Fairport Forward
Fairport Forward explores what the Village can become, how it can grow, and how the community can help shape its future. Each episode takes a deeper look at the ideas, values, and opportunities that can move Fairport forward while staying true to the spirit that defines it.
Fairport Forward
Smarter Parking for a Stronger Village
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In this episode of Fairport Forward, we dig into one of the most talked about topics from our community survey: parking. Residents told us it’s a top concern — and we explore why. Johnna, Amy, and guest Jill Wiedrick (Village Planner for the Village of Fairport) unpack the strong feelings around parking, then compare those perceptions with the findings of recent parking studies.
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Hi, welcome. We're back with Fairport Forward for our second episode, and we're going to talk about that really exciting topic that we teased last time, parking. It was one of the biggest topics that we heard from our survey. And today we're going to dig into the feelings, the facts, and some of the possible solutions to the frustration that our village residents and our visitors are experiencing. I'm Jonna McCui. I'm the executive director at Fairport OSAD, and I'm joined again today by Amy Olds. Hello. And we have a special guest, Jill Weedrick. She is the village planner in Fairport and playing the role of resident expert in parking for our village today. Jill, can you introduce yourself and tell the folks a little bit about yourself?
Jill WiedrickSure. So I have been doing planning and zoning for almost 20 years now. And I have experience doing urban, rural, suburban. And so I've got a lot of knowledge and had a lot of experiences. And oftentimes the conversation comes up about parking.
Amy OldsI bet.
Jill WiedrickAnd it's not unique to the village of Fairport.
Johnna McCooeyBut the reason the village of Fairport is experiencing the uh more issues around parking is because of all of the exciting growth that we've seen over the past decade or so. So while we're excited to welcome that growth, it's important to recognize that with that growth has come some growing pains, and we heard that loud and clear from some of the survey comments. So let's talk about what were some of those themes in the survey.
Amy OldsI mean, parking, the word parking came up almost a hundred times in the comments. Uh so definitely the most mentioned thing, um, almost always in tandem with also the desire to maintain the charm of the village, which was just talking right before recording how interesting that juxtaposition is of wanting more parking but not wanting to lose the charm. And to me, those things definitely kind of fight each other a little bit. And no one, I think, would love the idea of the village being a complete parking lot or you know, more and more asphalt, more, more parking, more parking, more cars all over the place. But even though parking was mentioned the most, it leads me to believe that the charm is truly the most important and that it's the frustration of the congestion at certain times that is more the need for parking, is more that perception of I can't be where I want when I want, unless I need more parking lots.
Jill WiedrickI would agree with that. And I and you know, we talk about perception being reality. So if someone has come into the village and they haven't or had the opportunity to get a spot immediately, or they've struggled to find a parking spot, for them, that's a big deal. Um, so the question becomes well, what do we do about that and still preserve the charm of Fairport? Because just as you mentioned in your survey, you know, we're in the midst of a zoning code update. We did a lot of public outreach and we heard the same thing. We heard things about parking, but for the most part, we heard preserve the village of Fairport. And so there's a struggle with how do you make both things happen?
Amy OldsYeah. Yeah.
Johnna McCooeySo we you mentioned that parking is always a frustration wherever you go. Um, and we talked about the the character. What particular about Fairport right now are the main contributors to that frustration?
Jill WiedrickI think it's uh it's a multitude of factors. I think in some instances it's that people aren't aware of where those public parking lots are. That's a big one. I think in some instances it's people not being comfortable parking on street. Okay. You know, you think about how many people, when they took their road tests, really enjoyed parallel parking. Yeah, right? Maybe five out of the 10 million.
Johnna McCooeyI'm I parallel parked here today, and I was like, watch me parallel park. So excited. I wish I'd have been watching.
Jill WiedrickSo I think that's um some of the issue. I think in one of the things that we did do with the zoning code update. So the zoning code update is obviously this huge project that looked to modernize the zoning code for the village of Fairport, acknowledge the uses that are here, and really bring requirements up to the expectations of the community, but also where we want to go towards the future. And so, parking being a discussion amongst people, we did a parking study. Okay. And that parking study was the intent was to not only inform us as village staff and administration to figure out okay, what do we have here? What do we need to do? It also was a document that informed how we created those parking room requirements for the zoning code update. So, what that document said is hey, you've got enough parking. So there are times You sure about that? There are times when some of the parking lots are over that 80% number. So in the planning world, we want to see parking lots filled up about 80%. That's an ideal situation. So that there's enough turnover, there's people that are going in and out, people can pull into that parking lot and go, Oh, I see two or three spaces. They feel like they can park there. Um, and there are some instances that were revealed, and this study was done on multiple days at multiple times during different seasons, that said, hey, some of these lots are maybe beyond capacity.
