Canton Tackles Fallout From Parking Enforcement

After actively enforcing downtown parking restrictions for a little less than a month, Canton leaders are now having second thoughts about the stipulations.

The Canton City Council on Monday will hold a special called meeting at 6 p.m. to discuss whether it should temporarily suspend enforcing parking restrictions in downtown. The meeting will be held at Canton City Hall.

The called meeting comes on the heels of the council on Thursday hearing from several business owners, who informed the council how the rules have impacted their operations. Currently, motorists parking in the downtown area are given a two-hour window in which they can park before they are ticketed.

For the first offense of overtime parking violation, the fine is $10. The second offense would cost $15 and the third offense jumps to $30.

Other fines include:

• Anti-scuffing/circumventing parking restrictions: $20
• double parking or parking in traffic lanes: $20
• parking outside designated parking space: $20
• parking in fire lane: $50
• parking in a crosswalk: $20
• parking in the wrong direction: $20
• parking where prohibited: $20
• parking in front of a fire hydrant: $50
• obstructing/blocking private driveway: $20
• handicap violation: $205
• boot fee: $75 (a boot to immobilize a vehicle will occur when there are four unpaid parking tickets on that vehicle)

Peter Williams, owner of Cup Up Coffee located inside Audio Intersection on East Main Street, said he would like to see the city consider extending the time before motorists are ticketed from two to four hours.

Also petitioning the city for an extension were Chelsey Wilkes and Jana Tillman, co-owners of Bloom Hair Design. Wilkes said with their salon, some of the services they offer require clients to stay at the salon longer than two hours.

They’ve now found themselves in situations in which they are paying the tickets written for their clients’ vehicles.

“Obviously, that’s not good for our business,” Wilkes said, adding clients are now booking for two days for services they would normally get in one visit.

Doug Key, owner of Key’s Jewelry, has been a long-time advocate for enforcing parking restrictions in downtown Canton.

“For my business, this has been a Godsend,” he added. “My clients have a place to park now.”

However, Key said he believes the new restrictions are “running” people out of downtown Canton, and also encouraged the city to review what could be done to make the central business district more friendly to visitors.

Joseph Guynup, owner of Painted Pig Tavern and The Study, stated the same. Guynup suggested the city temporarily suspend enforcement until they hash out a solution that would satisfy the majority of residents and business owners.

On Friday, Canton Assistant Police Chief Mark Mitchell said his agency will work closely with city leaders and the administration on whatever direction they decided to take.

Canton police twice delayed the implementation of parking enforcement. During the warning period that extended from late August to early November, the agency wrote over 1,200 warning citations to motorists.

The agency also has utilized social media, warning signs and media outlets to notify residents of the enforcement.

Since Nov. 10 — when the enforcement went into effect, — 215 tickets have been written, Mitchell said. Those tickets range from exceeding the two-hour time limit, double parking and left wheels to curb. The agency hasn’t cited any repeat offenders, and they’ve only issued nine anti-shuffling tickets.

”It’s a work in progress,” Mitchell said. “We just want to have consistency with parking enforcement.”

For City Council member Jack Goodwin, he believes the issue won’t be solved until the city and Cherokee County come together and build a parking deck in downtown Canton. The county has been eyeing property behind the North Street Apartments to utilize for its planned expansion of the Cherokee County Justice Center, which would also increase parking spaces.

Billy Cagle, owner of Mid-City Pharmacy, said the city’s problem is created by employees of downtown businesses who park in front of their respective establishments. The onus should also be placed upon business owners to encourage their employees to park further away from their stores and shops.

“That’s the biggest problem you see,” he added.

Council member Bill Grant added applying the two-hour window as a one size fits all Band-Aid to combat that problem was the wrong approach.

Canton is becoming known as a destination spot and, according to Grant, the city is at risk of becoming known as a place where if you visit multiple businesses, “you’re going to get a ticket.”

Tell us: what should Canton do about its newly implemented parking enforcement guidelines? Should the city temporarily suspend its policy or start from scratch?