PROBLEM 'PERCEIVED': Merchants, shoppers have different views of downtown parking availablity

A group of local business leaders isn't so sure that downtown has a parking problem.

Members of Advantage Watertown spent more than an hour last week talking about what they called "perceived" parking woes. They said they believe downtown has enough parking along Public Square and throughout the business district.

But people who go downtown have a different opinion, the members said. Motorists expect to park right in front of a business they want to patronize, said Peter W. Schmitt, director of the Watertown Family YMCA, which is on Public Square.

The subject came up as more people have moved into the Franklin Building, where ground-floor businesses will bring into the area more people who will need a place to park.

Gary C. Beasley, executive director of Neighbors of Watertown Inc., said one potential Franklin Building tenant has voiced concerns about adequate parking in that area. Neighbors restored the historic Public Square landmark.

Mr. Schmitt and the other Advantage Watertown members talked about parking trends while they looked over a map of where people could park in the area. They said downtown parking has been an issue for years.

Yet some merchants have complained that employees of other businesses park in spots that should be for customers.

"If you have a failing business on Public Square, it's not because of parking," Mr. Schmitt said, adding that he sees several vacant spots there daily.

City Manager Mary M. Corriveau said the J.B. Wise parking lot just off Public Square will help once a $2.8 million project to revamp it is completed later this year.While it's accessible for motorists on the north side of Public Square, the improvements — which call for a new entranceway off the square and better signage — will allow motorists unfamiliar with municipal parking lots to know that it's available and will get more people to use it.

Advantage Watertown Chairman John K. Bartow said some communities, such as Saratoga Springs, have built parking garages when parking became saturated, suggesting Watertown will have to do the same someday.

Still, members said they believe it's a perception problem, since shoppers don't mind parking far away from the doors at Salmon Run Mall.

Members suggested that an organization, such as the Downtown Business Association, put together a map showing the location of public lots because many in the community are military and may not know where they are.

But Denise M. McLane, owner of Solitary Consignment on Public Square, during the holidays blamed employees from other businesses parking on the Square for hours on a daily basis. She placed signs in her storefront window that called those employees out for using spots for patrons.

Now that the city's parking enforcement officer has been handing out tickets to those downtown workers, she has no complaints.

"The city is doing a very good job," she said. "They're using tickets and enforcement, and that's all we want."