Amy OldsOkay. So there is some truth there, certain times, certain places. And I think, you know, going back to the feeling of it, I think we, you know, might not want to move forward too quickly into the study details because uh just as somebody like from a community member's perspective, maybe they were like, I don't know what that study says, but my body says I was mad as heck when I couldn't find a spot that day in the lot I wanted to be in, and I wanted to go to that shop at this time, and there was no way I was ever gonna get there.
Jill WiedrickOh, for sure. And don't forget the study is a snapshot in time, right? So, and I live in the village, so I experience this. There are times that I walk into the village because I know that parking perhaps is gonna be a little bit challenging for me, and I don't want to deal with the frustration, as you mentioned. Um, there are other times that, granted, we have six public parking lots. That's a lot, it's a lot for a community of our size. There are times that I come and one of the public parking lots is actually behind Village Hall. I will park there and I will walk all the way around the village. The cool thing is that there are a lot of interesting things to walk by. And I think a lot of that is because of the efforts of OSAID, right? So we have um now updated facades. We have more businesses in these cute little shops. So perhaps 10 years ago to park in a public parking lot and make that trek down to, you know, portions of North Maine, there may not have been anything to really look at. Maybe we're bored. It's creating that excitement. And I think OSAT has helped do that.
Johnna McCooeyYeah, we're actually, of course, so proud of our contributions to the development that's happened in downtown Fairport. Um, at the same time, we're really cognizant of our role to also be a steward for that character that really makes Fairport Fairport. And as of course, we want to continue to um plan for the future because that's really what economic development is. It's the things that we talk about and work on are really going to come to fruition in five years, ten years, or twenty years, right? We're not planning for today, we're planning for what's coming. And part of that planning does have to be the parking, the solutions to the parking uh pains that we're experiencing right now. So um OCED and the village partner together to work on solutions that meet both the goals in the comprehensive plan, the goals in the OCED strategic plan, which ultimately come from the feedback of our residents, the community engagement that both of our organizations do when we're building these plans. So you mentioned all of the public lots and parking at at you know behind Village Hall and walking to all the different lots. We, Amy and I were talking in the office and saying, okay, let's talk about all the lots. Even after working there for a year, you go, well, what are all those lots? So part of it is um that emotion tied to like I know this place and I want to drive there. And that's where I want to put my car, and I might not even think about oh, well, there's an alternative, just you know, not even a block away. There are so I I live with my frustration instead of um knowing about those solutions. So those are other things as a village and and OCED that we can take that feedback and go, okay, we might have the stuff, but we need to make sure people know about it.
Amy OldsUm communicating, communicating and opportunities for educating. I mean, residents also can help with this because what you know, here I'm just speaking about uh my mother coming to to visit, right? I'll say, Oh, you can park here, and she'll say, I don't, I don't even didn't even know that was there. You know, like the junction lot I didn't know that was public, you know, as a newer to Fairport um person that works and commutes every day. Some of our most big, like largest lot public lots are rightfully hidden. You know, I would say they should be. Good design. Yeah, good design. But because of that, signage becomes more important, education becomes more important. You know, now we're in this modern, more modern day where social media channels need to be showcasing that. You know, there are opportunities to guide the public, both residents and visitors, to some of these hidden lots and make everyone feel more comfortable and not be as frustrated just because they can't park in that one lot that they always parked in to go to the library or something like that.
Johnna McCooeyYeah. So back to the emotion of it. I feel like I know this place and I'm comfortable there. Um so the feelings are real. Let's get into the facts of parking. We've been talking about all our lots. Let's talk about it. Jill, do we have enough parking lots, parking spaces in Fairport? What does the data say?
Jill WiedrickThe data says yes. And as I mentioned earlier, you know, we're a situation where there are some uses in the village that perhaps operate late at night and draw a large crowd late at night. And so those lots are typically seeing more challenges. And when I say challenges, as I mentioned earlier, the ideal number is 80% for a parking lot to be filled. Uh, the data revealed that it could be over 100%. And when we say over 100%, that means that somebody created a parking lot. Yeah, a little illegal parking collab on a curve, yeah, which can be a little bit challenging when we're thinking about emergency services, right? So probably somebody says, Well, why do you market and you're so specific as to where people can park? Well, we also make sure if there's an emergency that people can easily get in and out.
