New Ford City Parking Regulations Considered
Parking meters along a three-block radius in Ford City Borough (like this one along 9th Street) are under- review by Borough Planning Commission members for their necessity and fairness.
by Jonathan Weaver
The best parking option to satisfy both Ford City Borough business owners and residents is up for debate.
Planning Commission Chair Andrew Tylinski explained the group was directed by Borough Council to study and find solutions for both commercial and residential parking that is affected by parking meters. Tylinski began his research in March.
The nearly-200 parking meters Borough-wide cost either a quarter per hour or a quarter for two hours of parking per stall.
“It comes down to what as a consensus, as a community what we can determine financially – if Ford City can afford it – and what makes the best sense for us,” Tylinski said.
How to approach commercial meters has conflicted Tylinski, he told more than two dozen residents and business owners last night.
“When I started doing this research, there were complaints ‘fair for one, fair for all. It was not fair.’ Some businesses in some areas of town have no meters in front of their businesses. Other businesses do,” Tylinski said. “Is that fair? No.
“I don’t think.”
Tylinski’s first thought was to meter customers in front of all businesses or even allow specific businesses to purchase parking stalls in front of their business for a specific duration of time – such as what was done in Apollo Borough.
But, such might create a “policing nightmare.”
Ford City Planning Commission Chair Andrew Tylinski revealed his preliminary findings on residential and commercial parking to residents, business owners and Borough Council members last night at the Latin American Club.
Tylinski then thought about the cities of Allentown, Bedford and Butler that don’t have any meters except for their municipal parking lots and got caught “on the fence.”
“When I sent my first study in, I was positive everybody should be metered. But now, I’m on the fence,” Tylinski said. “I don’t know whether it will be better for Ford City, better for businesses to not be metered at all.”
Chambers Jewelers Owner Zechariah Chambers said he has seen “a world of difference” since Ford Street hired Ordinance Enforcement Officer Michele Meixelberger to enforce.
He predicted there would be no available places to park if the Borough eliminates the two-hour parking zones.
Rick Wolfe, a third generation insurance agent – also with an office along Ford Street – also confirmed the difference Meixelberger has made.
“As far as the other businesses that have meters, if that’s an issue, give them two-hour parking too,” Wolfe said to applause. “If you put meters on Ford Street, you are going to punish us.”
An old map revealed by Council Vice-President Tyson Klukan showed that Ford Street used to have nearly three dozen parking meters. He said the general public opinion is “fairness across the board.”
Former Councilwoman Vicki Schaub opined that all stalls should offer two-hour parking as well.
Ford City Borough “profited” about $19,000 each year since 2012, but further study has to be complete to see if most of that “revenue” was through quarters in the meter or parking tickets issued by Meixelberger.
Tylinski estimated the cost for affected tenants or homeowners to park as well.
“Those, all in all, are roughly worth $2 a day. When we look at in that sense, those people would have to pay roughly $300-500 a year to park in front of their house,” Tylinski said.
Tylinski said some places, such as the Lawrenceville neighborhood of Pittsburgh, have rectified this problem by having residents pay an annual fee and assigning them to a specific, colored zone.
“As long as the color of that particular tag or sticker matches the zone that you live in, it means that you’re still OK to park there,” Tylinski said. “You can still leave the meters for people to park at, but you can also let people park in front of their house essentially for free and not have to worry about feeding the meter all day long.
“There are infinite possibilities of things we can do, but…we have to narrow it down to something basic, something simple.”
Another resident reminded Tylinski there are apartments above businesses and residents are unable to find parking spots – such as along Ford Street.
Klukan and Councilwoman Beth Bowser thanked Tylinski for his preliminary findings.
Tylinski hopes to have a final report and recommendations to Borough Council within a month.
Borough Planners will also discuss parking matters during their next meeting – August 4.
In other news, all six elected officials unanimously agreed to retroactively increase the hourly wage of two seasonal employees to $10.50 per hour.
Council President Carol Fenyes said the two employees work within the borough Street Department, and that the wage increase from $8.50 per hour is retroactive to July 13.
No Comments
No comments yet.
RSS feed for comments on this post.
Leave a comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
