- Downtown Jackson's parking situation has been a highly debated one in the past.
- After local businesses expressed their disinterest in metered parking, the DDA is trying to find a solution to Downtown Jackson's ongoing parking issue.
- There is a downtown business meeting February 29 at 5:30pm at Christoff & Sons to discuss parking and other topics.
The Jackson Downtown Development Authority and downtown businesses have been going back and forth of the issue of parking for some time. The city has previously considered implementing meters downtown, but with a negative response overall from businesses, they chose to push that solution to the back burner.
Beth Kuiper, Executive Director of the DDA, shared, "Downtown Jackson wasn't as high of a destination as it is now. People are coming from all over, so we're starting to have these problems, but they're good problems."
Now, the conversation of parking has recently risen back to the surface. The DDA is once again considering solutions of longer street parking, more affordable permits, and more expensive tickets.
Kuiper explained that she feels the solution is to increase the price of tickets, as most people take their chances when it come to parking. She also feels that permit prices should be reduced, and further promoted in exchange. As of right now, the cost of those permits is typically $50 or more.
Briston Bamm of Nevermore Decor Store shared, "The longer allotments would actually be negative, in my opinion, because we already have the issue of people parking too long." When asked about the meters, Bamm said, "I don't know if Jackson is ready for that. I think that'd be a big change for peolpe and I think that'd hurt downtown for a little while."
Over at Lean Rocket Lab, Brad Smith explained, "I'd love to see downtown active and thriving. The real thing is to keep the daily workers from abusing it and letting customers park downtown. I would love to see more enforcement and more lenient penalties."
The Jackson DDA will be hosting a downtown business meeting February 29 at Christoff and Sons, to discuss new parking solutions.
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