Amy OldsYeah, that's a thought I hadn't really thought of in in the research for this episode.
Jill WiedrickYeah, so that's that's key to make sure that we're designing parking lots properly. Not only that, the public can get in and out, but emergency services.
Amy OldsAnd the safety of of you know, walkers too. We talk about being a walkable village and our desire to enhance that even further. But you you know, you can't have a line of cars circling a parking lot, circling, circling, circling, hovering for a space, and and there's people trying to walk, you know, up a up a sidewalk pathway to to the cannery, for example. Right. And you get it's not good.
Jill WiedrickAnd when you have a walkable community, you want to decrease the number of curb cuts. So that means entrances to private property from the street, right? And that speaks to hey, we want to be walkable, we have to ensure that there's parking because obviously people are still coming to our community via car. Um, how do we accommodate all of those users to make sure people have a space that people can walk to that area? It's a challenge. Um, so the study said, hey, you know, this is what's going on at these lots during these snapshots in time. This document can be used to inform policy going forward, the zoning code update, you know, and whatever sort of things that we're doing in the future.
Amy OldsSo that leads me to think that certain lots are reaching capacity at certain times, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the lots a few blocks away are being utilized to their best, most effectiveness.
Jill WiedrickThat's very true. And and as you mentioned before, the concern of do people really know where all these lots are, right? So I know where all the lots are. I'm learning. And so if I am coming downtown, and I call it downtown, people are probably like, it's a center of you know, airport, right? It's it's our downtown. If I'm coming downtown and I know that there's going to be challenges maybe in those those parking opportunities north of the railroad tracks, maybe I'm parking in the landing parking lot because some of those uses operate until five. So I'm parking there and I'm walking because it's interesting to walk. Um, you know, and I'm passing by some of the stores that have window decorations, you go by the cannel, all these great things. But not everybody is aware that there are other opportunities to park. And so it's on us as community members, just as you mentioned, you know, to provide that education, to make sure people know that there are other opportunities for parking. And that was one of the um the summary suggestions that came out of this uh parking study is okay, so you have these parking spaces, but what are you doing to ensure that they're managed appropriately? So there are a lot of different things that you can do. One of the uh suggestions that's really intriguing to me. When you go to the uh Rochester Airport and you park in the parking garage, and you go in, and there's a sign that tells you on whatever level are there spaces, and when you look up, there's lights that are either red or green, right? So that's fantastic. There are surface lots in the United States that have some sort of mechanism like that, that it'll tell you how many spaces are available in that lot. That's really useful for some communities. And when we talk about parking being a topic for everyone, it's literally a topic for everyone. You know, in fact, I had sent a text to my brother and I said, Hey, I'm gonna be uh on a podcast and we're gonna talk about parking. He said, and he lives in New York City and he said, Well, let me tell you about the parking in New York City, okay? And so it's a conversation that everybody is having. And so it's how do we educate people as to where the lots are, use different means um to let people know not only where those lots are, but how many spaces are available in those lots. All of those things also cost money, right? So then it's a trade-off.
Amy OldsAnd some, you know, bringing it back to our downtown revitalization initiative, proposed conceptual projects. Some of them were informed by this study that you're referencing and some of our goals at both at OCED and the village, and the concept of our little cute trolley program that might be something that we could explore. Our concept of enhanced wayfinding and signage. There are um let me try to say tools. There are tools we can utilize and things that, you know, when I say wayfinding and signage, someone might say, Oh, we don't need more signs. Like they just think of a road sign or a street sign. But signs can do a lot more. You know, to your point, maybe down the road, how amazing it would be to dream of a big sign that could show you a green light. But at the end of the day, at least we could start with a sign that says there's public parking over here. I mean, you gotta start somewhere.
Johnna McCooeyDefinitely. Um the facts are that there actually is an abundance of parking in the village of Fairport. The challenge is there are hot spots also in the village of Fairport. So you can't always park exactly where you want to, exactly when you want to park there. Um, and so people do immediately go to the easy answer, we should build more parking. And that's a challenge because uh of a lot of reasons. One, park building more parking isn't free, uh, maintaining the new parking that you build is not free, and the real value cost of building parking instead of something else, does that really does that really meet that criteria of preserving the character of the village of Fairport? If we want more parking, would we tear down a vacant building on Main Street because we could build a parking lot there? I think we would hear a resounding no to that from our residents.
