Is Three Hour Parking Still an Option in Blue Ridge

BLUE RIDGE, GA – Involving several issues that the city has addressed in the past, some with no resolve, the Blue Ridge City Council called a special meeting on August 1, 2017.

City Council members discussed and voted on the first reading of a Parking Ordinance Amendment.  This amendment will remove Chapter 72 from the Code of the City of Blue Ridge and replace it, giving authority to change parking within city limits.

Wording in the Amendment specifically states that the city can now “provide for certain restrictive parking”, essentially putting the option of three hour parking back on the table for the city. Four council members voted in favor of this amendment with one opposing vote from Council member Rhonda Thomas.

When asked about her vote Thomas explained that she felt that the ordinance change had been rushed through. She stated, “I agree that something needs to be done, but not without a plan in place first.” She also added that Pacific Rail has been working diligently to come up with a plan and work with the city.

Council also addressed the long running issue of the city’s storm water damage. A main cause of the city’s flooding and lack of drainage is the varying size in the waste water piping. Some areas experience back up due to larger pipes being funneled down into smaller pipes that are unable to handle the volume. An engineer from Carter & Sloope was present at the meeting to provide council members with a detailed map of problem areas.

City Council member Angie Arp suggested to approach the dilemma in a piecemeal fashion rather than tackling the problem as a whole. The total cost for fixing the entire drainage system is an estimated $700,000.

Council and the representative from Carter & Sloope agreed that one of the least expensive sections to fix is located at the end of free parking. This area is represented as number 12 on the map( Phase I – Storm Drainage Revised 11-17-15-Aerial). City Council is set to discuss moving forward with this project at their regularly scheduled August meeting.

The City Council will hold their August meeting on Tuesday, August 8, at 6:00 P.M..where these issues will be further discussed.