CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The city of Charleston is currently in the middle of a comprehensive parking study before recommending changes late summer or early fall.
“The mayor (Danny Jones) charged us with doing a parking study in light of the fact that our parking bonds will be retiring at the end of this year,” said City Manager David Molgaard. “As a result of that, money that was going to debt service will be available for other improvements to our system.”
With parking accomodations sparse, particularly in downtown Charleston, Molgaard said the city is exploring adding parking garages.
“One particular site would be on the whole block near where the Holly Hotel used to sit on Dickinson Avenue,” he said.
The city wants to do its due dilligence before committing to any changes, Molgaard said.
“Before we can identify whether we ought to build new garages and where, or change the manner in which we collect parking meter money, or identify where we place those meters, we thought it was a good idea to do a study.”
The project involves dividing the city into sections, counting the vehicles in each spot one day in the spring, and doing that again sometime in the summer.
Molgaard said he hoped the study would be presented late summer or early fall.