Amy OldsSo we would reduce frustration, not add more spaces.
Johnna McCooeyYes. And if we didn't have enough spaces, then of course we would have to look at that as you can do all these other things, but you just don't have enough spaces. But foundationally, we have enough spaces. We recognize that those feelings and frustrations, of course, are real. And so the next part of this conversation are what are the solutions? And those are the things that that uh a few of the things that you just mentioned. Um, but it's also important to remember why the number one solution is not just build more parking. Yeah. Would we value parking over um land that could be developed for other purposes? Um what does what does the survey tell us from that perspective?
Amy OldsYeah, I I was before we get into that, I was thinking so much about you saying like the walk was more enjoyable. And that made me think of how OCED provides sign-in frontage grants to business owners and property owners and developers to enhance not only their main street-facing property, but we view the canal as our second main street. So also any frontage on the canal or along the canal is eligible for that grant funding through OCED. And that is more than just making it look nicer. It's enhancing the experience and it's making it so that I feel safe and comfortable and excited to walk down Main Street. Safety, big issue. All of that new main streetscape project that we just are completing, the new sidewalks, the new lampposts, so much is happening and the groundwork is being laid, and each of these elements plays a little piece of the big picture, which makes it not feel like the worst thing ever to have to walk a block. And some of the solutions we should talk about though are for that makes me think again of the folks that that can't walk the block. And I think it's important that we have that discussion too, whether it's now or oh, absolutely.
Jill WiedrickAnd and when you talk about, you know, the facade changes that we've seen just over the last couple years, that you know, we've had the planning board review, and it was part of their change was driven by that OSAT opportunity. Um that has that makes when we talk about feelings, the way something looks makes people feel a certain way. So we talk about planning and we talk about zoning, but it's at the end of the day, it's how do you feel about that area? And I think the investment that has occurred has made people feel good about it and consider parking. Once and walking right now, you bring up about different uh people get places different means, and they also may be doing that in different seasons of their lives. So I always talk about my own personal experience a lot. I have been on crutches, been in a cast, that that that that and so if there is perhaps a ramp, whether it be on the sidewalk or going into a structure, that's key for me, right? And I'm not 85 or 90, and I have any sort of mobility challenge other than temporary. But then maybe a couple years later, I've got kids and now I have a stroller. So it's also important while we're having the conversation about parking is to make sure that parking is in a good location to provide opportunities for everyone. And also within that, that we're designing places that make them accessible for all. Right. And we also talk about being multimodal. So the idea of the trolley, the idea of being able to park, biking, right? The second main street, the canal, that path, a lot of people will bike from Pittsford, you know, to say, oh, I'm gonna go for lunch at wherever, or I'm gonna come in and go shopping. So part of our efforts with the zoning code update was to say, okay, we know we have to require parking and we have to address this, but we also want to make sure that we're also encouraging other modes of transportation. So biking, requiring bike racks on properties, um, making sure that people are considering other means of transportation, not just vehicles, because we have to strike that balance. And, you know, the administration has said we want to be the most walkable community in New York State. How do you do that? Make sure that you have an opportunity for anybody, whatever way they want to get to the village of Fairport, they have that chance.
Johnna McCooeyAbsolutely. And that kind of brings us around, even if they are coming in their car, we would love them to come in your car, park once, like you said, and explore our village on foot, however, you might do that.
Amy OldsIt's freeing. It's freeing. I would challenge, I challenge everyone to try it. I one of my first days working here in the village, I went out at lunch and just was amazed at how freeing it felt to just walk around and not be having the vehicle tight, it's kind of a burden, and you do kind of feel free when you're like, uh, like I could walk over there and I could get over there and I could go grab a coffee and I don't have to worry about where I'm parking my car because I don't want one.
Johnna McCooeyThat's another uh great point. Whether you're a resident or a worker in Fairport, you do start to develop more walking habits, right? You walk to your meeting, you walk to get your coffee, you walk from home down to the canal because you're maybe aware of some of those parking challenges, or it's easier. Um so the issue might also be how do we change the mindsets of the people coming to our village, right? Not just the people who are familiar with the village who know, I'm gonna park here and easily walk there. I'm going to um avoid this part of part of Main Street at a busy time. The people coming to enjoy our wonderful village aren't don't have that, you know, awareness. Um so that is that is probably the bigger challenge. How do we educate, inform, change the mindset of the visitors so they also want to embrace the walkability and embrace the character and charm during their experience in Fairport?
