Milton council hears report on parking

Milton Town Council is contemplating the future of parking in town both in the short and long term, debating strategies as far-ranging as implementing parking meters downtown and building a parking garage.

At council’s Dec. 5 meeting, the town’s ad hoc parking advisory committee presented its 17-page report, and with the recommendations included, council decided it needed more time to digest its contents, electing to accept the report and hold further discussions at a future meeting. 

The committee, chaired by Councilwoman Lee Revis-Plank, comprised residents and business owners who worked from August into late November. 

To begin, the committee fashioned a townwide survey for residents to provide input. A total of 32 residents responded, and Revis-Plank said opinion was split nearly 50-50 between those who wanted to keep parking free and those who wanted to see the town build a two- or three-level parking garage on land purchased by the town or at the public works building or the wastewater treatment plant sites on Front Street, which the town already owns. 

Revis-Plank said, “The survey was developed to gather information from residents about the impact of parking on their activities and their ideas for addressing the parking situation. The information was analyzed and reported by the number of responses for each idea.”

Other residents wanted to see the town develop a shuttle service into downtown Milton with cars parking at either Dogfish Head brewery, at the Food Lion shopping center or at local open space. Residents also wanted to see the town add more handicapped spaces. 

The committee’s report includes both short-term, intermediate and long-term recommendations. 

There were 12 short-term recommendations, which include relatively simple actions such as repainting parking spaces and curbs, providing a map of available parking around town and using lots in the town center owned by private entities during off hours, such as H.O. Brittingham and Milton Elementary schools, Goshen and St. John churches and at M&T and Community banks, possibly compensating those entities in some form, such as a property tax rebate. The report also asks the town to formalize a lease with the fire department to use one of its lots on Front Street for town parking long term. 

Part of these recommendations is providing notice and enforcement of the code-mandated two-hour parking limit for spaces in the town center. The committee recommended putting up signs specifying the time limit with enforcement provided by either Milton Police Department or via printed notices passed out by business owners. 

Two short-term ideas that need more development are the possibility of exclusive permit parking areas in the town center, as well as a fee that would be paid by business owners for the support and maintenance of parking spaces used by customers of downtown businesses. 

“We felt that it is important to react as quickly as possible with ideas for focusing attention on low-hanging fruit and thus generate positive energy to tackle the more complex recommendations,” Revis-Plank said. 

While the short-term recommendations are meant to be things that can be done now within the town’s operating budget, the committee said intermediate and long-term recommendations require time, investigation, funding and the development of a plan before moving forward.

Of the intermediate recommendations, the big ones are installing signs or kiosks around town center highlighting parking spaces and the possibility of installing parking meters with two-hour limits on Union and Federal streets from Broad Street to Mill Street. The idea would be to use the funds raised to build a parking facility in town. Meters would utilize a parking app, such as ParkMobile, which is used in Lewes, Georgetown and Rehoboth Beach. 

Outside of metered parking, the committee also recommended signs or kiosks around the town center designating parking spaces and places of interest and negotiating with property owners for “pocket parking lots,” portions of property that could be used for overflow parking for events. 

Revis-Plank said she knows the idea of parking meters will be controversial.

“We always prepare for pushback when proposing changes that impact our residents financially,” she said. “The committee heard from other local municipalities that metering generated funding and was generally considered to be worth the effort. Metering would be focused on the town center parking spots/lot. People who prefer not to pay would still have the option of parking remotely and walking to town center businesses. A key here is to develop parking fees that are reasonable. We trust that the partner chosen for this project would have experience to advise a reasonable range from which to choose a fee that would be appropriate for Milton.”

The idea of a parking garage is on the list of long-term recommendations, which Revis-Plank said require much more effort and research in order to develop a project plan and budget. 

“The committee hopes that these projects can be addressed in the revised 2023 comprehensive plan,” she said. “They may require considerable effort to apply for grants, seek sponsors and generate funding. However, the projects are similar to those undertaken by other Sussex County cities/towns and would benefit the town economically over time.”