As the city of St. Joseph prepares to implement its downtown paid parking program this summer, social media has blown up with some negative remarks. However, some business voices downtown are urging people to give the parking plan a chance.
Renee Borah is the owner of Affinity Salon and Spa on Main Street. She tells us she thought for a long time the city needed a parking garage, but after attending meetings with commissioners and the city’s parking consultant, she saw such an idea wouldn’t work here. The studies have shown building a garage would be tremendously expensive and that few people would actually use it if they found an alternative. Meanwhile, Borah says the summer parking problem has continued for years. She credits city leadership for finally trying something to address it.
“I think we need to give it some time,” Borah said. “If the city’s going to put that money back into downtown and make it better, it’s going to be better for everyone. And it’s just a short period of time. I don’t see another solution. I think a lot of people are bringing a lot of problems and not offering a lot of solutions, and I think that’s been a problem for many years.”
Some residents have threatened to avoid the downtown altogether, but Borah says they’d only be hurting the businesses there.
“I’ve had a few people say that they’re not going to go downtown when the paid parking is in effect, but honestly, in the next breath they’ll say, ‘Well, I avoid downtown anyway in the tourist season.’ So if they’re not going down there in the tourist season anyway, the paid parking doesn’t really affect them, in my opinion.”
Borah says she does have some of the same concerns other business owners have expressed, like teenage employees having to cross Main Street to access free parking on the east side. However, she says the city has shown it’s listening by making changes to the original parking plan, like grandfathering in downtown residents who lack parking and offering passes to those with physical limitations.
The paid parking will be only May 15 through September 15 from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and on the west side of Main Street. The idea is to free up spaces for the customers of downtown businesses and stop beach goers from parking for free all day in the best spots. The parking rules were established by the city commission in a resolution instead of an ordinance so commissioners can make changes quickly and as needed.
We’ll have the city manager of St. Joseph and a representative of the Downtown Development authority on the WSJM Morning Show this Wednesday at 7 a.m. to talk more about the program and its potential benefits.
