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Downtown residents urge action after repeated safety problems at Owensboro parking garage
Summary
Residents told the Owensboro City Commission about repeated drug and dangerous driving activity inside the downtown parking garage, broken elevator and nonworking cameras, warning that without more enforcement someone could be seriously hurt and urging the city to increase patrols and maintenance.
Several downtown residents used the commission’s open forum to press city leaders for action after months of what they described as dangerous activity in the downtown parking garage.
"We're gonna have to do something or somebody's gonna get killed in that garage," said Steve Norton, a downtown resident and business owner (first appearing SEG 984), describing late-night racing, people hanging off the roof and repeated drug activity he said he has witnessed. Norton said he has documented incidents, taken photos and observed behavior continuing into the early morning hours, and that the garage elevator "hasn't worked in over a month."
Phil Clark, who owns property downtown and spoke after Norton, said the alley that serves as a primary route to Smothers Park is frequently littered and that the city-owned parking garage presents a continuing liability risk for the city and safety hazard for residents and visitors. Another downtown resident said she had repeatedly called police in prior years and that cameras in the garage were so old they "can't...see what's really going on."
Speakers asked for a visible law-enforcement presence and repairs to the elevator and cameras. Norton suggested arrests and a stronger police presence would reduce the behavior he described. No formal motion or staff directive addressing the garage repairs or enforcement was recorded during the meeting.
The matter was raised during the public comment period; commission members did not announce an immediate action item on the record. The meeting adjourned after public comments were completed.
What happened next Public comment concluded without an on-the-record pledge of specific action; residents may follow up with the city clerk or individual commissioners to request staff follow-up or a future agenda item.
