There is a lot of about the present Council that makes me smile. I chucked to myself at least twice after hearing serious things 'with flare' coming from my fellow Councilmen. My amusement centers on those little gems that we sometimes pick out of a conversation. I say this in the best way, since I enjoyed the evening with each of them.
I was also reminded how extraordinarily good C.B. Cundiff is with numbers. He produced some impressive data on the Town budget. Namely, that we are close to being over budget from a number of unexpected issues. If you don't know, C.B. is the chairman of the Town's Finance Committee.
By the way, I'm chairman of the Streets and Solid Waste Committee. Maybe that is a good starter Committee for a new guy to chair, but I'm excited about it. I'm see some real opportunity in the position. I had a chance to make some changes tonight, and all of them were accepted by the Council. I'm pleased to report the outcome.
And while the outcome was good, my resolution was rather convoluted. That is something that I'll need to work on, but I appreciate the Council's patience. I'm going to explain what happened. Writing is generally a stronger form of communication for me.
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| Looking toward the problem area during a May 28, 2011 Car Show. (This is the best image that I have.) |
1) Eliminate the loading zone in front of the Chatham Star-Tribune. This would involve the removal of two signs and restriping the former loading zone.
It turns out the loading zone was never for the Star-Tribune. It was for a now defunct Western Auto store. With the loading zone now eliminated, it will provide two extra parking spaces downtown for very little investment. A big 'Thank You' comes from Tim Davis, the Star-Tribune's editor, for coming forward with the Western Auto information. And, he was gracious to let the loading zone go despite its use for a Wednesday paper delivery.
2) Eliminate the last southbound parking space on Main Street (US29 Business) prior to Center Street. Some have called it the 'old taxi stand' and it sits in front of the small Rotary sponsored park with the fountain. The idea is to turn that spot into a 'No Parking' area. A sign would change to 'No Parking' and the spot restriped.
While there are no serious traffic incidents reported at the intersection, there is concern for traffic leaving Center Street for Main Street. When leaving Center Street, there is at least one blind spot with a building on a driver's right side. Drivers already need to inch into Main Street to observe Northbound Main Street traffic. This problem is compounded when a vehicle, especially a large vehicle like a truck, is parked in the mentioned Southbound parking space.
Here is the theory. The elimination of that space would provide a better field of view when there are a lot of vehicles parking downtown. This would improve safety for motorists turning left or right from Center Street onto Main Street.
3) Eliminate the loading zone in front of the popular Chatamooca. At least one sign would need to be removed. The spot would need to be restriped. (I have not had a chance to discuss this with the owner since the issue came up during the meeting.)
There are, in fact, two separate loading zones in front of Chatham Cleaners and Chatamooca. The Chatamooca loading zone was for a store that previously occupied the Chatamooca storefront. Chatamocca customers already park in the loading zone. Changing it over will just make it formal.
So if you've been counting, Chatham just gained three parking spots and lost one in one little area of the Town. That's plus three, minus one in a place where parking is at a lunchtime premium. And, it'll cost the taxpayers very little to make these cosmetic changes.
I do not, as yet, know when these parking changes will occur. I'll try to discuss with the Town staff soon. I think the Chatamooca customers will be happy.
The Star-Tribune and Chatamooca might be seen as losing space for their deliveries. However, their customers should gain with the three additional parking spots. Chief Marin Wright has no problem with businesses using traffic cones to mark off a parking area if the business has a forthcoming delivery. Cones can be removed and parking freed after the delivery.
Great ideas start with our citizens and residents. While the first two suggestions came from Town citizens, the third suggestion came from an experienced member of the Town staff. They were all great suggestions.
If you have additional thoughts on Chatham's downtown parking or if you have any other ideas for traffic flow, please let me know.
I learned a lot this evening. I plan to take a hard look at parking during the day. There might be one or two more spaces we can free up. And, I plan to look at street lighting at night. There is one Town resident that needs a street light for security purposes. What do you need with lighting?
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