THE SPECTATOR: TIME FOR ACTION ON DOWNTOWN PARKING
There’s not enough parking in Downtown Brenham. That’s a phrase that’s been repeated for 15 years or longer. When the Downtown Master Plan for Brenham was adopted 10 years ago, the lack of parking was more of a perception. Now, with downtown booming with new shops, restaurants and bars, it has become a reality. The Master Plan laid out several steps to be taken to alleviate the parking problem. One was to work with Washington County to move the courthouse employee parking to a new location. Another was to work with business owners to have both them and their employees stop parking directly in front of their businesses or others…but rather park in the remote lots on Commerce and Vulcan streets. Also, about ten downtown lots were identified for potential purchase by the City for parking development. That was ten years ago. You know how many of these items have been accomplished? None! Not a single one.
But it’s not for a lack of trying. There are three groups that should be held responsible for this lack of progress. Downtown business owners have not been strict enough in encouraging their employees to park in other areas instead of in front of stores. The City of Brenham has had several opportunities to purchase lots for additional parking over the past ten years, but never pulled the trigger. Early on it was suggested to at least put some asphalt down over the grass field on North Park Street where the old municipal building was located. That hasn’t happened either because some thought a hotel was imminent at that spot. And then there comes Washington County. Officials with Brenham Main Street have met with the past two County Judges asking them to strongly encourage the courthouse employees to use the lot on Vulcan Street. Anyone receiving a jury notice is told to do just that. I personally have visited with Judge John Durrenberger twice about the problem, even as recently as a month ago. I told him how I had just spent a half hour that morning videoing and photographing seven courthouse employees as they parked on Alamo and Baylor Streets on the courthouse square before walking through the “employee only” door of the courthouse prior to 8 a.m. Judge Durrenberger said he would “do what he could” to get them to stop, but said “those folks don’t work for me”. That’s a good point, because I saw County department heads doing the same thing. I also told him how after 8 a.m. I photographed the lots on Commerce and Vulcan Street where only a handful of cars were parked. I also saw more than one downtown business owner or employee park right in front of their businesses. Now…a month later…I see the same 7 vehicles parked in almost the same spaces on the square every single day. And that’s on only just one side of the courthouse! A visitor might use that space for an hour or two, if that. An owner or employee uses it all day.
I say “enough is enough”. It’s time for action to be taken to come up with some solutions. I visited recently with City Manager Carolyn Miller who agreed that something needs to be done. Ms. Miller liked the idea of paving the site where the old municipal building stood on North Park Street, and maybe working out a deal with the County to reserve one of those lots for their courthouse employees. Personally, I think if the County doesn’t want to work toward a solution, then the City should remove all of the reserved parking spaces for County officials around the square. On court days a few spaces could be reserved for the delivery and pickup of inmates, but that’s it. The City needs to also move forward with the purchase of at least one other lot to be developed for parking. And business owners downtown need to crack down on their employees and fellow business owners who continue to park in front of stores.
It's going to take a concerted effort to resolve Downtown Brenham’s parking issues. I for one am tired of hearing excuses for the past 15 years. Now….who is going to take the first step?
And that’s the way it looks to this Spectator.
