by Michael Monks
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The City of Covington is responsible for 54% of public parking Downtown and in Mainstrasse and is exploring how to make it more effective for businesses. The City recently completed a survey of the parking situation Downtown in which nearly two-hundred people responded. The Madison Avenue and Pike Street business districts were identified as having the most immediate need for parking reforms during a public meeting at City Hall last week, though heavy concern was expressed by residents of Licking Riverside as well.
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Rebecca Volpe from the City's community development department reported that business owners Downtown believe that their customers are willing to walk only a block to get to their destination, though parking turnover in front of businesses was not identified in the survey as an important issue. That conflicts with the analysis by a retail consultant in town recently as part of the Progressive Urban Management Associates update on the Center City Action Plan. The consultant believes that higher parking turnover at meters would translate to more customers for the businesses.
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Frustrations expressed to the City in regards to parking included a lack of residential parking to accommodate the mixed-use nature of the area, broken meters not offering the free ten minutes, and the lack of a parking plan during events. Covington is weighing two options: signs that allow for 2-hour parking or keeping the meter system without raising rates. In fact, Covington's parking costs for visitors is quite a bargain: meters are fifty cents per hour while the garages and surface lots are mostly one dollar per hour. PUMA also conducted a survey about parking and found that only 3.4% list the issue as a top priority that needs to be addressed.
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Three business owners or managers in attendance at City Hall last week insisted that their customers face an inordinate amount of ticketing while parking in the commercial business district. Approximately one-thousand tickets are issued each month throughout Downtown, Pike Street, Mainstrasse, and Licking Riverside by AMPCO, the company that contracts with Covington to enforce parking laws.
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SEE ALSO: The public hearing on parking was highlighted by the news that more parking spaces will be added on Pike Street through the elimination of loading zones and the metered parking may be on the way to Mainstrasse. For that story, click the link.
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Recommendations offered by the City to address the parking situation: keep the meters without raising rates as opposed to removing meters and replacing them with 2-hour parking signs because AMPCO says the City could afford to pay for the labor involved with enforcing the signs and because meters virtually enforce themselves; replace the meters that have surpassed their shelf lives (in fact, roughly ten meters are replaced per month curently); and continue to enforce the parking restrictions within the residential parking program exclusive to Licking Riverside.
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