A year into its permit parking ordinance, Jim Thorpe Borough officials said Tuesday they would consider requests from residents to shrink the area where permit holders could park and make guest passes easier to obtain.

Multiple residents told council during a workshop meeting that many parking spaces, which could be used by downtown business employees or customers, sit empty on High Street and upper West Broadway.

“It crippled our business,” Victor Stabin, of the Stabin Museum and Café Arielle at 268 W. Broadway, said. “There are 60 parking spots right out by us here that are never used. It makes it very hard to believe that this council gives any concern about the business community because when people can’t park in front of your business, you die.”

The ordinance, aimed at giving downtown residents a better chance at finding a parking space near their home, allows those who live on Broadway, West Broadway, High Street, Race Street, Hill Road and Quarry Street to purchase an annual permit for $15.

The permit grants them a chance to park from 5-415 W. Broadway or anywhere on High Street without receiving a ticket. Motorists who do not have a permit and park in those areas are subject to a $50 fine.

“Council is looking at High Street and upper West Broadway,” Council President Greg Strubinger said. “Those are areas we are hearing do not get parked up a whole lot and maybe we open some of that up and put kiosks up there or have some type of lottery for business parking. I think things are working out on the lower end of West Broadway so I would recommend keeping that permit parking 24/7. I think it really solved a problem for the residents in that area who previously had very little chance of parking in front of their homes.”

Benefit for residents

One of those residents is West Broadway’s Jim Gilmore, who advocated for permit parking for over five years before the ordinance was passed.

“It used to be that when we went somewhere on the weekend, we couldn’t find a place to park when we came home,” Gilmore said. “My 74-year-old wife would have to walk three-quarters of a mile if we did find a spot. The permit situation is working good. I understand what businesses are saying about their employees and customers, but they should not supersede residents and make it difficult for us to find a place to park.”

Gilmore said there are currently about 148 parking spaces available in the permit area, but about 250 permits have been issued, meaning demand is still outpacing supply.

Jim Thorpe Police reported officers issued 236 permit parking tickets for the first year, with the majority of them coming before June. At $50, that is almost $12,000 in fines.

“This is paying for itself,” Gilmore said.

Margaret White, owner of Stone Row Pub and Eatery, has seen the positives and negatives of the permit parking ordinance.

“As a resident, it has been great because I can park near my house,” White said. “As a business owner, it is very hard to get staff because they are concerned about where to park. It’s a challenge for them.”

Signs posted

White also suggested council change some of the signs making drivers aware of the permit parking regulations. She and other residents questioned the aggressiveness of the wording used, “such as violators will be prosecuted.”

“People stop coming up to the top end of West Broadway because they see the signs and they get scared and intimidated,” Joan Morykin, Stabin’s wife, said.

Jim Thorpe currently allows guest passes which are good for a 24-hour period, but you have to apply and pick them up in person at the borough office. That makes it hard, resident Brian Evans said, to have pop-in visitors.

“The guest pass process is difficult,” Evans said. “I think maybe the borough could set a specific number of passes for residents to have throughout the year and they have to reapply each year.”

Others suggested the borough take the guest pass acquisition process online so they could be secured with the click of the button.

“We hear you and we’re not ignorant to your concerns,” Councilman Bob Schaninger said Tuesday. “I think there are some things we can tweak and we’ll kick this back and forth until we get it right.”