DDA to re-examine downtown parking
The city will seek funds to continue a moderate repair program.
Traffic moves slowly along Broad Street on Saturday as motorists hunt for a place to park downtown. Tim Haahs and Associates has been contracted for another major study of parking downtown.
Yet another study of parking in downtown Rome will be undertaken over the course of the next several months.
Downtown Parking Manager Becky Smyth said the downtown has changed since the last study was done six years ago, adding a lot of residential units and even more restaurants.
Alpharetta-based Tim Haahs and Associates have been retained for the new study, which will begin in January.
Smyth, who is president of the Parking Association of Georgia, said a supply and demand study was done in the late ’90s. An addendum to that study was done in 2010 that focused on wayfinding signage downtown; reviewing the fee structure at off-street parking facilities; and examining how collections are handled. Walker Parking Consultants handled both of those studies.
“There are several things we want to see now,” Smyth said. “We’re going to look at supply and de- mand, do we have adequate turnover, is there adequate parking to accommodate our five-year growth plan.”
Smyth said the new study would also examine issues such as enforcement and the twohour per day ordinance.
“That’s what we get the most questions, the most complaints, about,” Smyth said. “We want to see if there is a better way of doing that.” Becky Smyth
This electronic parking meter collects cash, debit or credit card payments for a DDA-sponsored lot off East First Street.
Downtown Development Director Ann Arnold said she is always looking for ways to improve and is hopeful the new study will identify ways to grow and improve the parking program. She said the two-hour limit might not be the best for general customers, but it is a way to create constant turnover.
“If you’re going to be here a while, and you would be considered a long-term parker, then seek off-street parking,” Arnold said.
Smyth also said Haahs and Associates will be asked to look at the future for metered parking downtown, once again.
“What would they look like, because there’s so much technology out there,” Smyth said. “There are a lot of people out there who believe we need to be moving in that direction. How much would that cost? What might the return on investment be?”
Smyth said the DDA definitely wants to make parking more user-friendly for the public.
The new study will also take a first look at parking in the River District on North Fifth Avenue and West Third Street.
“While we’re starting to think about what we want that area to look like, and we want it to develop, obviously, parking will be a big piece of that,” she said. Doug Walker / Doug Walker / Rome News-Tribune Rome News-Tribune
Smyth said the new study would cost $9,800. A total of four bids were received, ranging from the Haahs’ low bid all the way up to more than $40,000.
Rome Community Development Director Bekki Fox told the committee her office has applied for a grant of $306,000 to continue a moderate repair grant program. The program provides up to $25,000 in assistance to help bring substandard, owner-occupied housing up to code.
Fox also told commissioners she is reviewing a Rome Revolving Fund loan application for $125,000 to help with a downtown project. She said she is unable to divulge the nature of the project yet. The city loan fund currently has $220,000 available.
Mary Hardin Thornton, director of the Keep Rome Floyd Beautiful and Neighborhood Sustainability program, told the panel that more than 8,300 people have come through the ECO Center in Ridge Ferry Park this year, easily surpassing the goal of 5,000.
Thornton also said special programming for the ECO Center includes a closer look at the coyote population in the Rome area, a special event to look at what swims in the local rivers and possibly a wild-game dinner that would be a fundraiser.