Paid parking in downtown St. Joseph has been suspended for an undetermined time to deal with handicap and disability access issues. While many downtown business owners are pleased with the pause, they remain highly suspicious about the City Commission’s willingness to make significant changes to the paid parking plan—or to end it for good as many of the business owners would prefer.
When City Manager Emily Hackworth announced Monday night that she was immediately suspending the paid system because it failed to meet so called ‘ADA standards’ for handicapped access, some of the business owners at the Commission meeting seemed almost disappointed that they had apparently ‘won the battle’… it seemed some might be looking forward to continuing to fight ‘the war’ over parking. Some talked privately of filing lawsuits against the city for revenue lost since May 15 , when the controversial plan began.
Some business owners questioned whether Hackworth had the authority as the City’s top administrator to suspend the parking plan. They wondered aloud if there needed to be a formal Commission vote. There was, however, no resolution on the floor on which to vote.
It seemed clear to longtime observers of City Government that Hackworth had the authority to suspend paid parking operations when it became clear that the cty’s new parking kiosks were inaccessible to handicapped drivers. Why that fact didn’t surface earlier in the City’s staff planning for paid parking is NOT clear. It seems questions will be asked of the Engineering Department and others who had a role in installing the parking kiosks, which, even to the naked eye, are not handicap-friendly.
In her brief announcement to the packed chamber, Hackworth gave no hint of how long her ‘paid parking pause’ might be. However, she suggested the time could be well spent getting all sides of the issue to the table for honest discussion and compromise. A few in the room applauded that ‘olive branch’, but many others scoffed at it, some yelling insults toward the Commission and Hackworth later in the meeting.
With the ‘nuts & bolts specifics’ of the paid parking issue having been repeatedly debated in earlier meetings, several of Monday night’s comments moved on to the long-term impact of the parking controversy on St. Joseph as a community and its image as a weekend or vacation destination. Several merchants quoted out of town customers as being disgusted with the change in ‘welcoming atmosphere’, symbolized by paid parking. A couple of others pounded on the Commission for allegedly forgetting about Senior Citizens who can’t or won’t utilize credit cards and Smart Phone apps.
One speaker who said she worked in advertising suggested the city would have to spend far more to undo its new, negative image of greed than it could ever hope to get from paid parking revenue.
So, for now, paid parking in St. Joseph is ‘on hold.’ City Manager Hackworth told us she would promptly begin arranging meetings with all the factions to discuss what happens next, and when. Meanwhile, other city staff members will be trying to figure out how they missed the mark so completely on the issue of handicap compliant equipment. And downtown business owners will be deciding whether to simply declare victory or begin planning for the next battle in the paid parking saga.
By Gayle Olson, MOTM Contributor
