It will be several more months before the City of Columbus launches a plan to address parking problems in the Short North.
Columbus City Council last night approved a request from the Ginther Administration to spend 200 thousand dollars to hire a consulting firm to revise a plan first floated last year. The Columbus-based company will meet with residents, businesses and workers to gather further information. The city was supposed to impliment a three-year pilot plan in 2017 based on a study by a consultant the city hired in 2013 for 250 thousand dollars. But that was stopped in the summer after residents complained. Assistant Columbus Public Service Director Robert Ferrin says the city wants a more diverse pool of stakeholders participating in this process.
Ferrin says the process will start soon.
The previous plan would have divided the area into permit zones. Residents would have been able to purchase up to two permits. Permit parking restrictions on most streets would not have been in place 24 hours a day. Streets in the core of the district would have been pay-to-park. The city would have erected kiosks or charge drivers through a cellphone app. The city says the new plan could include app-based payment systems, license plate readers and the elimination of vehicle hanging-tag permits.
