Parking Study: Downtown Plymouth Lacking in Public Parking Spaces

Downtown Plymouth has a shortage of publicly available parking lots and an abundance of private lots, according to a parking study completed by Rich and Associates, a parking consulting firm.

Richard Rich and Annaka Norris of Rich and Associates presented their findings Thursday night at City Hall during the Plymouth Downtown Development Authority, which also was attended by various city officials and downtown business owners.

No action was taken at the meeting, as it was the first time many DDA officials had seen the results of the , but the information will provide the city with some options to address parking shortages.

About 2,350 parking spots downtown were included in the study, of which just 40 percent were managed by the city. The firm recommended that at least 50 percent of an area’s parking supply be managed by a municipality.

The firm identified issues that create shortages in parking during the peak hours of noon-2 p.m., including downtown employees parking in prime parking spots for long periods of time and moving their car to adjacent parking spaces throughout the day to avoid a ticket.

Rich and Norris recommended that local police switch to handheld ticket writers, which can help monitor parking times in the public lots. They also recommended a graduated fine, which would give one “courtesy ticket” with no fine attached but instructions for longer-term parking for a first-time offender, to prevent visitors from being discouraged from visiting downtown again.

Repeat offenders would receive gradually increasing fines with each offense.

Rich also suggested metered parking, saying, “Best practices in parking generally agree that paid parking is best.”

This would have to have the support of local businesses, he said. "Without that, it will fail,” Rich said.

He suggested making the prime parking spaces downtown carry a cost or require a permit, such as the parking deck along Fleet and Harvey streets.

The study also pointed to adjacent lots, such as the Christian Science Church at 447 S. Harvey St. The city has shown interest in eventually acquiring the church and has recently used its lot as downtown overflow parking. The lot currently has about 100 spaces. More spaces would open up once the church is demolished, if acquired by the city.

Rich and Norris also said the city could work with a landowner on an undeveloped parcel on Penniman Avenue next to the , which could create an additional 36 spaces.

The firm also cautioned against creating more private parking lots. The occupancy of downtown’s current private lots was less than 40 percent, while the public lots are often 85 percent full. Because the lots are private, they often are open only to visitors of the businesses that manage each lot.