Hotchkiss Chamber Sends Parking Recommendations to Town

Hotchkiss Chamber Sends Parking Recommendations to Town

By Thomas Wills

Hotchkiss Community Chamber of Commerce

Acting on recommendations from the Downtown Improvement/ Downtown Merchants’ Committee, the board of the Hotchkiss Community Chamber of Commerce, at their August 26 meeting, agreed unanimously to send recommendations regarding downtown parking issues to the Hotchkiss Town Council.  At the meeting Kim Shay of Ace/Gambles Hardware and Tom Wills (this reporter – Wills Gallery and Used Books), of the DI/MC, both explained the current and anticipated future issues.

There is some periodic parking congestion in the First and Bridge Street area along with some ongoing similar problems on the north east corner of Second and Bridge Street in the area of North Fork Vision, the locksmith, and Subway. Illegal parking, in the no-parking zone, at the post office corner is common.

There is an ordinance denoting Bridge Street from 5^th to Pinyon as having a two-hour limit on daytime parking.  A few signs are in place in the downtown core but they are few and far between and, according to Marshal Dan Miller, do not meet the necessary standards for enforcement if necessary. At this time there isn’t a serious problem with vehicle parking more than two hours with only three or four business owners/employees in the downtown core doing so regularly.

The more serious parking issues are off of Bridge Street in the area of Memorial Hall and the Hotchkiss Library where most downtown employees park during the day. This area is not included in the two-hour parking zone.  Employees of the First State Bank and other businesses park in that area and the addition of Shadescapes America offices to the Buffalo Collection building will bring 16-22 more cars to the same area.

The letter being sent to the Town states:

“The Chamber would urge the Hotchkiss town government to:

1. Support the enforceability of the existing parking ordinance by replacing the existing, obsolete, 2-hour parking signage with signage updated signage placed in a manner (frequency) which would allow the Town to feasibly enforce parking restrictions either as needed on a case by case basis, or in the future, should parking problems become more chronic. Better signage may help discourage long term parking by serving as a deterrent, thus making enforcement less necessary.
2. Develop the public parking area behind the Creamery by paving, striping, installing better lighting, and providing directional signage and a designated pedestrian route to Bridge Street.
3. Pursue a use or purchase contract with the Elks Lodge (if the Lodge would be receptive) to utilize and improve the existing parking behind the Lodge. A paved and striped parking lot with good lighting and directional signage might alleviate much of the parking congestion currently seen in the previously mentioned First and Main Street neighborhood – mostly caused by a lack of sufficient parking for business owners and employees in that neighborhood – and possibly this would also help in the Subway/North Fork Vision area.

We feel that some of these infrastructure improvements might prudently be pursued prior to any consideration of parking enforcement.  We rightly leave the decision making regarding these issues to our capable Town government, and appreciate the evolving working partnership between the Town and the Chamber.” Unquote.

Downtown parking issues have been considered by the Chamber and Town for several decades moving in cycles as the businesses have come and gone and the economy has varied.  The central challenge is how to encourage a vital downtown C-1 zone while also making sure adequate off-street parking is available.  In the Hotchkiss Community Master Plan the Town agrees not to require on-site off-street parking for new businesses in the downtown C-1 core as a way to encourage businesses locating in that area. It also recognizes that many of the structures in the downtown take up much of their lats and do not have space to provide many off street spaces.

The 2014 Downtown and Highway Corridor Improvement Plan adopted by the Town sets a policy of the Town and Chamber collaborating on the issue.