Jill WiedrickI think it's a feeling. It goes back to the feeling and the facade. And I think about if I go to a community on the same scale as the village of Fairport or even, you know, a s a city, I might drive through once, get a lay of the land, park once and walk. Because now I've seen, oh, well, if I park in this lot, I can walk down and there's blah la la la la la la. All right.
Amy OldsThat makes me think Church Street where Fairport Brewing is and the the Baptist church. That four corners to the cannery is less than half a mile. We mapped it out. And it's so, I mean, you think, wow, that's that's pretty short, pretty short, um, dense downtown district. So obviously super walkable. I could park at one end and literally be at the other end in less than 10 minutes, you know, and that's like a leisurely stroll. So it's it's education of it.
Johnna McCooeyIt's that mindset that we were talking about as that visitor.
Jill WiedrickYeah, but I think the key is to have interesting uses, interesting buildings, right? So it's it it's relying on design very much. And I think not to harp on the OSAD facade grant, but we like it. But that's really something that has maybe a bigger impact than anything else we might do is how does it look? Is it inviting? So imagine if we had all these boarded up shops, okay, but we had maybe two anchor establishments and I had to walk between, I might not be interested in doing that, but it's the fact that we have interesting things, I'm more apt to park and walk.
Johnna McCooeyYeah.
Amy OldsGreat. From a marketing standpoint, before we move on, I my mind immediately goes to just the education of it all, getting the word out. I think about how before canal days there is a huge push for where you're gonna park and how you're gonna park over here, and you're gonna take a shuttle in, maybe, and you're gonna do this, that. That all those channels are open year-round. Like our social media channels, signage, all of our merchants themselves have the ability to share information about parking, or did you know we have a shuttle like for the holiday season going on? And you know, little little nuggets of information, or oh, I park over there. Did you not know that's a lot? So we can all, I think, do a better job of that. And the idea of treating regular weekends like an event, as far as like the marketing of it, I think is an opportunity that could be explored.
Johnna McCooeyUh, I like that. And uh, we were talking and preparing for this episode about the concept of smarter parking management and being more innovative in how we approach this challenge. And we're big on that in the village of Fairport, right? We want to try different things and um be a leader in what makes a great community. And so we hear that parking is a challenge everywhere. What a great opportunity for us to how about let's solve that, at least for us, in the ways that we can. And the ways that we can do that with are with a whole array of tools. We've talked about some of them. We've talked about the facade grant contributing to a better feeling and the messaging. Let's talk about some of the real specific, down and dirty. What could we do? We know we know that we could build another parking lot and we could pave another part of paradise if we want to do that. Um, but I think based on the feedback that we got from the survey and understanding that preserving the character of what makes Fairport Fairport is way more important than build another partial. So let's talk about what are some of those specific ways that that could get done.
Amy OldsI mean, we were uh in preparing for the episode going a little bit into the concept of timed spaces and that we haven't really fully embraced the concept of, hey, this is a UPS store and people come in and get out pretty darn quickly. So should there be a spot that's a flasher-only 15-minute thing? You know, we we aren't doing that right now. So instead the lot will be taken up by someone that's gonna be there all day. They're at the library with their kid for a reading hour and they're not moving their car for two hours. So the idea of analyzing where certain hot places are that people want to get in, get out, or it's more errand focused is different than parking for for a longer-term thing. I don't know.
Johnna McCooeyThat's so what are some of those specific tools that you've seen municipalities, cities, towns use to deal with some of these parking challenges? Because one thing that we love to say in Fairport, we have an abundance of parking and it's all free.
Amy OldsYes, and then no spaces plus.
Johnna McCooeyBut how often do you go somewhere where there's just so much free parking? And unless it's like a mall, but I don't think anyone in our village wants our downtown to feel like a mall or a suburban shop. No, not at all.
Jill WiedrickBut I think one of the things that we have to as um, I I don't want to just say Americans, but as Americans, as people, we have to recognize that parking is never free. So you go to Eastview Mall and you go, oh, I just parked and I didn't have to pay. However, that parking is rolled into that item that you paid for, right? So is it a hidden cost or is it I had to, I parked and I paid with my app, or I parked and I paid with a machine. So one of the things that a lot of communities are now considering, because when you take into account that a parking space can cost between five and ten thousand dollars, that's significant, right?
