Commercial area wants growth, needs parking.

            Downtown Fairhaven is a thriving area, buzzing with local business, and it always seems to have a new event, vendor, or eatery up its sleeve. But with hustle and bustle and development comes a tricky question: as the neighborhood’s commercial area fills with more businesses, where do the increasing customers go to park when they come to visit?
            In March 2007, the Fairhaven Neighbors conducted a survey in the form of a questionnaire that collected nearly 400 responses from residents as well as business owners. In this survey, parking was identified as one of the top three aspects of the neighborhood the respondents would like to see improved. According to the Executive Summary of this survey, “a large majority of respondents say that the parking and traffic situation in the commercial core of Fairhaven is bad.”

The neighborhood has given the parking issue a good deal of consideration. The most recent draft of the Fairhaven Neighborhood and Urban Village Plan (published December 2011) dedicates an entire chapter to parking. While the situation is not yet dire, the plan outlines a future increase in demand. According to the plan, demand is anticipated to grow to approximately 2,300 to 2,800 vehicles, and the current supply is approximately 2,000 spaces.

Paid parking: a bittersweet solution?

Several recommendations for adjusting to the increasing demand are listed in the plan; perhaps the most radical is the possibility of time-restricted parking.

Merchants may be hesitant to support enforced time regulations. “Patrolling the area is not going to help, because we see a lot of loss of business with paid parking downtown,” Pamela Felke, wholesale and marketing manager for Avenue Bread, said.

But parking fees could do the area well, said Paul Stangl, an associate professor in the Environmental Studies department at Western. Stangl, who has done research in pedestrian planning and urban landscapes, referenced Donald Shoup, a parking and economics expert.

“If parking is priced appropriately, there won’t be a problem,” Stangl said. He explained how research and even case studies had shown that paid parking works for the merchants in the area if the profit from parking fees had a direct benefit on the location, rather than being swallowed into the larger and more nebulous pot of city funds.

While there are many solutions being considered, the neighborhood and the city have yet to take action.

“At the request of stakeholders, no specific management strategies are being imposed at the regulatory level for parking until conditions warrant such a change,” wrote Project Manager Nicole Oliver, in the Jan. 10 update on the plan. “No changes to the Parking District are proposed at this time.”

Complicating the issue: historic character

According to the drafted plan, the parking issues of downtown Fairhaven go beyond the standard growing pains of any business district. Most commercial neighborhoods will face the conundrum of development in a limited geographic area: an increase in customers and a decrease of places for customers to park. Fairhaven’s unique challenge can be found in its character: as a historic district, there is a certain aesthetic that does not allow for tradition storefront parking lots.

“Fairhaven’s core character (buildings against the street, safe sidewalks, interesting uses tantalizing the eye as one walks along) is impossible with parking between the building and the street. Even parking beside of the building breaks this compelling story,” according to the plan.

Development vs. Space

One example of the parking dilemma is the empty lot located on the corner of Mill Avenue and 11th Street. Cars can be seen lined up in this lot on any given day, and it is even advertised on Fairhaven’s website as free parking for all visitors to the district. Jacaranda Development, the company that owns the lot, has no current plans for the land.

            “There's a real need for additional parking in the [Fairhaven] core, and this site would be a natural one for an underground garage. Unfortunately that's going to be very expensive to construct, and is beyond the scope of the type of building that we've been doing,” wrote owner Brad Imus in an email. “We're ready to sell the property, but only to a developer who we think will do something really positive for the area.”
            While development could be a positive thing for some people, others would prefer that the lot remain undeveloped and open for customers.
            “There’s a standard of building requirement that comes with creating space, and that is not being followed in Fairhaven. It’s not measuring up,” Eclipse Bookstore owner David Carlsen said. “[That lot would] be a fine location for permanent parking as far as I’m concerned.”
            This lot, along with others like it on McKenzie Avenue, 9th Street, and 13th Street, is officially allocated as Fairhaven employee parking. The Old Fairhaven Association determines these designated parking areas, Felke said. Felke is also the Chair of Advertising on the board for the association.
            “It would negatively impact us if we lost that space,” Felke said. But Felke wasn’t quite as alarmed by the situation as Carlsen. “We pay a little bit too much attention to the parking issue. There is parking available.”

Fairhaven faces a parking dilemma, with limited time to concoct a solution that will please business owners, employees, and customers alike. As the neighborhood moves into a future of development and growing business, its residents will consider how to welcome and accommodate not only new customers, but their cars as well.