Is Time Running Out for Parking Meters in Downtown Wheeling?

Eric Ayres

WHEELING -- Some parking meters in the downtown area have been ripped out along with old sections of sidewalk as the ongoing Downtown Streetscape Project continues, and city officials are set to discuss whether or not those meters will return.

A meeting of the Development Committee of Wheeling City Council has been scheduled to take place at 4:45 p.m. Wednesday. Downtown meters and several other matters are scheduled to be brought to the table for discussion.

"With the Downtown Streetscape project moving ahead, it is up to city council to determine the best parking policy for the affected area going forward," Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott said. "There seems to be a general consensus against re-installing traditional parking meters, but it is an open question whether to move forward with some other form of paid parking system."

Elliott said other possible options include using kiosks or a smartphone app such as the ParkMobile system that was put in place in Wheeling in recent years.

The mayor also suggested that some areas could carry a limited free parking designation for certain spaces.

"While I personally favor moving towards a general one- to two-hour free parking policy for downtown spaces, it's also clear to me that such an approach would only really work if there was active enforcement against those staying beyond the designated time limits," Elliott said.

"My intention is to discuss the idea of not replacing the parking meters in the new sidewalks downtown," Vice Mayor Chad Thalman said. "Instead, I'd like to have free two-hour parking instead of the meters. The city would probably see a small reduction in revenue, but the purpose of meters isn't to generate revenue, it's to create turnover so people don't park on the street all day. Ideally people who park all day should use the garages and lots, leaving the streets open to people who just need them for a shorter amount of time."

Elliott agreed that revenues were not the driving purpose behind metered parking downtown.

"The purpose of downtown parking spaces is to facilitate commerce, not to provide convenient spaces for employees to utilize all day," the mayor said. "And so I look forward to an active discussion around the merits of such an approach, including our enforcement capabilities."

Members of the Development Committee of Council -- which include Elliott, Thalman and Councilman Ty Thorngate -- are expected to be joined by other members of Wheeling City Council and the city administration during Wednesday's meeting.

Another item up for discussion is a sidewalk rehabilitation program, which some city leaders have championed in recent years. However, it's an issue that has seen little movement.

"In West Virginia, sidewalks are the responsibility of the property owner," Thalman noted. "One of my goals is for the city to not only fix or replace city owned sidewalks but to also create a program or come up with a plan to assist property owners in fixing or replacing their sidewalks."

Earlier this year, members of the Development Committee directed Wheeling City Manager Robert Herron to develop a proposal for sidewalk rehabilitation based on other successful property improvement programs in the city.

"At a prior Development Committee meeting, we asked city staff to consider a pilot sidewalk program modeled on a loan guarantee program offered by Friends of Wheeling to local property owners," Elliott said. "The idea would be to create a financial incentive for private property owners to repair their own sidewalks and bring them into compliance with city codes. And so the purpose of Wednesday's meeting is for city staff to provide an update on their efforts to craft such a program."

Also on Wednesday, officials are slated to discuss additional outdoor dining program options as well as further expansion of the city's popular Facade Improvement Program.

Elliott said the proposed expansion to the incentive program would include efforts to spruce up sides of buildings exposed from demolition of adjoining buildings.

"As it is currently drafted, this program only applies to those sides of buildings fronting the street," he said.