Fifteen-minute, four-hour parking spots coming to villages

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The villages will soon have new 15-minute parking spots in select locations and longer parking limits in Crestline and English villages.

After discussing parking limits with the merchants, City Planner Dana Hazen recommended changing two-hour parking signs in Crestline Village and English Village to four-hour parking signs at the May 11 city council meeting. City Planner Dana Hazen said the longer time amounts to encourage people to stay and eat and shop in the village longer while still discouraging employees from parking there all day. It will also be consistent with the time limits in Mountian Brook Village.

The city also proposed adding 15-minute parking spaces so that one such space would be located on most blocks of the villages.

Two 15-minute spaces have been designated at Ritch’s Pharmacy and Ousler’s in Mountain Brook Village. The merchants said the spaces have allowed customers a chance to park to pick up orders quickly.

“We have to try something new,” council member Lloyd Shelton said. “We have to listen to the merchants.”

Public Works Director Ronnie Vaughn said that the new signs will go into effect in about two weeks, around May 25.

Merchants who have requested short-term parking are:

  • The Cook Store (Mountain Brook Village)
  • White Room Bridal (Mountain Brook Village)
  • Kay Cleaner (Mountain Brook Village)
  • Olexa's (Mountain Brook Village)
  • Mountain Brook Cleaners (Crestline)
  • Iz Cafe(English Village)

Other potential short-term parking locations:

  • Mountain Brook Creamery (Mountain Brook Village)
  • Berthon’s/SneakyPete's (Mountain Brook Village)
  • Olio (Mountain Brook Village)
  • Green Door Vitamins/VillageFramer (Mountain Brook Village)
  • Table Matters/Another Broken Egg (Mountain Brook Village)
  • Charlotte Woodson/Beverly Ruff (Mountain Brook Village)
  • Hassig Chiropractic (Crestline)
  • Taco Mama/Harbin’s (Crestline)
  • City Hall (Crestline)

Additional employee parking in English Village

The council also approved changing 11 parking spots along Park Lane on the south side of Little Hardware to encourage them it be used for Little Hardware employee parking.

On April 27, the council had discussed solutions for a shortage of long-term parking for employees in English Village and suggested returning the two-hour public parking along Parke Lane south of Little Hardware to all-day parking and asking Little Hardware employees to park there instead of the lower parking lot, which has been oversaturated with employees.

When the city contacted Little Hardware property owner Mike Mouron, he asked that the city instead designate the spaces along Park Lane as “Little hardware Customers and Employees Only” with the understanding that Little Hardware employees would park there. However, City Planner Dana Hazen noted that the city does not traditionally designate street parking for a specific merchant. The city staff recommended to the council that the spots along Park Lane be designated for employee parking.

At the meeting, Mouron said he owns part of the Park Lane land and that he does not want employees from other businesses to park along the street.

Council Member Billy Pritchard said that only part of the area is Little Hardware property. He also said that there are similar situations in the villages where businesses own part of public parking areas and that he fears if Little Hardware employee-only spots were approved that it would open up that possibility to other businesses. He recommended making it general eight-hour parking. Council Member Jack Carl said that he doesn’t think legally they can designate any public property for employees or for Little Hardware employees.

Council member Alice Womack suggested that they leave regulations as-is and that Little Hardware encourage its employees to park in the Park Lane spots.

The council ultimately recommended the Park Lane spots be changed to a four-hour limit and Little Hardware employees be encouraged to park there. Pritchard encouraged Mouron and Little Hardware’s owner Frank Davies to take note and report back to the council how these changes work. It was changed to four-hour parking

Also at the meeting the council:

  • Heard an updated on the Piggly Wiggly development from Jeffrey Brewer with Goodwyn, Mills & Cawood. Construction on the store is scheduled to be complete around Christmas, it should open for business by early February 2016. The construction is estimated to take about eight months, and they are hoping to start paving before Thanksgiving.
  • Heard a paving update from Public Works Director Ronnie Vaughn. Dunn Construction plans to start work on the major thoroughfares June 1, and work on a few smaller roads will begin on around May 18.
  • Appointed W. Craig Favert, Thomas Yardley and Paige Daniel to Finance Committee.
  • Heard an update from Steve Boone on the equipment yard behind the Police Station. Resident Albert Tinsley had previously complained about the noise level of machinery in the area and the “unsightliness” of the current fencing. Boone said that the decibel readings from Tinsley’s home are within normal range and that he does not recommend adding a wooden fence for aesthetic purposes but said that it would help with noise buffering.
  • Proclaimed May 10-16 Women’s Lung Health Week. The proclamation stated that every five minutes a woman is diagnosed with lung cancer, that it is the number on cancer kill of women in the United States and that the lung cancer rate in women has almost doubled over the past 37 years.
  • Awarded a contract to Lose & Associates Resolution for a new Park and Recreation master plan.
  • Approved a lunchtime conditional use application for Cup Food You Pick Up at 73 Church Street in Crestline Village. Paulette DeGraw submitted the application.
  • Approved license agreements homeowners for a West Montcrest Drive sidewalk construction project: Robert Bradford and Katie Avery, 12 West Montcrest Drive; John and Gina F. Thomas, 16 West Montcrest Drive; and John B. and Kerri C. Windle, 14 West Montcrest Drive.

The next regular council meeting will be Tuesday, May 26 at 7 p.m. at City Hall, 56 Church Street.