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Pickens work session backs downtown 2‑hour parking plan and expands codes officer duties
Summary
City administrators told council they will implement an existing 2‑hour downtown parking limit with a 60‑day education period and reassign a uniformed revenue/codes officer to enforce parking, traffic and hospitality-license compliance; the staffing move does not require a vote.
City Administrator Tim told the Pickens council at a Feb. 23 work session that the city will move to enforce an existing two‑hour parking limit in the downtown overlay on Main Street, Monday–Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., after posting signs. Staff proposed a 60‑day education period with no monetary fines, then $25 fines for violations.
Tim said enforcement will be paired with a retitling of an existing revenue/codes position so the officer can handle parking enforcement, targeted traffic patrols, and hospitality‑tax and business‑license compliance. Chief Beach praised Officer Kellenberger — described by the chief as a retired Monroe County (Fla.) command‑staff officer who lives in Pickens — and recommended him for the role, saying the transfer would not create a hole in patrol staffing because replacement vehicles and staffing adjustments are budgeted.
Council members asked whether the officer would have a patrol car and whether the position must be posted; staff said the officer will be assigned a fully equipped vehicle and the move is administrative (an internal reassignment) so public posting was not required. Tim said the new duties will be reflected in a revised job description and that the position is budgeted at current pay rates.
The administrator also told council that the department will monitor and gauge impacts of the change and the downtown road reconfiguration the South Carolina Department of Transportation will present at a public meeting. That road‑diet presentation — described as paint‑only, reducing four lanes to two with a center turn lane — could affect later decisions about traffic flow and any further parking or directional changes.
Next step: staff will post parking signage and begin the education period; the council will revisit impacts after the CDOT presentation and through regular staff reports.
