NEW ALBANY —
A list of downtown parking lots for merchants to use instead of taking up spaces in front of their establishments has been circulated to area business owners via New Albany Mayor Doug England’s office.
Some are pay lots, some are the property of churches and banks that will require a phone call to confirm if it’s OK to park there, but England said the general message is simple.
“How can you sell your wares if you don’t have a place for your customers to park,” England said.
“It’s going to get even worse because we have two to three more businesses looking at downtown.”
The parking lot adjacent to the New Albany-Floyd County Animal Shelter off Market Street is free, but is usually full by 8 a.m. There is also a free city-owned lot adjacent to the Floyd County branch of the YMCA of Southern Indiana off Main Street.
There are paid lots including the Farmers’ Market, Harvest Homecoming and System Parking lots downtown, which range from $10 to $25 a month.
England met with several downtown merchants in May to discuss options to clear spaces for customers. He said at the time he’d instructed the police department not to “do anything” in a four-block radius concerning downtown parking.
During England’s initial stint as mayor in the 1990s, he had meters removed from downtown and instilled a two-hour limit for parking. It was to keep employees from using the spaces all day long, he said.
“All merchants and employees need to park at these off site lots so that customers have a place to park,” England said.
Curt Peters, owner of the Gallery on Pearl in downtown New Albany, forwarded the e-mail of parking options to several business leaders.
“There is, as you know, a strong move to have all of the downtown owners and workers park in lots and to leave the street parking for customers and patrons,” Peters wrote.
“This is again something all of us can do to support downtown and each other. And a little exercise is good for us, in any case.”
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Cars line Pearl Street in New Albany on Friday morning. The Mayor's office is asking merchants not to park in front of businesses to allow more space for customers.
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Most city-owned lots have two-hour limits like the one next to Schmitt Furniture along Main Street.
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