3,000 workers, 2,300 spaces
DDA officials are looking for additional parking opportunities.
A lack of parking in downtown Rome is a good problem to have, members of the Downtown Development Authority said Thursday.
City Commissioner Evie McNiece, chair of the DDA parking committee, said the need for another parking deck is already being discussed as a possible project for a future special purpose, local option sales tax.
Parking Manager Becky Smyth said there are approximately 2,300 spaces in the downtown district, but more than 3,000 people work in that area, she noted.
That means there’s potentially a shortage of pub-
lic parking before the first shopper or visitor arrives.
McNiece and Smyth suggested the city-owned midtown transit parking lot off East First Street as a potential location for a deck.
The DDA manages the Third Avenue, Fourth Avenue and Sixth Avenue parking decks, which to-
gether provide 1,090 parking spaces. Revenue from the Third Avenue Parking Deck is earmarked to pay the bonds that were issued to build it.
Parking program revenue — which includes parking citations — totaled $ 145,339 in 2015. The money finances Smyth’s management and enforcement operation.
McNiece said the parking committee also is looking at painting the downtown crosswalks in a way that draws more attention to them, to enhance pedestrian safety.
In addition to imaginative visual designs, the plan would include raised markers that could cost as little as $30 each.
“Each of the crosswalks could be a different design, something that is really cool for visitors to see,” McNiece said.
Also on Thursday, the DDA approved two $2,500 facade grants for Greg Sumner’s work at the 215217 Broad St.
Sumner — who said the facade work on the two buildings would total $98,000 — asked for $5,000 for each, but Design Committee Chairwoman Ann Pullen said that would have eaten almost twothirds of the available funds for the year.