Johnna McCooeyFive to ten thousand dollars to build, does that include the annual maintenance?
Jill WiedrickNo, no, so that's just to build. And when we're talking about constructing a parking lot, it's not just, well, I'm gonna roll the ground and I'm gonna put down some asphalt. There's significant investment that oftentimes has to happen related to drainage and curb cuts and all of these things, landscaping, all these things you don't know about. Investment and impact. And impact, right.
Amy OldsSo um yeah, and then they'll be complaining about a pothole.
Jill WiedrickSo it is, you know, at what point do communities say we now have to charge for parking? And I think a lot of the places that I go, I've downloaded a couple parking apps um because there was a period of time that I worked in the city, and so I would pay every morning with my app, and it was easy. And with that app, I've parked in a hundred different communities, and it's easy. You know, my uh license plate is in there, my credit card information is in there. The beauty of that is it sends me a little message and says, Hey, you only have 15 minutes left, I can add on to it. So that's one of the things that communities have said, hey, you know, this is an opportunity for us to say parking isn't free. And also when we're charging for parking, it ensures turnover.
Amy OldsThat I think is as somebody who you know, I love to park free all the time. Of course I want to park free, like free to me. Yeah. But you make me think about how it's it's there are millions of studies out there that showcase that having some of the parking paid actually is a really good thing, not from a money-making perspective, even, but from a getting people where they want to be when they want to be there. Because if I am gonna pay for two hours in this special lot, I'm will that might be worth two dollars to me. It's worth two dollars to me to know that I can park there versus um I'm I I would rather walk a block and have it be free. And then you start to filter folks to where they are more comfortable and their comfort level. And, you know, if you don't want to pay the two bucks, then you walk a block, you know. And and some folks might say, heck yeah, I'm gonna pay two bucks. I'm gonna park right there. Two bucks away. That's one block.
Johnna McCooeyNot necessarily to say, just so everyone's clear, we're not don't worry, you don't have to roll up and pay for your parking in Fairport right now. That's right. But that's a way people should understand when they're talking about how do we manage this problem, let's be cognizant of how what approach are we taking right now to parking management? And right now, we're taking a low friction on the enforcement side of things, right? We have these free lots. There are some guidelines, but it's there there is generally low enforcement because also enforcement costs money, right? It it costs money to have and time to have people driving it up and down the parking lots and driving up and down the street and ticketing cars. That's a factor in having meters on the street. Well, then you have to enforce it. And you can't do one without the other. Yeah. Enforcement is also a tool. And so we have to be evaluating how do we um balance those two things.
Amy OldsUm I liked the analogy you used when we were talking prepare in preparation for this episode about the toolkit, that it's not one solution that's gonna magically make our parking frustrations disappear. It's a little of this and a little of that. You need this tool, you need that tool, and and it's an exploration of different small things that could add up to a significant impact.
Jill WiedrickAnd potentially at different times, right? So we talk about right now we don't charge for parking. Who's to say in 10 years we might think differently about that, right? I think the other thing that we can try to do is encourage on-street parking. I know it's not everybody's go-to, but there are on-street parking spaces, and sometimes those historically have more turnover, which is a good thing, right? So if there's an on-street parking space in front of my store, somebody pulls in, they get what they need to do, they leave, right? So we've got a lot of on-street parking available too, and it it would be it behooves people to consider that as well.
Amy OldsTalk about the whole concept of shared parking, because that was sort of new to me. I mentioned it and I got intrigued and might be interesting to some of our audience members.
Jill WiedrickSo I am a map person, and so I took um an aerial map of our village and I looked at the commercial areas and said, What are we talking about in paved area? And when I talk about paved area, that's public parking spaces and private parking spaces, okay? In our little downtown, we have 21 acres of paved area. Okay. And if you look at a conservative number of, let's say, 100 parking spaces per acre, we're talking potentially in our downtown area of 2,100 parking spaces. Now the question becomes, are we using those correctly? We know that we have some businesses that are maybe open from let's say nine to five, others operate from 5 to 11, 5 to 2 a.m., whatever that might look like. So there's some overlap in how we can utilize those spaces. So I always encourage people don't necessarily create more parking on your lot or your property, but consider sharing parking with your neighbors. So if I am a business and I operate from nine to five, and the business next door maybe has 15 parking spaces and they don't open until six, I could say to them, hey, could we enter into an agreement where I'm utilizing your spaces for X dollars, you know, a month, then I'm not creating my own parking. I know that people that are coming to my store now have parking. So the more that we can have the conversation about sharing and being thoughtful about what do we have and how do we best use it?
