Ephrata reviews parking issues
Cameron Probert/Columbia Basin Herald<br> Vehicles fill a city lot behind the Bookery in Ephrata.
EPHRATA — Ephrata may use signs, fliers and discussions with other agencies to stop people from parking around businesses before going to work.
EPHRATA — Ephrata may use signs, fliers and discussions with other agencies to stop people from parking around businesses before going to work.
The discussion started after employees at The Alabaster Box placed a flier on a vehicle, asking the driver to not park in front of the business all day. City officials discussed the issues with the store’s volunteers at a recent forum.
City Administrator Wes Crago said the meeting is the seventh held concerning parking in the city. Through the course of the meetings, the city and the chamber of commerce developed a “good neighbor” plan. Prior to developing the plan, the city switched between enforcing two-hour parking in the downtown area and not enforcing it.
“We’ve kind of gone in and out of two-hour parking until 2003, when the city and the chamber kind of got together and worked together to create a new plan that has worked, at least from a complaints standpoint, has worked better than anything else that has been developed,” he said.
The plan involved chamber members speaking with businesses where vehicles were parked in front of a business all day. Other parts of the plan involved placing fliers on vehicles. The fliers pointed out places where people could park and not interfere with businesses.
Colleen Long, The Alabaster Box’s co-manager, used one of the draft leaflets on a vehicle parked in front of the First Street Southwest business, he said.
“The person that received it looked at the city codes and the city codes actually prohibit leaflets, because it’s a handbill placed on a car that’s specific in the code that’s not to be done,” he said.
If the city and chamber wants to continue with its present plan, the code needs to be changed, Crago said, adding the city can exempt the specific leaflet.
Long complained people use First Avenue Southwest and First Avenue Northwest as parking lots, leaving their vehicles parked in front of businesses all day.
“We’d like to survive, but customers say all of the time, ‘Well Colleen, there is no parking,’” she said. “So it’s discouraging because we don’t want to feel like we’re police officers.”
She pointed out even if people move their vehicles, then someone different might park in the spot.
“Your street and Division (Street) are both the ones that are consistently full,” Crago said. “Just driving around a couple times a day, looking at parking, the PUD lot is never full. The county lots are pretty darn full. The city-owned lots are never completely full.”
Crago said the parking lots on Alder Street aren’t full, but people perceive it as a long distance to walk to get downtown.
Tia Tracy, the chamber’s executive director, said the area’s businesses didn’t want to return to a two-hour parking limit.
“They felt that it sent out a really negative image of our town and Joe Tourist comes in and parks and ends up spending money in our town and then goes back to his vehicle and finds a ticket, it’s not a very nice thing.”
The chamber is putting a parking map in its July newsletter, Tracy said.
Chamber President Kevin Danby said the most effective method is meeting with the county commissioners and the PUD manager to discuss the issues.
“It’s a matter of trying to educate and re-educate, and it’s probably time to do it again,” he said.
Long suggested putting signs up, stating the parking in the area was for retail customers.
“If it said parking for retail customers right here next to the PUD, now still, a person could not have a good neighbor attitude, but for me, if I’m pulling on up and I see a sign that says, ‘For retail parking ...’ that would make a difference to me,” she said.
Crago finished the meeting, saying the ideas he took away were to restart talks with the county and the PUD, changing the handbill ordinance and to purchase signs.
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