Noblesville Downtown Parking Task force sets perimeters and timetable

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Mayor John Ditslear provides the background for the newly formed downtown parking task force during its first meeting at city hall on March 4. (Photo by Robert Herrington)
Mayor John Ditslear provides the background for the newly formed downtown parking task force during its first meeting at city hall on March 4. (Photo by Robert Herrington)

Grumblings about downtown parking are about to get louder as the city is taking an in-depth look into the ongoing issue in an effort to examine and address concerns raised by residents, businesses, employees and guests.

At its first meeting on March 4, the downtown parking task force hit the ground running to define the stakeholders and the study boundaries of the White River and Wayne, Division and 16th streets.

“We’re talking about nine hours in a 24-hour window,” Noblesville Common Councilor Jeff Zeckel said. “I think it’s important we keep that in mind.”

DuBois
DuBois

Noblesville Chamber of Commerce President Bob DuBois was selected to lead the task force. DuBois said his goal for the next meeting is to compile issues so “any resident can look at the list and find their area of concern.”

“We want to make sure that people have a voice in the process,” he said.

The task force said public input is vita in the process but is uncertain of the exact way it will gather opinion. Possibilities discussed included an online and hard copy forms and public forums. More details are expected to be announced at the next meeting at 10:30 a.m. March 18 at city hall.

Mayor John Ditslear, who created the task force, said it was the Dec. 16 edition of Current in Noblesville that started the downtown parking situation conversation. The story discussed a new smart car the police department purchased to more efficiently and safely enforce parking, the ordinances on the books and downtown workers feelings about the traffic situation.

“We have the car. We have not bought or picked out the software. So no one needs to get excited about a different way to enforce the ordinance. Maybe out of this we may have a new ordinance or none,” Ditslear said. “It’s not going to happen for a while.”

Police enforce the two-hour limit, which is per day and not per spot according to the ordinance. The current chalking of the tires dates back to the 1950s.

“I’m not a big fan of any of this but you have to do it,” Ditslear said. “The ordinance itself has been there forever. It has not been changed. We all want to look at it.”

“In 1954 we didn’t have 10 restaurants and a huge law firm,” said Alaina Shonkwiler, economic development specialist. “It’s a vibrant downtown (now).”

The city has free, metered and tagged parking in and around the downtown square. Ditslear said the city would love a parking garage but does not have the money to build one, which is estimated to cost $20,000 a space plus the cost of the land.

“Yes, we would love one,” he said. “It’s not something we could do but have looked at. We’re talking to the private sector.”

The task force consists of Noblesville representatives from the city, chamber of commerce, Main Street, common council and downtown business owners, merchants and residents.

Timetable

The task force has created the following schedule:

March – Identify issues; gather and review existing information

April – Determine additional information to gather/study

May-June – Establish current conditions

July-August – Identify areas of improvement: education, way finding, regulations, capacity and smart city tools

Before December – Announce solutions/recommendations

 


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