On July 9, Middleburg Police Chief A. J. Panebianco formally reported to Town Council on the results of his department's study of a month long experiment in which the town's parking meters were covered with bags that offered two hours of free parking.

Though neither Chief Panebianco nor Town Administrator Martha Semmes offered recommendations prior to Council's formal review, reactions to the experiment appear to have been overwhelmingly positive.

Vice Mayor Darlene Kirk was explicit, noting that she "did not see many cons, and mostly saw pros" in the report.

Turnover

Panebianco reiterated that the primary goal for Middleburg's parking enforcement program was to ensure turnover: to make sure that every citizen and visitor had a chance to find a parking place, and that prime spots were not monopolized all day by a single parker.

Parking meters worked, he admitted. They were less labor intensive than some options, and at any given time an officer could tell whether the driver of a vehicle had paid for parking. Unfortunately, with meters, he said, there was no way of knowing "whether the vehicle had been there all day or simply had not paid for five minutes."

"If the meters were removed and replaced with a technology-supported form of tire marking," Panebianco continued, turnover would be encourage and the Police Department would have a much better understanding of who was moving along and who was not."

Not having some system in place "to encourage the turnover of parking spaces" creates frustration and harms the economy by making it difficult for shoppers and restaurant patrons to park.

Appearances and Convenience

Another important consideration, the Chief noted, was how having meter posts at every space in the newly constructed areas of Route 50 would affect the Town's main street beautification agenda.

Another alternative, a metering system that issued parking permits from dispensers in the middle of a block would "work," Panebianco noted, but would be expensive and inconvenient for parkers.

Using such a system, motorists would either have to "Walk to a box to secure a piece of paper and then walk back to put it on their dashboard." Cell phone based options could be used buy more time at the meter, but would create technology and manpower issues for the police force, and undermine the primary purpose of a two hour limit, namely, turnover.

Council member Bundles Murdock noted that she "would love for there to be no meters on the main street," given both the Town's beautification agenda noting also the value of making more room for pedestrians on the Town's sidewalks. She had no problem, she said, keeping meters on side streets and in the Town's parking lots.

Enforcement

Council member Kathy Jo Shea spoke in favor of "a signed, time limited parking system," but suggested that "main street be treated differently than the side streets and that weekends be different than weekdays."

She also suggested that a part-time employee be hired dedicated to monitor the spaces, freeing up Chief Panebianco and his officers for other work.

Council member Kevin Hazard questioned whether "two hours was optimal as a time limit."

Panebianco noted that, based on his interviews and personal observations, it took a minimum of three hours to shop and eat on weekends."

Hazard also questioned "whether there was adequate parking for the employees of the businesses" noting the Town's parking pass program for the Liberty Street Parking Lot. Town Administrator Martha Semmes noted that she knew of at least one private parking lot that was underused and suggested talking to the owner about renting spaces for use by employees.

Cost

Council member Mark Snyder noted that he was "tired of spending Town money to replace the meters and noted that they always had operational issues." During his tenure on council the meters had been replaced, he said, three times and, in his view, "the cost was never balanced by the revenue."

The goal, Snyder insisted was for the Town to adopt a "system it could afford, that did not have to be constantly replaced, that did not require a large workforce to enforce and that did not cost a lot for maintenance."

Repeat Offenders

When Vice Mayor Kirk raised the issue of repeat offenders, Chief Panebianco agreed that something would have to be done discourage them. Without going into detail Panebianco noted that there were "several options" and that Town would have to "crack down on a few to ensure the needs were met for the majority."

Vice Mayor Kirk noted that she, personally, "did not like the free parking" and thought "motorists were abusing it.'

Chief Panebianco disagreed, noting that forty percent of the repeat offenders "were the same six people."

Council then asked Town staff "to develop a parking plan that addressed the entire picture for their review."

Town Administrator Semmes noted that the development of such a plan might require the Town to "hire consultants who were experts in parking."

Chief Panebianco suggested that he and Town Staff draft an overview plan, and if Council approved the general outline, "build it up to make it functional."

Historic District Review Committee

At Council's June 25 Work Session, Bill Turnure, Chairman of the Historic District Review Committee presented his team's annual report.

In his view, the Town "looked nice" thanks in large part "the renovation of buildings, some of which were built in the 1980s" observing that Chinn's Crossing and the Federal Street Office Building project had "worked out well."

Vice Mayor Darlene Kirk praised the committee, noting that it was "responsible for how the town looked . . . . they did all the hard work . . . and did a wonderful job.

Food Truck Issue

Council member Bundles Murdock then asked whether or the question of the propriety of a food truck that had been regularly appearing at The Cidery had come before the Historic District Review Committee.

HDRC Chairman Turnure said it had not.

Murdock said that although their food was "delicious" she thought the truck "did not fit in with what the HDRC was trying to accomplish."

When Council member Mark Snyder pointed out that this was a zoning issue, Kathy Jo Shea observed that the Town needed to "fix the zoning ordinance so this did not occur again."

Town Planner Will Moore told Council that this was the first time he had heard the word "complaint" used, preferring the term "inquiries" to "complaints."

The Town Planning Commission was already looking at Middleburg's current "temporary use provisions", he said, but had been delayed by a sub-committee "that was looking at special events." The two, he said, were inextricably intertwined.

In Moore's view, there were some uses of zoned property "that would become something that would require Council approval rather than allowing them under an administrative permit."

Council member Kevin Hazard observe that Town staff "did the right thing in issuing the permit as the owner did what he had to do to comply with the ordinance, including opening an office in town."

He then asked "whether Council wanted something different."

In Hazard's view, the Middleburg clearly wanted to be able to allow food trucks in Town for special events.

Council member Kathy Jo Shea agreed, but noted that in her view, "allowing food trucks was intended for events only, which was why the ordinance was written as it was." She had not anticipated, she said, that such trucks would be used all summer, every weekend.

Traffic Calming

According to Town Administrator Semmes, bids for some parts of the Middleburg's Washington Street Project, a key part of VDOT's ongoing Route 50 Traffic Calming Committee project, had been delayed until July 22. She expressed hope that this would allow for more bids.

Harassment

Council member Kathy Jo Shea reported that she "observed workers on Liberty Street hassle a woman" and said she told the supervisor on the job that "this was not okay".

When Shea asked the staff to ensure there was a code of behavior for contractors Town Planner Moore noted that such "behavior on a government run job could carry serious consequences."