City Council examines parking issues

It is no secret that parking is a huge issue in the Morgantown area. Tuesday evening, the Morgantown City Council held a meeting to address parking issues in town.

The meeting was the Committee of the Whole, which provides an opportunity for the council to receive information, ask questions and identify policy options in an informal setting.

Presenters from the Greater Morgantown Monongalia Planning Organization visited the council meeting to deliver a presentation about the status of parking in Morgantown.

According to the presentation, there are 62 streets of concern in Morgantown because of problematic quality, size or parking. At the meeting, the city council looked at the top 20.

One of the presenters pointed out differences in perspectives that can cause problems with creating parking legislation.

"[People] aren’t concerned with whether or not a fire truck can get onto the street," she said. "We have a wide variety of opinions, which makes it difficult to come up with a solution."

The research was thorough, and they gave a count of the number of houses on that street and the number of homes with on-street parking. The Morgantown city council had some ideas regarding how to fix this problem.

"One thing that I really think is a good idea is to make some streets one way," said fourth ward city council member Jennifer Selin.

There was some debate about this suggestion, and other city council members pointed out that the proposed solution would only work for a few streets in the city.

Another issue was the demand for parking in the area.

"What is generating the demand?" said sixth ward city council member Bill Byrne. "Is it the amount of people living in the area? Or is it visitors and commuters?"

The presenters of the issue felt that the parking situation is only worsening in the Morgantown area, especially with the number of home football and
basketball games and
caliber of the performances coming to the West Virginia University Creative Arts Center.

The issue is being reviewed by the council and will be addressed at a later date.

Also on the meeting’s agenda was the Ward and Boundary Commission and a bike plan update.

As for the ward commission, it discussed the outcome of the turnout in the districts and wards. The council decided to examine if some wards need to be resized to maintain equality.

For more information on the Morgantown City Council, visit www.morgantownwv.gov/government/citycouncil.