The City Council listened to a presentation last night that proposed reducing the number of downtown parking spaces by replacing perpendicular parking with angled parking on that section of North Burleson between Center and Miller streets as well as that block between Center and Lockhart streets. The reduction would be significant, from 23 to 18 spaces between Center and Miller and from 17 to just nine between Center and Lockhart.
Mayor Todd Webster expressed concern that there weren’t enough spaces to handle those who come to special events downtown, but City Manager Scott Sellers countered by saying the empty spaces that exist when there are no special events sends a poor message.
"Typically parking is not an issue until there is an event or something where, no matter how many parking spaces you put in, you’re going to exceed capacity," Sellers said. "Granted, we would love to have our parking spaces full as a sign of a robust downtown, a thriving downtown. That’s one argument. The idea that all the parking spaces are full is a sign of a vibrant economy. More open spaces during the day or evening is a sign to the contrary.
"Typically, when you’re doing wider sidewalks like this, you’re giving up something," he continued. "Walkable traffic equals sales downtown instead of driveable traffic. So if someone can park somewhere the key is having wider sidewalks so they’re actually walking into the business, which is helping the downtown."
The mayor wasn’t convinced, however, and asked the consultants to work with city engineer Leon Barba to come up with an alternative plan.
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