Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
City of Sweet Home Public Works employees painted parking stalls along Long Street, between 10th and 18th avenues, last week in an effort to maximize available parking downtown.
The city’s decision to stripe parking spaces came out of community meetings, including Sweet Home Economic Development Group’s Breakfast Club meeting, City Manager Craig Martin said.
“We’re doing it now because we thought it would be a good opportunity to see how people respond when we have a huge influx of people parking,” Martin said.
Main Street, 10th and 18th avenues, will be done like Long Street after the Jamboree, he said.
In the cases of both streets, business owners have petitioned the city to stripe parking stalls, Martin said.
In painting the stalls, the city wanted to avoid impacting businesses negatively, Martin said. Long Street has fewer businesses, so crews worked there first to figure out a system for painting the stalls and minimize impact to businesses before moving to Main Street.
For the most part, drivers appear to be parking inside the marks, Martin said.
Most of the stalls are 22 feet long, but a few, near curb cuts and hydrants, are 20 feet long.
This is the first step in providing adequate parking downtown, Martin said. Another option for the city may be to begin a parking enforcement program.
That is based on recommendations by experts from organizations such as the Oregon Downtown Development Association.
In between, the city might change the time restrictions on different blocks, Martin said, and the city wants to work with private parking lot owners and business owners, helping them resolve their differences.