Our View: Outside Of The Lines

We were disappointed that the suggestions offered at a recent forum about Chatham’s perennial parking problem were largely retreads of ideas that have been around for, in many cases, decades. There seemed to have been little thinking outside of lines.

After collecting data and making observations last summer, the Cape Cod Commission’s roster of possible ways to address the situation included better signs, time limits, paid parking, a shuttle and moving employee parking out of downtown. Nothing much new there. This is a missed opportunity.

There’s no space for new parking areas downtown, but as Commission Senior Transportation Planner Dave Nolan said at the July 30 session, there’s actually enough parking in downtown Chatham; it’s just a matter of directing people to the lots that are underutilized. That means out of the core downtown area. A commission analysis showed that three main public parking lots downtown — behind the Orpheum Theater, the town offices, and at Kate Gould Park — were overutilized during peak periods, with more than 100 percent of spaces occupied. The community center gets heavy use, but it’s only full when there are events at the facility (or ball games at Veterans Field). The Depot Road elementary school, however, is barely used, its nearly 110 spaces remaining vacant most days.

Directing motorists to these outlying parking areas has been a challenge. Signs aren’t uniform or clear. But more importantly, there’s no incentive for people to park there and walk the block or so to downtown. What if those spaces were free and not time limited, but for the privilege of parking right in downtown motorists had to pay or be restricted to a two- or three-hour limit? Would that be incentive enough to direct motorists to outlying lots? Hard to tell if it’s not being considered.

We anticipate the Cape Cod Commission’s final report will recommend looking into many of those same old ideas, but we’ll be greatly disappointed if there aren’t suggestions that combine some (as we did above) or challenge the town and downtown merchants to leave their comfort zones and take things like paid parking or time limits seriously. Residents have until Aug. 18 to comment on the commission’s initial suggestions. A final report is expected this fall. We hope commission staffers rally their creativity and identify possible solutions that are outside of the lines.