Murphy – Downtown parking is a frequent source of frustration.
Customers complain that there’s not enough parking. Town officials complain that business owners are taking up valuable street-side parking.
And for downtowns with plentiful parking, that’s a sign of even bigger problems.
Gene Meadows – who with his wife, Lisa, opened Indigo Mountain Traders at 49 Peachtree St. in 2023 – has another common complaint – no one is complying with the publicly posted three-hour parking limit. Meadows noticed construction crews working on a storefront next door to his business have been using street-side parking well beyond the three-hour limit.
However, Murphy police told him that the three-hour parking limit is unenforceable. Thus, the well-faded three-hour parking limit sign located right outside Meadows’ business is more of a suggestion.
Mayor Tim Radford admitted that there is little the town can do to enforce the three-hour parking limit.
“We understand concerns about construction trucks occupying downtown parking spaces,” he said. “Without parking meters, we lack the means to effectively monitor parking durations, making enforcement of the three-hour limit challenging.
“Our police officers are focused on higher-priority matters, and not parking enforcement.”
Parking enforcement is its own type of law enforcement and not so simple as an officer responding to a merchant’s complaint. Police have to document when a vehicle first arrived in order to be able to prove in court that the time limit was violated.
Towns that actively enforce parking limits have parking enforcement officers or even parking attendants who are not sworn law enforcement officers. Many towns have parking meters, but in towns that don’t, parking officers or attendants spend their days recording when vehicles arrive and issuing citations when vehicles exceed the parking limit. Their positions are often funded by parking fines.
Then there’s the issue of parking signs; they have to be legible. The faded sign outside Meadows’ business is arguably hard to read despite being at eye level.
Economic developers argue that a downtown with too much parking is not as vibrant as one with too little parking. Town officials, meanwhile, argue that merchants could free up a dozen or so parking spaces if some merchants and downtown employees – not naming names – parked somewhere else.
Meanwhile, work continues on a new downtown roundabout and paving project expected to be completed before summertime. That is also causing headaches for downtown businesses and drivers.
“The road construction is temporary, and workers need to be close to their tool trucks to get the work done faster,” Radford said. “With warmer weather becoming more consistent, we will continue requesting night work from (the N.C. Department of Transportation) if it’s possible, but we know they are at the mercy of suppliers and weather, too.
“As former mayor Bill Hughes said, ‘With road construction, roads have to get a little bumpier before they get a lot smoother.’ We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding during this period.”