Ward 2 Councilwoman Linda Kuiper said at Monday’s council meeting that a vast majority of downtown businesses don’t want parking meters, based on a survey she took of local merchants.
Only three businesses, which were located on High Street, between Cross and Water Streets, wanted to keep meters.
Mayor Chris Cerino said it was good to have the survey in advance of the C-2 Commercial Business District Forum on April 14 at 7:00 p.m.
Linda Hall says
Editor,
I’m a partner in The Artists’ Gallery at 239 High Street. We have had customers complain about the meters as they wish to spend time browsing and are limited by the meters. Also we have a meeting to change the gallery once a month with the five partners and four of us have to park on the street and run out to the meters. We have received several tickets as we get busy rehanging and the time slips by. Chestertown needs to get rid of the meters and have a free parking lot as St. Michaels does, having clear signs to the lot. It’s so nice when the bags cover the meters over the holidays. We hear lots of favorable comments during that time. We feel it would greatly help the downtown retailers to do away with the meters. How much revenue is made for the town after paying the meter maid? Is it worth the drop in business?
Kevin Shertz says
Editor,
In design, we like to use lots of “spooky language” to throw people for a loop.;)
One of those terms is “wayfinding.” It’s basically how you get people to understand where they are, and the navigational cues used, design-wise, to get them where they want to be. A lack of good wayfinding makes people feel like they’re not welcome there, which is not exactly a hospitable climate to create for retail merchants.
We have extremely poor wayfinding in Chestertown.
I routinely park on Cannon Street when I have business on Cross Street because it takes me only 30 seconds more and I don’t have to deal with the meter (even tho’ it only costs a quarter, which is an obscenely-affordable rate.)
I’ll defer to the merchants who earn their daily keep on this issue… but, as a professional, I view this first and foremost as a wayfinding problem. I applaud the Town’s recent effort to create more parking on Cannon Street on the Town-owned space, but it also needs to be coupled with signage for people to find it.
Keith Thompson says
Editor,
Bravo to Kevin Shertz’s comments! This is the most insightful explanation of Chestertown’s parking situation I’ve read.
Mary Carlisle says
Editor,
I agree that it would be helpful to remove the parking meters. The greater problem, however, is a lack of parking downtown, free or otherwise. It is great that the town is fixing up the lot on Cannon between Cross and Mill. On the other hand, it sounds like there is a good possibility that we will lose the 18 spaces in the lot on Cannon between Queen and Cross Street. I see signs that Chestertown is coming to life and bringing in new businesses. If we don’t have sufficient parking it will greatly hamper their ability to succeed.
Nancy Henderson says
Editor,
As a relative newcomer to Chestertown I have been baffled and annoyed by parking meters which do not clearly state their days and hours of operation. It is almost as annoying to pay for a meter when I don’t have to as when I must. More parking is crucial to a healthy downtown.
Allen Capel says
Editor,
First of all of let me ask, is it to the economical benefit of Chestertown to maintain these parking meters? It is only change that they take in, mostly in the form of nickels, dimes and quarters. This requires hiring or paying a person to make the rounds of collecting that money and monitoring violations. I agree with everyone that parking meters can be a pain where the sun don’t shine. Still, if the town is making any sort of profit from it, I believe that they are needed. I’m not certain what the revenue from these meters is used for , but one thing you have is a pretty good police force and that cost money. I say quit your complaining about the small change and the cost of parking when you feel that a dollar and a half is a good price for a cup of coffee downtown. Maybe the town could come up with a parking tag that pre-pays for a days parking. They would still get income and you wouldn’t have to run to feed the parking meter every hour or so. Could it be that not putting little signs on the meters saying when they must be fed as a ploy by the town to add to the coffers? While were on the subject of parking, do you know how many handicapped parking spaces are downtown? I may need correcting on this, but I believe there’s only five and at least one of those is in a residential area. It wouldn’t hurt to have a couple more in the business area.
No matter how much you complain or just plain gripe about them, parking meters are here to stay, so just get out your nickels and dimes and quarters and keep on shopping. I think you’ll find it rather cheap compared to other small towns up and down the East Coast.
Keith Thompson says
Editor,
I think it comes down to a simple determination…what is the purpose for parking meters? If the purpose is for revenue generation, then they are a nuisance and should be removed. If the purpose is to take care of parking issues that can’t be controlled by other means, then the meters serve a legitimate purpose. Once the debate gets to the point when we’re asking if the revenue from the meters justifies the expense, I think we can determine that the parking meters are seen as a means of revenue generation.
Holly Geddes says
Editor,
Marty Stetson establish last year that the town spends $4,000 plus to maintain and operate the meters. A formal survey of traffic and parking behavior would substantiate that the benefits to meters qualifies as an urban myth. In fact, the businesses do not want to limit how long the customer lingers in town. The longer the customer is near the businesses, the more money they make.
The significant survey is the one in which businesses asked again to remove the meters. Residents don’t like them either. It would be nice if the town government would respect these opinions.