ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 15, 1996 TAG: 9605150052
SECTION: CURRENT PAGE: NRV-2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
DATELINE: RADFORD
SOURCE: KRISTEN KAMMERER STAFF WRITER
Inadequate downtown parking is one of Radford's major economic weaknesses, according to a new report from a downtown business booster group.
The report Monday by Main Street Radford, a nonprofit group, sparked a long and sometimes heated discussion between Radford City Council and an audience of approximately 30 people, including several downtown business owners.
Ed Cox, a Main Street Radford board member and owner of the Radford Fitness Center, said he had lost two clients in the last week alone because of inadequate parking. "They came to me and said they wanted their money back because they couldn't find a place to park," he said. "This is very upsetting to me."
Councilman David Worrell wondered why Cox's customers didn't park in the municipal lot located only a few blocks away at Third and Grove streets. "It's funny, isn't it, that people who are coming to your place to [lift weights] don't want to walk just a few blocks for parking."
Cox responded that it was a "sight thing" and that customers will only park where they can see the business they want to visit. "Otherwise they won't park there," he said.
Councilwoman Polly Corn then said the parking problem was more perceived than real. "No one goes through the downtown more than myself," she said. According to Corn, within the last week she found more than a dozen vacant spots on Main Street between 11:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.
Corn's statement brought frustrated sighs from several audience members.
Following the discussion, Cox said Main Street Radford and several business owners had put together a proposal for a new downtown parking scheme which they would present to council soon.
In other business, council upheld City Manager Robert Asbury's recommendation that an upcoming parade, to be held by the Good News Church, be restricted to marching on the sidewalks. In its application for a parade permit, the church had requested that the city temporarily reroute traffic on Norwood Street to allow its participants to march safely in the street from the Dedmon Center to Bissett Park.
David Levy, a member of the Radford for Jesus 1996 committee, which is organizing the march, said he anticipates hundreds of people to participate and that "our marching time would be significantly lengthened if we are restricted to the sidewalks only."
Corn told Levy that council was not in a position to "selectively allow certain citizens to march [in the street] and others not." She added that if council allowed one group to close off a street, it would have to allow others to do so and that they were unprepared to set that precedent. Worrell stood alone in voting against the restriction.
LENGTH: Medium: 54 linesby CNB