Bloggin’ on the Edge

Posted by Scott Spielman at 3:00 AM | Comments

For once, I agree with Tom Swigart.

Northville City Council members discussed Monday night a couple of minor additions or improvements to city parking lots and he said a line in the background material for one of those items “kind of leaped out at him.”

It was a line that hinted at the need for an additional parking deck of some kind in the downtown area—as part of the long-term plan to provide adequate parking in the downtown.

I’m hoping the phrase ‘long-term’ means future, as in the distant future.

Swigart said he would need a lot of convincing before he agreed that such a step is necessary and he’s right.

There’s a lot of work that would need to be done before I’d be swayed to believe such a structure is necessary, too, even if that means—God help me—another study on parking in the downtown area.

I often drive into and park in downtown Northville. I’ve noticed a few things about the parking situation and I don’t think there’s a shortage of parking in the downtown area. I just think there’s a shortage of people willing to walk a block or two.

Any changes to the parking plan should be philosophical in nature, not physical. The city is doing a good job in their near constant tweaking of the management plan—although if that keeps up, it’ll only get even more confusing.

They also need to have an outside agency look at the issue. The ordinances for downtown development follow an outdated, suburban parking plan. They don’t take into account the spaces that can be shared—that is, used by shops, restaurants or taverns after the offices close up and those employees leave for the night. It’s a hard thing to quantify, but there’s got to be some consulting firm out there that can do it. It works in other municipalities.

For now, the city should concentrate on the measures they’ve taken so far: extending the temporary lot along Cady Street, making sure that, when parking lot improvements are necessary, the stripes provide as many spaces as possible. They should push all-day employees to leave prime spots for visitors and they should pay attention to parking trends.

The Downtown Development Authority (DDA) has enough on its hands already with the town square project, the proposed streetscape improvements next year and the new entrance to Ford Field the following year.

Let’s see how all these things shake out and how visitors respond to that before we even think about building a new deck.

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