GRAND HAVEN, Mich. — Grand Haven continues to look into a measure that could, once again, limit parking spaces throughout the downtown area.
FOX 17 learned the city will look at whether to continue closing off a section downtown, in an area made popular during the pandemic.
On Wednesday evening, after a rainy and brisk fall day, there were plenty of parking spaces for anyone willing to head into the city.
"If you go back there right now, you'll see that lot is almost empty," Copper Post owner Doug Vanse explained.
Vanse is also a landlord to 17 people who live above his establishment.
"I mean, residents just don't come downtown during the summer because of all the traffic problems and parking problems," Vanse said.
Right now, he says, he's fighting for them.
"Let them park. They've got a sticker that says they paid you $120 for an overnight parking lot. Park as long as they want. They live here," Vanse added.
The Downtown Development Authority plans to look at how to address parking issues, including the lack of spots, during a Thursday morning meeting.
"What information those residents and tenants in the downtown area can utilize to know where to park, when to park and how they can park their car overnight," DDA Executive Director Jeremey Swiftney said.
There are currently limits to parking in areas of the city from May to November. People can park for three hours before they have to move.
"In some cases, I've even had them be towed," Vanse added.
There's another issue on the agenda.
It's an issue two business owners say could make finding an open spot even more difficult: A measure of what to do with a section of Washington Avenue, which has been closed for a couple of years.
"This last year, we closed 25 parking spaces for the outdoor dining. This next year, we'll see what our board and what city council feels comfortable doing. If they feel that what we did this year is the same thing, then we'd be looking at an additional 25 spaces close. So, you would be over 800 parking spaces within a three-block area," Swiftney added.
"Now, it's no longer necessary. That's, it's an unfair take away from all the other businesses that rely on that parking," J. Morgan Fine Jewelers owner John Morgan told FOX 17 Wednesday. "I think there are ways to develop that kind of atmosphere without compromising the fairness of giving up the spaces to a very sort of favored group."
Morgan says he was in full support of the closure back during the pandemic and while he continues to champion the social district zone where people can drink and walk around on sidewalks, he's collected signatures from a few dozen business owners who want the section of road back open.
"It's not right to just give those rare parking places to just a handful of, you know, favorite businesses," Morgan said.
"We're trying to make sure that we're not negatively impacting our merchants and our stakeholders. We're trying to make sure to best represent them in the best way as possible," Swiftney explained.
