EDC to Consider Parking Regs Wednesday

It’s been a constant in Franklin for decades. There never seems to be agreement about parking in Franklin’s central business district. Some say there is enough, other’s claim there is too little. And it also depends exactly what area you are looking at.

Into this fraught situation, the Economic Development Committee will wade Wednesday evening at 6 pm. The first item on the agenda is a Discussion on “Franklin For All” -- the effort to rezone the area – through a review of the MAPC Study’s conclusions and the views of the Committee.

The second order of business is to look at a range of issues related to parking regulations and parking lots (detailed information is available here). And it is some of the ‘fine print’ in this material that has raised concerns within the Franklin Downtown Partnership (FDP) business group.

Writing to members over the weekend, FDP executive director Lisa Piana, wrote:

“Downtown parking will be on the agenda of the Economic Development Subcommittee meeting on Wed., Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. in the Municipal Building, 2nd Floor, Council Chambers, 355 East Central St. FDP members are encouraged to attend!

“Please read the details. The proposal is to change the two-hour parking in Downtown Center to one-hour parking and extending it from 2 to 6 pm.,” she noted.

“We encourage all businesses downtown to voice their opinion on this,” she added.