(Credit: Courtesy Glens Falls, 2019)
(Credit: BFJ Planning/CTMale Associates, 2023)
Data: Core Parking lots.
(Credit: BFJ Planning/CT Male, 2023)
Data: Outer Parking lots.
Glens Falls has released a parking study that says the city has plenty of parking generally but adds the city may need to crack down on people who park too long, may need to shorten the time allotted in certain parking areas, and — tapping lightly on the third rail of Glens Falls politics — may need to require people to pay for parking on downtown city streets.
The study’s recommendations include hiring another parking enforcement officer, using license plate readers and, if possible, using the data collected from parking sensors the city installed last year.
The city’s Economic Director Jeff Flagg said that none of the recommendations have been implemented or even fully discussed in the Special Projects Committee where this is likely to be studied. The city recently hired former city clerk Bob Curtis to help the committee study parking, especially overnight parking.
[Read about Bob Curtis here. Read about the parking app and related sensors here (see the second of two stories in the post).]
“I think it’s a good start,” Flagg said of the study, though he had some reservations about it.
Flagg said that the data may be skewed by the fact that the study was completed in the fall at a time when the city issued warnings to people who overstayed their parking times. People may have overstayed in spots because they knew no ticket was coming, he said.
The study considers parking everywhere in the city, but did not consider future plans, Flagg said.
For instance, the study says the peak level of parking at the current South Street Pavilion parking lot is about 77% during lunchtime, but that lot will be gone in the next two or three years as the property there and elsewhere on South Street is redeveloped as part of the Downtown Revitalization Initiative.
Spring City Development, an arm of Bonacio Construction of Saratoga, is starting renovation on two mixed-use buildings on South and Elm streets that will include upstairs apartments. In about year, they will begin construction of a new building where the pavilion is. Plus, Saratoga developers Gregg Singer and Larissa Ovitt have purchased three buildings on the other side of South Street, and they plan to renovate the upstairs units into short-term rentals.
In all, nearly 100 residential units will be part of the newly-created South Street mix. Looking at the possible parking scenarios for all the plans was not part of the study, Flagg said, adding, “They can’t look at it because it hasn’t happened yet.”
In fact, one reason for the study was to help guide current planning, officials have said.
The study was commissioned last summer when Mayor Bill Collins faced more backlash than expected over reports that the city might build a transportation hub on the Elm Street parking lot. He wove the study into an overall public campaign about the changes coming to South Street with the Downtown Revitalization Initiative.
[Read that story here. Read more about South Street here.]
Neither the mayor nor Fifth Ward Councillor Mary Gooden, the chair of the Special topics committee, could not be reached for comment on this story before publication.
Before the city talks about changing the fee structure for parking on downtown streets or hiring more staff, Flagg said the best move forward might be first to look at the city’s parking rules and restrictions overall.
Some rules limiting parking on certain streets seem to have been put in place years or decades ago to solve problems that no longer exist, he said. The city could “reset the parking restrictions and exemptions and whatnot, and figure out how to move forward.”
He said that will require more community input, adding later that he is still hearing from the business community downtown. The owners say their employees are still having trouble finding parking spaces while avoiding tickets.
M. David Howard, the owner of Erbessd Instruments at the corner of Elm and Exchange streets, has purchased parking permits for his employees, and yet the Exchange Street lot adjacent to his building is often full of cars that Howard says have overstayed their welcome.
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This has been a point of contention for him since the ticketing began at the start of the year.
Still, he may be someone Flagg or the Special Projects Committee could turn to for input.
“As I’ve said before I am happy to collaborate with city officials and other business owners to produce a mutually agreeable solution if you would be interested,” Howard wrote in an email to the mayor.
Flagg said the key: "We need to plan now for what we think will happen in the next three to four to five years."
The study was conducted by BFJ Planning and CT Male Associates. They looked at “core” and “outer” parking areas.
Among the Core parking lot findings:
- Elm Street, 98 spaces currently (construction equipment blocks about 23 spaces): 92% full during peak hours; 79% full off-hours.
- Exchange Street, 22 spaces: 95% full during peak hours; 84% full off-hours.
- Ridge Street lot’s 25 public spaces (police and city officials also use the lot with permits): 100% full during peak hours; 99% full off-hours.
Among the Outer parking lot findings:
- South Street, 112 spaces: 77% full during peak hours; 60% full off-hours.
- Clinton Street garage’s ground floor (the upper floors are private), 52 spaces: 44% full during peak hours; 39% full off-hours.
- Park Street garage, 507 spaces: 65% full during peak hours; 52% full off-hours.
- Cool Insuring Arena lot, 23 spaces: 54% full during peak hours (lunchtime, not during events); 55% full off-hours.