Not long ago we asked you to consider parking concerns and issues in downtown Clearfield. Here are the results of that Shout Out. Responses are still being taken and can be emailed to editor@gantnews.com. Please include your name and hometown.
What we need downtown is more businesses and jobs to warrant a parking garage. People are staying away from downtown because of a lack of businesses to shop so they go to Dubois and Altoona or State College or to Wal-Mart or what little businesses are at the mall or the Big Lots plaza to shop.
We need jobs and businesses in downtown, worry about fixing that then worry about parking.
Jim Bloom
Clearfield
In response to the parking garage.
If they would ever build a parking garage in downtown, I’msure it would be metered at the entrance for parking privledges. Yes, the addition would help with the parking issues, however, there would be somebody else complaining because they have to pay to park in the parking garage.
Most towns have paid parking on streets. It’s a quarter, not $5.00. If you’re going in for lunch or shopping at the old Leitzingers building, then I dont have a problem paying a quarter to park for two hours.
Steve Dimmick
Bellslanding
First off, someone needs to remind business owners that just because they own a buisness along Second Street, doesnt mean they own Second Street! It’s free parking no matter what buisness is there. And the business owners do not OWN meters. When those buisness’s came to town they knew that their customers were going to need to park somewhere, they should have purchused the spots so that they wouldnt have to worry about who parked there because they would be posted. I work downtown and I am one that has recieved a letter on my car asking me to not park in the unposted, free to anyone, parking spaces, where these buisness owners are also putting up cones in these free spaces so that only their customers can park there. The police have already had to move the cone once, possibly twice. And also, in response to the comment about post office customers not paying to park due to ‘running in and right back out’. The same goes for the people dropping their children off at the dance studio and causing congestion along Pine Street. Because they dont want to pay to park either. And the shoveling and keeping ‘your’ sidewalk clear…it’s each busiiness owner’s responibility to keep ‘their’ sidewalk cleared off in the winter anyway. So to anyone that has a problem with downtown employees parking in front of their businesses…take it in front of the borough council and purchase the free parking spots so you don’t have to worry about us downtown employees parking there!
Kylee Ralston
Downtown Clearfield Employee
Give Me My Parking Meters Back!
As the general populus speaks of removing the downtown parking meters, I beg for mine back! Why, you ask? Due to typical idiotic planning of the powers that be, someone’s grand idea of helping to alleviate the downtown parking woes was to remove the meter heads in the outlying
areas of the downtown. Why is this not a solution? Because, all of the people who work downtown now park in these spaces for eight or nine hours at a time for free. What is wrong with that you ask? Well, when you own a business on one of these outlying streets you get to look at the same car all day long while your customers not only have park 3 blocks away at a meter and walk to your business, but they pay for it. Thus hurting the businesses with free parking in front of them.
My wife and I own Taffy Salon & Spa. They removed our meter heads last year on the South Second Street side of our building; all meter heads were removed from Pine Street north to Nichols Street. Our meter heads remain on Pine Street, which are always full of Post Office customers; most of which never pay to park because they are in and out in a matter of minutes. We now have an abundance of downtown employees who park directly in front of our business, walk the two blocks up town to work, and deprive our customers of close parking. Many of our clients are older, and even though I have posted notes on these vehicles asking them to please park further down the street, they refuse, and park as close to downtown for free each and every day as they can.
Give me my meters back! Our customers are willing to pay the 25 cents it costs to be able to park close to our building for an hour. We spend a lot of time shoveling and keeping our parking areas free of snow so that our customers and clients can get in and out of their vehicles
with ease; we don’t do it for employees of downtown businesses and county employees and visitors. With the new YMCA expansion and the unthoughtful purchase of the Gray Battery Warehouse Building by our developers/county commissioners with a total of seven parking spots for 54 so called essential employees, I am sure to be shoveling and plowing our spots for a lot of people who will never step foot in our business.
Benjamin J. Timko
Owner: Taffy Salon & Spa / The Dance Company / 765-DECK,LLC. / Mountain’s View Development / Clearfield County Business and Real Estate Development Group, LLC.
Parking is always a problem in a small town but when parking spaces are eliminated as will be when the YMCA starts their addition then that creates a new problem that needs a new solution. There are only two options that are possible. One is to purchase existing properties with or without a building or buildings that would have to be demolished which has been pointed out by others that it doesn’t help much or the other option is to build a parking garage. St. Mary’s is dealing with that very issue now. They have already cut their original plans for their planned garage size down to make it a realty so as not to incur an enormous bill that would frighten even the most liberal spender. I see a lot of money being put into sidewalks for improvement and it does look nice but I think sometimes we go overboard with the sidewalk issue. I know that the sidewalks with the combination of decorative brick and cement are attractive but it doesn’t bring shoppers to downtown. And besides, many towns are doing that now and the novelty has worn off. They are also hard to shovel snow off of, which makes them not very practical. Much of that money could have been used for a parking garage. But it looks nice and it’s done, so it is time to move on.
Available parking will bring shoppers or at least help to alleviate the problem we are having. I would suggest looking into more available grants that would take up some of the financial burden. If someone would look into it I think they would find that there are creative ways to obtain funds that could be used for a parking garage. We need to save small towns but without parking they will slowly die. Think big, that is the only solution in my mind or else end up small.
John Moore Sr.
Clearfield
I am a former resident of Clearfield, but now I only visit the area for four months a year, at which time I am in New Millport. A group I belong to often holds get together lunches in town, and I am in Clearfield often. For me, feeding the parking meter sure puts a damper on the spontaneity of having a leisurely lunch or browsing in the former Leitzingers building. If it is the goal of the commissioners to draw people to the downtown area, I personally, do not think parking fees are very inducive to attaining that goal.
Marla Jury
West Palm Beach, Fl.
It seems like Clearfield needs a parking garage. Perhaps the parking lot on the corner of Third and Locust St. would be a good location for that. When so many of the employees of downtown businesses park on the streets, it leaves little space for those that plan to shop or go to the Y. Somehow, Clearfield needs to find an area for parking pronto.
Ann Neff
Clearfield
