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Council sends proposed downtown parking change to public hearing; businesses back three‑hour limit
Summary
Jamestown’s Town Council voted to advertise a public hearing on proposed ordinance changes to extend certain downtown on‑street time limits from two hours to three hours and to include the East Ferry municipal lot in the amendment.
The Jamestown Town Council voted to advertise and hold a public hearing on proposed amendments to local traffic and parking ordinances that would expand several time‑limited parking spaces in the downtown area from two hours to three hours and add the East Ferry municipal lot to the amendment, town officials said.
A councilor introduced the proposed ordinance amendment and asked staff to prepare the advertisement and public hearing materials for a hearing scheduled for June 16, 2025, at 6:30 p.m. at Town Hall. The council directed staff to revise the public notice to include the East Ferry parking lot language and to solicit public comment at the hearing.
Local business owners attending the meeting endorsed the change. Mark D’Arrezzo, owner and operator at a downtown business, told the council that customers often spend slightly more than two hours and that extending the limit to three hours would reduce the need for diners to leave mid‑meal and move cars. "If you have to go to whether it's us or beach or wherever, and it's a busy night ... you're going to go out and move your car to finish your meal," D’Arrezzo said.
Police and staff representatives said a parking map the department publishes and distributes through the Chamber of Commerce shows additional unlimited‑time spaces and other parking options; staff encouraged businesses to make that map readily available to customers. The council also discussed adjusting the fine for violations (the draft language noted a possible change from $25 to $35) and directed staff to include such proposals for discussion at the public hearing.
Councilors and business owners also raised long‑standing issues about long‑term occupiers of downtown spaces and neighborhood parking pressure; staff and council members noted neighborhood permit concepts used in the past for streets with chronic long‑term parking.
Outcome: the council moved and seconded the motion to send the proposed amendments to public hearing; the motion passed by voice vote. The public hearing will allow the council to hear residents and business owners and to consider any revisions prior to adopting an ordinance change.
