Rome to expand parking limits

Commissioners are set to adopt an ordinance limiting on-street parking between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.

The Rome City Commission is poised to extend the hours of downtown parking enforcement through 8 p.m. at night.

Free on-street parking is limited to two hours a day in the district — consecutive or not — with enforcement between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.

City offices are closed today in observance of the Veterans Day holiday so Commissioners moved today’s regular meeting to Tuesday. Caucus begins at 5 p.m., with the business session starting at 6:30 p.m. in City Hall, 601 Broad St. Both meetings are public.

Extending enforcement another two hours is aimed at capturing the patterns of “the evening crowd,” according to Parking Services Manager Becky Smyth. Plans are to gather data for at least six months before taking the next step toward metered on-street parking.

“This is to get the analytics,” Smyth told members of the city’s Traffic Commission. “We want to know the average stay of a vehicle. If the data shows we need to go to 10 p.m., we can do that.”

The long-range plan is to convert the on-street spaces downtown to short-term paid slots and encourage the use of the parking decks by making those spaces free. It remains controversial and officials have promised more public hearings before a change.

The ordinance up for adoption Tuesday also requires drivers parking in the downtown district to ensure their license plate is clearly visible from the road. In most cases, that would be with the vehicle’s front end against the curb so a licenseplate scanner can read and record the tag as the enforcement officer drives by.

Commissioners also will hold first readings on three proposed zoning changes. Two are to convert offices in East Rome back to residential use and the third is to add automotive repair to a tire shop on Dean Avenue.

The board won’t vote on the proposals until after public hearings at its Nov. 26 meeting.

During the caucus session Tuesday, Commissioners will get a presentation from the Water and Sewer Department on completed and upcoming projects.