Owensboro Unveils Parking Plan
By: Michael Pickett
Updated: January 8, 2013
The city of Owensboro unveils a new parking plan to make it easier for people to get in and out of downtown.
The plan includes changing some parking spots to 2-hour or 30-minute spaces, raising fines for parking violations, and placing more handicap spots closer to intersections. City engineer Joe Schepers says these proposed steps will make it easier to park, and prevents people from leaving their car at a spot for several days.
"We want to eliminate the people that are parking on the street for two whole days without every moving their car and have higher turnover," he says.
Some business owners say a plan is long overdue, even with customers having a tough time finding a spot some days. Samantha Ellison, owner of Bee-Bop's Restaurant, says people leaving their cars without moving them is a problem that needs to be addressed.
"There's a lot of people that do that, park in a loading zone, or be there all day long. I just don't think that's right," she says,.
One thing that wasn't in the plan was parking meters. Schepers says it was in a separate draft two years ago, but was removed in this version.
The plan includes changing some parking spots to 2-hour or 30-minute spaces, raising fines for parking violations, and placing more handicap spots closer to intersections. City engineer Joe Schepers says these proposed steps will make it easier to park, and prevents people from leaving their car at a spot for several days.
"We want to eliminate the people that are parking on the street for two whole days without every moving their car and have higher turnover," he says.
Some business owners say a plan is long overdue, even with customers having a tough time finding a spot some days. Samantha Ellison, owner of Bee-Bop's Restaurant, says people leaving their cars without moving them is a problem that needs to be addressed.
"There's a lot of people that do that, park in a loading zone, or be there all day long. I just don't think that's right," she says,.
One thing that wasn't in the plan was parking meters. Schepers says it was in a separate draft two years ago, but was removed in this version.