Johnna McCooeyI think it's better for everyone. Yeah, absolutely. Um, another thing that we talked about from a toolkit perspective is policy. And you mentioned the the draft zoning code updates. Tell me about policy changes in the zoning code that are specific to parking.
Jill WiedrickSo again, that the study really informed this. And not only did the study consider how many parking spaces we have, public parking spaces, and how they're being utilized, but it also said, okay, if we do a max build out to inform then what uses are allowed in those zoning districts, what are we looking at? What can we handle and not be a burden to the parking we currently have, right? Because again, we talk about preserving that charm, and part of that is not tearing down buildings and making more parking. So we have to be very, very considerate of that. So we took all of that data, we looked at how different communities are dealing with parking, and a lot of communities are saying, we're not doing a parking minimum anymore. Because why should we tell you? I'm a planner, I don't know how much parking your restaurant needs. You tell me, right? So the draft code at this point says any structure that is over 4,000 square feet has to produce a parking plan. And there are different means that you can get to that, whatever number you settle on. I need X amount of spaces, and this is how I'm getting them. I'm maybe sharing parking, I'm maybe having an Uber space on my site, I'm maybe encouraging biking. I've got a bike rack, all those elements go into it. And you're probably thinking, well, how did you settle on 4,000? We looked at the sizes currently of the structures that are on Main Street and said, What makes sense to ensure that a smaller building isn't having to submit every time there's a change in use?
Amy OldsRemoving any roadblocks is a good thing.
Jill WiedrickHow am I accomplishing how am I meeting parking? We included that in there to make sure that we're somebody's telling us what you require. And we we're thinking if you're telling us, you know your business best.
Amy OldsAnd then is there a dialogue that happens or potentially? Yes.
Jill WiedrickSo if there is this structure that's over 4,000, they produce a parking plan that has to go before the planning board. And that's the opportunity for that conversation, right? To really kind of peel at heart and say, does it make sense?
Johnna McCooeyAnd that plan can utilize or take advantage of public parking that exists as long as they have thought through the their real need and when they're going to be using it, and have some good um whys behind the answer. Uh why can this lot support your need? Like a reasonable.
Jill WiedrickAnd I think a little bit of data too. Um, you know, we had an applicant that I said, hey, you know, you're you're looking to claim these public parking spots, but I'm really encouraging you to maybe on a couple different nights go out and really count how many are available. And so they did that for their application so that the planning board had an idea of what is the reality here? Because obviously the planning board members are residents, they know what those parking issues may or may not be. But for an applicant to say, this is the reality of what's going on in this lot, and because of that, I'm accommodating my parking needs by X, Y, and Z, that's helpful. The other thing that I think is a little bit forward thinking is that we've also addressed parking maximums. We don't want you to pave over every inch of your property, right? So if you're saying I need X amount of spaces and it's over what we think you should have, you've got to come and have a conversation with the planning board and justify why that's necessary. So we've looked at a couple different tools to not only allow for different uses to come in and provide the amount of parking that they feel is necessary, but also ensure that we're not losing valuable land to the creation of parking. So it's that balance.
Amy OldsIt's all about balance.
Johnna McCooeyUm, it's always about balance, it really is. Um so thank you for. sharing that. I I know that you've been working for a long time on the zoning updates and it's exciting to think and understand that there are really already ways that we're using these tools to address these problems. And so I would I would love to talk about we've talked about the feelings and the facts and the things that we can do. What excites me is that we actually are doing a lot of the things right you talked about the policy changes that we're making. Amy you mentioned in our DRI application the trolley project and folks might not know much about that.
Amy OldsYeah we should get into that a minute we have this concept of a trolley whether or not it's specific night and weekend operations you know there's many conceptual concepts um ideas that uh of when and how it could work but the idea is that it could alleviate some of the congestion up and down Main Street the circling especially for visitors to the community right if I'm coming from someplace other than Fairport I'm probably coming up 31F wouldn't it be great if I just got used to pulling my car right into this public parking lot, hopping on the trolley and making my way down Main Street.
