The Ellijay Downtown Development Authority (DDA) took a closer look at an “extended trial run” of no parking on the downtown roundabout during a meeting at City Hall last Tuesday.
At a June City Council workshop, Ellijay council and DDA members discussed with Police Capt. Ray Grace and WLA Studios architect Madie Fischetti the possibility of testing a roundabout without parking around Apple Festival time.
Taking out the almost 20 spaces in front of businesses on the roundabout has been discussed as a possible option for an upcoming renovation of the traffic circle. Removing additional parallel parking on River Street has also been discussed, but no official action has been taken on either suggestion.
Reece Sanford, Ellijay DDA chairman, said the proposed changes should be seen as “reallocating,” not eliminating parking from the roundabout. Excess parking is available in the nearby courthouse/Dalton State lot, for which the DDA recently had new signs installed, he said.
The DDA also recently reached an agreement with the county for a county employee parking lot on Spring Street to be used as public parking on weekends, Sanford noted. He said the roundabout would be safer without cars backing into traffic, and visibility of pedestrians would increase because they’d no longer be stepping out from behind parked vehicles.
The central theme of the DDA’s parking revamp campaign is “An Experience, Not A Transaction.” Sanford said downtown is no longer a place where most shoppers make quick transactions. Instead it’s become more of an experience that includes walking and visiting different shops, he noted.
“This fits in well with a lot of stuff the DDA has already been talking about, so we entertained making it our campaign and running with it,” Sanford said. “We would basically be the ones sponsoring this extended trial period. (We’d)be the ones trying to get the public’s support, while also educating the public about our vision.”
Since roundabout parking is typically blocked off during the weeks in which the Apple Festival is held, the DDA is eying a trial period where parking spaces in front of businesses on the downtown square would be unavailable from Oct. 1 through the Light Up Ellijay event usually held in late November.
A test run will gauge the public and business community response to the reduced parking, without having to make permanent changes.
“I think it makes sense (for) us to start talking to the businesses on the roundabout that this is going to impact, taking their temperature on it and pitching our idea to them,” Sanford said. “If it goes poorly, we will drop the idea. If it goes well, we will have something that will change Ellijay for the better.”
If the spaces are eventually taken out, future plans include wider sidewalks, which would give restaurants outside table space to serve additional customers and possibly added shopping space for other merchants.
“I would think, if you approach it from aesthetics, it’s going to look so much nicer, (and) that brings people into your business,” said DDA member Sarah Burnett.
“I think of it from the restaurants’ standpoint,” added Sanford. “We all know that those restaurants, if you go there on a Saturday night, have long wait times. If they can expand their square footage by going outside, that’s more tables and less wait time. I think that’s a benefit to the public that maybe outweighs the loss of the (parking) spaces.”
DDA member Melinda Hadden noted that handicapped parking is now available near the intersection of River and Main Street in front of Ellijay Wood Fired Pizza.
There’s been talk about, if those parallel parking spaces are also eventually removed, putting handicapped parking in at a better location, she added.
Restroom revamp
discussed
Members also discussed a proposed revamp of public restrooms in the River Street parking lot and how to go about getting that project started.
The DDA previously talked about possibly having students from a high school construction class assist with labor under the supervision of their teacher and a licensed contractor, which would greatly reduce costs of doing the interior and exterior improvements.
After talking with the city’s legal counsel, it was found that there are liability issues in using student labor, noted DDA member Sandy Ott. That takes the DDA back to trying to secure funding for the project.
“Whether it’s $6,000 or $15,000, the city is not in a place where they can finance it, so we need to finance it outside the city budget,” Sanford said.
The best option would probably be to seek private donations, he added.
“I think, even on the high end if you’re talking $20,000, that’s something we can raise money for, especially when we get it sorted out how that donation can be tax deductible,” Sanford said.
Ott said the restrooms are ADA-compliant, but are grandfathered in based on what construction codes were when they were built.
Members agreed that, before more effort is put into the project, they should first find out what type of work constitutes a remodel of ADA-compliant restrooms.
“Until you address that question, we don’t know the cost. We’ve got to know if our project changes with the ADA compliance,” Sanford said.