Plymouth Could Restore Paid Downtown Parking

PLYMOUTH, MI — If you think returning paid parking to downtown Plymouth is a bad idea, you're not alone. The Plymouth Downtown Development Authority board of directors is kicking around the idea, but some people think retailers will suffer.

“Paid parking is not going to increase the number of spaces, it’s just going to discourage people from coming downtown,” resident Greg Hatty said at the board meeting Thursday, The Plymouth Observer reports.

Ellen Elliott, executive director of the nonprofit Friends of the Penn Theatre, which operates the downtown movies house, said she doubts movie patrons will pay for parking for a $3 movie.

Kerry Pollard a DDA board member and the owner of Agio Spa Di Reposo, understands the dilemma.
“I get everything that people are saying,” Pollard said. “But there’s got to be a solution.”

“If we don’t explore every option ... we’re doing a disservice to everybody,” added Frank Yaquinto, a downtown restaurateur and also a DDA board member. But, Yaquinto also said, the parking problem won’t go away until inventory is added.

The DDA board authorized a study of the issue. Paid parking was eliminated several years ago, but officials are looking at it as a way to manage a limited supply of parking spots and raise money to add more parking in the future.

For more on this story, go to hometownlife.com.

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