SHELBURNE FALLS — Public parking is still free in Shelburne Falls but not always available to visitors and customers of the village shops.
So Shelburne officials have decided to enforce the town’s two-hour parking limit to force more turnover and accommodate patrons of Bridge Street businesses.
If you park longer than two hours on Bridge Street, you could face a $10 fine in the future.
After three town boards held a joint meeting about parking concerns last month, selectmen hope enforcement of the village’s parking rules will ease up choice parking spots in front of stores along Bridge Street or on Deerfield Avenue.
This week, a police officer has started working on those two commercial roadways, warning motorists that the town is now enforcing two-hour parking limits. But after a month or so of warnings, motorists may start getting tickets.
“This doesn’t solve our parking problems in town,” said Selectman Joseph Judd, “but the idea is to enforce rules that should have been enforced.” Judd said he believes the Greater Shelburne Falls Area Business Association (GSFABA) will notify its member businesses of the enforcement policy. “Some of the worst violators are businesses’ employees,” he remarked.
Buckland already issues tickets to motorists who park too long on State Street, on the Buckland side of the village; but enforcement of the two-hour parking rule in Shelburne has been lax for several years — despite parking signs that spell out the two-hour rule.
On Monday, the Board of Selectmen unanimously agreed to a new “Parking Violation Enforcement Action Plan” created by the Police Department and Selectman Joseph Judd.
Shelburne Police has assigned a uniformed officer to work a four-hour shift twice weekly to deter long-term parking in short-term spaces. The time and day of the shifts will vary throughout the week, to maximize the deterrent.
For this year, the assigned officer will come from the department’s regular police staffing. The parking officer is also to discourage motorists from making U-turns on Bridge Street and illegal parking next to banks.
Business Association Executive Director Carmela Lanza-Weil says there’s been a lot of talking about parking congestion — particularly in summer. She remarked that the conclusion of the 1999 parking study was, “there was not a lack of parking — just a lack of parking on Bridge Street.”
“Some people have said it’s difficult to get in and out of shops like Keystone Market or Sawyer’s News because people park there all day — including people who live here or work in the shops,” said Lanza-Weil. She said a faster turnover of parking spaces would help both the shops and their customers.
Lanza-Weil would like to see a shuttle bus or trolley running from the larger more distant parking lots to the downtown village area. Public parking lots with unlimited parking times are located on Cross Street, in front of the old Arms Academy and below the former Mole Hollow Candle Co. building, off Deerfield Avenue.
A parking study of Shelburne Falls, done by the Franklin Regional Council of Governments in 1999, found that the village had adequate parking, but not all of it was within a convenient walking distance.
Attending the June 22 joint meeting were the Zoning Board of Appeals, the Planning Board and Selectmen. It also included residents who are part of the Shelburne Falls Village Network, a grass-roots group of residents who started meeting in May to discuss what kind of growth they would like to see in Shelburne Falls.
“Many locals think parking is a major issue for business development in the village,” says a report from the Village Network’s first community forum on May 15. “At present, Buckland and Shelburne zoning requires that building owners provide additional parking on their Bridge and State Street lots when the use of a building changes or there is new construction. However, increasing the number of parking spaces required for individual businesses or landlords with apartments and/or office space would compromise the quality of the intact, historic village,” says the report. “And (it would) undoubtedly increase the cost for businesses or building owners wanting to invest in Shelburne Falls, unless the towns step up to address the issue of parking.”
The ZBA has also raised questions because it is being increasingly asked for parking waivers from those who want to build or renovate old building spaces. For instance, the owners of the former Singley Furniture store are trying to get a variance from a requirement that they provide 16 parking spaces for building occupants and customers.
“The ZBA can give parking variances as long as it’s in the best interest of the town,” said Lanza-Weil. “The board is trying to get clarity on what is in the best interest of the village.”
Whit Sanford, one of the main organizers of the Village Network, said current town zoning requires developers to provide: two parking spaces per dwelling, one space per employee, and one parking space for every 150 square feet of retail space. She says changing demographics mean the towns need to rethink the parking issue. “More tourists are visiting and more people are moving to the village,” she said, in her notes about the parking meeting. “There is no provision for short-term parking — locals wanting to run in for a gallon of milk.”