Parking availability and the blocking of lines of sight at Franklin intersections once again drew the focus of council and mayor in the regular Town of Franklin monthly meeting last week. Rick Gillespie came to weigh in as well, but did so as a citizen, not in his capacity as office of emergency management emergency services coordinator.
On the agenda, Bob Horan, mayor, and the town council took up the first reading of the proposed ordinance, styled #132.
The ordinance would have prohibited “parking on both the West and East sides of Route 220/S. Main Street from the intersection of Walnut Street to the intersection of Chestnut Street.”
Ordinances require two advertised public readings in regular council sessions before adoption. The town council opted to delay action in August when Jarred Rawson, council member, requested more time to study the issue. Frank Wehrle, town administrator, shared that Gillespie had offered concerns via email about the issues of parking and safety that have occupied the town’s focus this summer.
Wehrle stated that the West Virginia Department of Highways was exploring measures that it could perform quickly and without much expense, such as moving the 25-mile-per-hour speed limit warning back further from the town limits. He added that they are considering creating a 40 mph zone starting at the high water bridge just south of town limits, slowing to 25 where established now.
Discussion in both the town meetings and the public forum has centered on the need for parking versus driver safety at the intersection of Walnut and South Main streets. Those turning from Walnut onto South Main sometimes encounter difficulties in seeing traffic, especially traffic approaching in the northbound lane.
Some have proposed eliminating some or all parking on the courthouse side or both sides of the highway. Residents and business owners, however, have shared concerns about losing spots.
Tim Thompson, Pendleton County sheriff’s deputy, returned to address the issue of traffic safety and parking. He shared that he put his cruiser in the area south of the discussed intersection. He noted that one car was clocked at 37 miles per hour, but it was leaving town. Most drivers he saw in the limited time he made his observations, were traveling at a relatively safe rate of speed.
Gillespie noted, “First, you all have a thankless job in this. You can’t win no matter what you decide. And I sympathize with that. I feel that the town needs to be the ultimate leader of a group to find a solution for parking, because it’s likely that if a new parking lot is developed, the town’s probably going to need to be the owner of it. And that’s not easy.”
“Opportunities are being missed by delay,” he added, noting that some properties that could have been transformed into convenient lots were sold off. Gillespie noted that the Brownfields, Abandoned, Derelict buildings program encourages communities to identify and rectify problem structures could help here.
“And the only real solution,” said Gillespie, “is going to be a group of people working together to find a solution. And it’s not going to fall in our lap. We’ve got to pursue it. And I don’t believe in, you know, moving without a plan or moving too fast, but from where I stand, we’re not moving at all.”
After further discussion concerning parking on South Main, the council elected to table the discussion until a study from the West Virginia Department of Highways was completed. Wehrle stated that he should be able to get that to the mayor and council prior to the October meeting.
The next item on the agenda again referred to parking. The sheriff’s department had requested at least three dedicated parking places on Chestnut Street, or at the least, the ability to block off parking near a ramp used to walk prisoners from transport vans down to holding areas in the courthouse.
Council members voted to allow the sheriff’s department to block off the area where they access the ramp. By the next week, a “No Parking” area was painted in yellow on the street.
They also responded positively to Gillespie’s suggestion of a committee to work on the topic of expanding parking in the town. Kristin Dingess, who serves on town council and also with the Pendleton County Chamber of Commerce, said she would represent the chamber and pitch in to help.
