Downtown Parking Back On Woodstock's Radar

WOODSTOCK, GA -- The city of Woodstock continues to grapple with the downside of having its downtown area become a popular destination for local residents.

City leaders on Monday directed city staff to come back and outline what it would take to phase in some form of paid parking or time-limited parking in certain areas of the central business district.

The City Council received a recap of its current situation in downtown Woodstock from two representatives from SP+, a parking and transportation solutions company. The company took information from the 2012 parking study, updated the plan and presented that data to city leaders.

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Some of the information included how many parking spaces are occupied at any given time of day and how long vehicles were parked in places designated as on-street parking and off-street parking.

For example, on a typical Saturday, the city's occupancy rate for on-street parking was around 86 percent (the company considers an 85 percent as "effectively full") while off-street parking is 9 percent full, the consultants said.

On Wednesdays, that number drops to 73 percent for on-street parking and 24 percent for off-street parking.
According to the consultants, the city has an adequate supply of parking, but could help improve turnover by either implementing time-limited parking or paid parking.

If Woodstock planned to utilize paid parking, it could install strategically placed meters or consider using mobile apps that would allow motorists to pay for parking using their smartphones.

If the city went with time-limited enforcement, it could cost $260,000 per year to operate the system, with a one-time expenditure of $70,000 in start-up costs.

If Woodstock chooses the paid parking route, there could be roughly $480,000 in operating expenses, and a one-time cost of $300,000 to get the system up and running.

Mayor Donnie Henriques asked if there is a way a system the city would use could track repeat parking violators. The consultant noted the city could choose whether to boot or tow a vehicle after it's received so many unpaid violations within a certain time frame.

Council member David Potts, who lives in the Woodstock Downtown neighborhood, wanted to know what could be done to crack down on how long vehicles are parked along streets in that community.

City Manager Jeff Moon said Woodstock has received a request from the homeowner's association to implement some sort of enforcement. While he said an initiative such as posting stickers on cars belonging to owners who live in the neighborhood could be an option, any concrete decisions would have to be brought before the City Council to consider.

Council member Warren Johnson stated he was in favor of a phased-in approach, as it wouldn't be as harder to roll back from an initiative that doesn't go as planned.

With that in mind, Moon said there may not be a one-size-fits-all plan for the entire downtown area. Additionally, the more complex the city's plan is, the harder it will be for Woodstock to communicate its message and for residents to understand where they can or can't park.

Terry Morris of Morris & Fellows, the developer behind the Woodstock Downtown mixed-use project, said he was glad to see the city address parking in the central business district.

From his perspective, metered parking is the "kiss of death" for retail shops. He also encouraged Woodstock to look into Alpharetta's approach to parking, consider creating a parking fund and to work with developers to determine how much parking they would need for their operations.

"It could be very economical, but it’s one of those things that we got to get ahead of and think proactively," he added.

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