Johnna McCooeyI can get on and off I can head down to the popular hotspots I can avoid fighting traffic there.
Amy OldsOr you could take an Uber to the the trolley station you know maybe you're maybe you're you're going all in on on the public transit of the private opportunity.
Jill WiedrickIt's exciting too because if you think about you know we talk about having creating a community for eight to eighty and you know when you've got little kids they don't necessarily want to walk far. Right. They want to ride a trolley and and maybe I have been running around and I don't want to walk far, right? Or maybe I'm on crutches or you know I'm I'm got a sports injury. That trolley has the potential to drop people off where and within close proximity of where they're looking to go.
Amy OldsPlus it adds I mean it builds and adds upon to the character of Fairport which I think is something that we continuously are looking for opportunities to lean into you know how to build upon that up build upon that charm. And the trolley project is one of those other things that were DRI related were enhanced wayfinding and signage.
Johnna McCooeyIs that it that like directly tie in there is enhanced wayfinding and signage there's the trolley project not part of the DRI but other things that we're already doing is the streetscape project that we just completed you know people might go oh new sidewalks everybody has sidewalks these sidewalks are so accessible they're wide and they're even I know this is a common a common thing in any um urban area where you have trees planted that the trees were heaving the sidewalks and everything was just a little bit helter skelter if you were in a wheelchair or on crutches or have a stroller or a runner or a runner.
Jill WiedrickFor me as a runner when I run on Main Street prior to the reconstruction I I was full of I'm just a cluttsy walker right thinking I've got to watch not only ahead of me but below me to make sure I don't shrip and fall. So I think for everyone to have these new sidewalks not only do they look amazing and if you haven't had the opportunity yet either drive down Main Street at like 5 a.m when it's still dark or at like 5 p.m which is now dark and just look at the way the street looks now. Yeah and when we talk about feelings like you feel different. Yeah it's I think that adds to it you know not only do we now have a smooth surface for people to traverse but it looks really good.
Johnna McCooeyYeah yeah yeah it it does it looks great and all of these things are the tools in the toolkit to address that problem and and that's kind of the the message we want to leave people with is there isn't a one one flavor solution. Just like parking isn't a one flavor issue we've talked a lot about the different needs of different parkers and different visitors to our community and we just want folks to remember that it's not one solution it's all the solutions but also to know and feel confident that together as um O said in a village we hear you we're working towards those solutions and we encourage new businesses new developments to always be working with us towards those solutions. So the the it might seem um stressful and frustrating but one takeaway I would love for people to have from this conversation is to know that there are many thoughtful conversations and real work going towards this issue that are bringing already the the streetscapes the the potential with the trolley the policy changes solutions that are going to alleviate this problem. So we're not just throwing up our hands and going parking's a problem for everyone it is a problem for everyone but we're gonna dig in and do something great. Do you guys have any closing thoughts?
Amy OldsI mean I would just add to that that the conversation is ongoing with the community still and that you should still chime in feel free to write to us if you have any ideas or maybe visited another community where you saw some sort of unique solution that could potentially have legs in Fairport that that would be really interesting to hear from folks. I know that the residents are people that feel and see the effects of pilot programs probably the quickest because they're doing these things every day and they're here every day. So it's the community members and the residents that I feel whose opinions have the most what's the word I'm looking for the most weight to them. Like we want to hear from you because you are the ones that are are feeling these feelings that are very real every day and most able to help help analyze and measure how solutions are working.
Jill WiedrickAbsolutely and and my door is always open and it just as Amy mentioned I love to hear about where people traveled and you know how they propose that we ensure that we're developing a multimodal community beyond that you know there are times where any of these projects might be for be for a land use board. And that's the opportunity for the public to come in and say you know what have you thought about this have you thought about that we really emphasize the diversity of thought and we want the community to be involved so if you see an issue or something on a particular project that you're like that could be better. Come to these meetings provide comment provide feedback the only way we continue to build an awesome fair port is through community engagement.
Johnna McCooeyLove it that's exactly how we ended up here today community engagement. So keep bringing it folks awesome great so with that we're gonna close our next episode is going to be on that really real most important topic the character of our village and how we preserve that in balance with how we focus on growth and planning for the future so excited to get into that next time thank you so much Jill for all your insights and knowledge. And um I think we're gonna fix this parking thing or at least improve it for our village. Awesome. Great. Thank you
