Columbia parking task force draws up possible changes

A permanent parking commission could be in Columbia’s future.

The Parking and Traffic Management Task Force began finalizing its recommendations Wednesday for the Columbia City Council. It will hold one more meeting next week, and send its final list.

Recommendations include a permanent group that would monitor public parking availability, and could handle citizen complaints about parking in town.

ABC 17 News reported in August on its work for downtown places of worship. The group focused on ways to improve parking for attendants of the churches and mosque, such as moving taxi stands closer to them and allowing patrons to park there on Sundays, at least.

Greg Cecil, a member of United Methodist Church and member of the task force, said the group of churches had many ideas it may work out with the city on its own. One idea involves places of worship owning “bags” full-time to reserve meters for large events like funerals that require concentrated parking.

The group also grappled with ways to manage parking for Sunday services. People often leave cars parked downtown Saturday night, taking the spots near church Sunday morning. City councilman Michael Trapp, co-chair of the task force, said churches could “lock down” parking spaces they need for Sunday, and avoid having people leave their cars after a night drinking.

“Folks who, appropriately, drink a little too much and leave their car downtown, that they’re not taking up critical church spaces Sunday morning, so we’re trying to find a balance between safety and access to parking spaces on Sunday morning,” Trapp told ABC 17 News.

The group also suggested a requirement for downtown residential developers to create one parking spot for every four bedrooms it built. Developers could also pay a fee if they do not create such spots, which would fund the city’s parking utility.

While Trapp felt the rate was acceptable, Cecil said that might change when several apartment complexes open for business next fall. Hundreds of units will become available at various spots downtown, and Cecil said a permanent commission to monitor and assess the need of more, or less, public parking would keep things balanced.

“What’s [the city] going to look like? How are we going to deal with that? So there’s a lot of stuff that’s kind of on hold, because we don’t know where, exactly, we’re going to be in the future,” Cecil said.