Columbia City council pursues parking accommodation

By Temple Ligon

Harden Street

Back in early March of this year, city council agreed with the owners of 948 and 950 Harden Street, former S. C. Sec’y. of Commerce Joe Taylor and real estate developer Bill Owen. Taylor and Owen wanted to develop their properties, possibly adding a second floor while renovating the ground floor, without any additional parking. Ordinarily such development would require another 35 parking spaces.

An identical request by adjacent property owners Richard Burts and Elizabeth Ward had already been approved. Columbia’s Board of Zoning Appeals took into account the vast parking provided by the Food Lion and other stores across Harden Street from the Burts and Ward properties.

City council took note that the northwest corner of the intersection of Gervais and Harden, maybe a block away, was the home to a $50 million student housing project.

How to handle the curbside parking meters, however, had not been resolved until this past Tuesday.

Metered parking

Starting Saturday, October 1, Five Points will charge for curbside metered parking on Saturdays between 11 a. m. and 6 p. m. The turnover is popular with the Five Points merchants.

When Saturday parking is free, so is Friday night and all day Sunday through to Monday morning, which encourages drivers to take advantage of the parking availability and claim the spaces for the entire weekend, crowding out other drivers and potential spenders for the weekend. Friday night is free beginning at 6 p. m. and continuing until 11 a. m. Saturday.

Parking tickets administration will follow Greenville’s lead and shift the tickets from a criminal offense to civil, easing the caseloads in Municipal Court. Last year the city wrote 114,000 tickets, and 2,100 of those were appealed before a Municipal Court judge.

Meanwhile, the Vista and Main Street want free weekends starting at 6 p. m.

Also, Sunday remains free all day citywide.