Town Council Votes to remove Reverse-Angle Parking

On Thursday, Town Council approved the Parking Ad Hoc Committee Phase One Recommendations for Parking on Mason Avenue. This means reverse-angle parking will be replaced with front in parking along Mason Avenue.

The Committee also proposes to change the angle of the parking spaces from 60 degrees to 45 degrees, which should provide more visibility when backing out of the parking space. According to staff, the Town will lose approximately seven to nine parking spaces by changing to 45-degree, pull-in angled parking where there currently exists 60-degree reverse-angle parking. The lane width will increase approximately one foot.

The Committee recommends providing parallel parking stripes on the north side of Mason Avenue between Fig Street and Peach Street and between Harbor Street and Bay Avenue, which is what previously existed prior to the resurfacing of Mason Avenue a few years ago.

During discussion, it was also recommended that the two parking spots in front of Strawberry Street Plaza be removed. Cars parking in those spaces block the current view shed.

The complete set of recommendations for Phase I include:

1. Replace reverse angle parking with front end parking where reverse angle parking is currently located, and change the angle from a 45-degree angle to a 60-degree angle (reference Attachment 2 from the January 7, 2019 Planning Commission meeting) Note: During the Planning Commission meeting, there was confusion as to what 45-degree angle and 60-degree angle parking spaces looked like. The staff report for Planning Commission was written exactly as this report was written, with 60-degree referencing the angle that currently exists on Mason Avenue. It is Staff’s opinion that this is the correct interpretation of the angle and has attached a diagram to illustrate the different angles and what they look like. Staff believes that it was the intent of the Planning Commission to motion to approve the 45-degree angle as shown in Attachment 2, rather than the 60-degree angle

2. Add parallel parking stripes on the north side of Mason Avenue between Fig Street and Peach Street

3. Add parallel parking stripes on the north side of Mason Avenue from Harbor Street to Bay Avenue

4. Add one handicapped parking space each in the zero block and 100 block of Mason Avenue.