

Village Engineer Steve Darcangelo said he recently did an informal study of the village’s seven municipal parking lots at Village Hall, Mercer Park, River Street, Village Square, the Red Mill Inn, Marble Street and Meadow Street. He drove by these lots around 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. on a Monday, Thursday and Friday and counted available parking spaces. Darcangelo found that most of these lots had dozens of spaces available. The River Street lot, which was revamped last year, had 55 open parking spaces. Village Square — behind the B’ville Diner — had between 55 and 71 open spots available out of 129 total spots.

However, Darcangelo said, the lot at Village Hall has become very congested as the village has added more employees over the years. His informal survey showed only one or two open spots available at Village Hall.

“This lot is a logjam,” Clarke said, but he added that there are hundreds of spots available in other village lots.

Meg Van Patten, director of the Baldwinsville Public Library, said she does not mind when people park in BPL’s lot when the library is closed, but problems arise when the library is hosting events. She also said BPL’s parking lot will be closed for repair for two weeks at the end of August and beginning of September, so people will have to plan accordingly.

Darcangelo suggested that businesses and other establishments like BPL post signage telling drivers when people can park in their lots as opposed to emphasizing when the lot is closed.

“At least that gives assurance that they’re not in violation,” Darcangelo said.

Van Buren Town Councilor Wendy Van Der Water suggested the village “brand” its lots with names, letters or clearer signage.

Robin Mack, owner of Sweet Dream Candy Shoppe, agreed that simpler signage is the way to go.

“It should say ‘public parking’ instead of ‘municipal’ because people don’t know what that means,” she said.

Darcangelo also warned that businesses might be taking up their own prime spots.

“If your employees are taking up the very best spots outside your business, I’m sorry — there isn’t much I can do for you,” he said.

Joseph Vitale, president of Seneca Savings, noted that the village taxpayers pay for the Village Hall lot, so perhaps village employees should park in the more far-flung lots.

“The back lot is being totally taken over,” Vitale said. “This is the village center. You’re telling all our customers and employees, ‘Go off and park over here,’ whereas this lot is controlled by the village.”

Baldwinsville Police Chief Mike Lefancheck said when Joe Saraceni was mayor, he asked the police department to park at the DPW garage, but the officers’ locker room and meeting space are in Village Hall.

“It disrupted our operations a great deal,” Lefancheck said, adding that asking the officers to park elsewhere would increase overtime costs and impact the department’s response time to emergencies.

Also at issue are people who park overnight or long-term in public spots. Lefancheck said the BPD does not have the resources to strictly enforce every parking rule, but businesses who notice the same people committing parking violations can note the license plate number and contact the police for assistance.

At the end of the meeting, Darcangelo summarized the takeaways:

• Signage and awareness of existing parking lots need improvement.

• The village will look into 15-minute parking in isolated areas in the Oswego Street/West Genesee Street area.

• The village will evaluate and possibly remove parking restrictions on streets such as Elizabeth Street.

• The Mercer Park lot needs striping, but the village must find funding.

While he acknowledged the real issues with parking, Darcangelo urged business owners to look for opportunities.

“Parking is not a bad problem to have. That means occupancy is up, activity within the village is good,” he said. “It’s been a long time since the village had that as a problem here.”

Concerts at Paper Mill Island attract 800 to 1,400 people to the village, Darcangelo said.

“It creates traffic. It also creates other problems. But hopefully it creates opportunities

A map of public parking lots can be found at baldwinsville.org/documents/category/65-dpw. To share your concerns and ideas, contact Village Engineer Steve Darcangelo at 315-635-9665 or [email protected].