Oxford’s Downtown Development Authority (DDA) is considering asking the village to put a two-hour time limit on a number of parking spaces in downtown’s four quadrants.

“That’s typically long enough to allow for shopping trips or a lunch,” said DDA Executive Director Glenn Pape, but short enough to generate more turnover, which he claims leads to increased retail sales.

Pape said the DDA’s ad hoc parking committee has proposed restricting the spaces “closest” to the buildings in each of the four quadrants to two hours between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. five or six days a week. That’s “roughly 30 to 45” spaces per quadrant, he said.

“Right now, we’re looking at (having it in effect) Monday  through Friday, but it may extend till Saturday,” Pape said. “We’re looking to talk to business owners and major employers downtown with regard to that.”

These two-hour areas would also contain handicapped spaces and “a minimum of four 15-minute spaces per lot,” according to a memo Pape submitted to the board.

The idea is to prevent business owners and employees from parking in the spaces nearest to stores and restaurants for long periods of time, so they can be utilized by greater numbers of shoppers and diners.

According to Pape, if these “most valuable” spaces can be turned over six to eight times a day, that can increase the amount of retail sales by an average of about $10,000 per space annually.

“Historically, we (have sent) out a letter every spring and fall asking the businesses to have their employees park away from the (buildings) and in the overflow lots. But, it just tends not to happen,” Pape said. “So, we’re looking at changing the ordinance from (allowing) 24-hour parking (almost everywhere in the municipal lots) to two-hour parking (in the spaces near the businesses) to see if that solves the problem.”

Right now, the majority of spaces in and around the downtown do not have time restrictions of them. There are a few 15- minutes spaces in the southwest and southeast quadrants. There’s a three-hour limit for on-street parking on the south side of Dennison St. between Hovey St. and M-24. There’s also a one-hour limit for a row of spaces along M-24 in the southwest quadrant.

The committee’s draft proposal was received and filed by the DDA board last week. Board members who own downtown businesses were supportive of the two-hour limit.

“I think it’s a great thing,” said Board Member Dorothy Johnston, owner of Johnston Photography in the northeast quadrant.

Johnston said the parking situation behind her business is “not so bad now,” but “there are some cars that are parked in the front two rows all day in my quadrant.”

Board Member Nicole Ellsworth, owner of the 5-1 Diner in the southwest quadrant, believes two hours is “generally long enough” for people to get things done downtown.

“It’s pretty fair,” she said.

Ellsworth noted right now, the spaces closest to her diner are “full all day long, but it’s with the employees from the neighboring businesses and those upstairs from us.”

Board Member Michelle Klein, owner of Blu Ivy in the southwest quadrant, saw the draft proposal as striking a good balance because the two-hour spaces provide “enough time for (people) to shop,” yet there’s still an “ample” amount of parking that’s unrestricted.

DDA Chairman Pete Scholz wanted to know how the proposed two-hour limit would be enforced. Basically, how would  police officers know which vehicles had been parked there too long?

Pape said one of the things he’s “exploring” with the police department is potentially acquiring an automated license plate reader. He explained that a police officer could use this device to scan license plates as he or she cruises through the lots. Each scan would be time-stamped, so when the officer returns in two hours, the device would indicate which vehicles are in violation and print out a ticket, Pape explained.

For now, Pape said the DDA has proposed adding an extra $3,000 for enforcement in the 2019-20 budget. Although passed by the DDA board, the budget is still awaiting council approval.

The plan is to have enforcement conducted by part-time village officers at “random” times during the week. Pape told the board they would start by issuing “courtesy tickets,” which carry no fines.

“The recommended best practice when you change your parking regulations . . . is to (issue) courtesy tickets for 30 to 60 days, (reminding violators) this is a two-hour space,” Pape said.

Following the end of the courtesy period, violators would be assessed the village’s standard $15 parking fine.

If this amount proved ineffective, Pape said the village council could be approached about increasing it. “That would only be in a case where there were rampant violations generating $15 tickets,” he noted.

Pape assured DDA board members the purpose of the fines would be to gain compliance, not generate additional revenue for the village. “We’re not looking to make money with this,” he told them.

Before the parking proposal is presented to council for potential approval as an ordinance amendment, Pape said the plan is to conduct two public meetings where business owners and residents can review it and provide feedback that could potentially be used to refine some details.

“We’re looking at probably the second Monday in May for business owners, in the morning, because that tends to be a day that they’re available,” Pape said. “Then, we’ll do one (meeting) in the evening as well – probably that same week.”

Between holding these two meetings, potentially making changes to the proposal based on public input, taking it to council and going through the ordinance amendment process, Pape noted, “It’s not going to happen right away.”

“We’re looking at having the enforcement in place probably in August,” he said.

DDA Board Member Joe Frost, who also serves as village president, thought the draft proposal needed to be beefed up with more details regarding enforcement and where employees are going to park.

“I think council’s going to want to see a broader plan that’s more than this . . .  Just thinking out loud – maybe something a little more robust before it goes to council,” he said.