March 29, 2024

Progress stalls on South Second Avenue reconstruction

Topic tabled following parking concerns

Talks were tabled on the South Second Avenue reconstruction project after issues with parking were voiced the Newton City Council at its Tuesday Meeting.

Terry Sallis, owner of Integrated Treatment Services, 303 S. Second Ave. W., spoke to the council about parking concerns for his business should the street project move forward as planned.

“I’m certainly a proponent of having the streets resurfaced, we’ve had considerable water problems and clients fall and those types of things. I have a serious concern with the unilateral decision that was made to the parking being changed on that street,” Sallis said. “As it exists now, we have angle parking and the proposed parking would pose a severe inconvenience to my employees as well as to the client base that I serve.”

The proposed change has the angle parking converted to parallel parking in the 200 and 300 blocks of South Second Avenue. In the 200 block, the change will not decrease the number of spots but in the 300 block it will decrease street parking from 22 spots to 15.

To help account for the lost spaces, the city parking lot, located at the northeast corner of West Third Street South and South Second Avenue West, has the capacity to accommodate the seven spaces and is now free to the public.

The change in parking spaces stems from the need to improve street drainage. Also, it would include a grassy area between the curb and the sidewalk and pedestrian streetscape lighting for aesthetic improvement along with snow storage.

Sallis said the parking in front of his building would go from essentially four spaces to two. He said his staff uses the parking on the street and could park in the parking lot, but at any given time he could have up to five to six clients needing parking by his building.

“This is one of those situations where you go, if I owned that property and my parking was cut in half, I’d be upset and concerned, particularly with the type of clients he has,” Councilwoman Lin Chapé said.

Chapé asked if the issue had been brought up previously to city staff. Public Work Director Keith Laube said staff had talked with Sallis several times in the past year but because of the road shifting to accommodate the current parking spaces, along with drainage, snow removal, street uniformity and other issues, he moved forward with the plan proposed.

“The alignment of the street, the intersection is going to be offset a little bit,” Laube said.

Council found the issue important enough to request an alternative proposal from Laube to be discussed at a future meeting.

In other business:

• Council approved the Downtown Streetscape Master Plan as a guiding document for downtown businesses and residents.

• City management analyst Natalie Umsted was promoted to senior analyst to better match the actual duties of the position. The position comes with a $6,981 pay increase to $55,590.

• Council approved an agreement for the private redevelopment of the former KFC property at 1220 W. 18th St. S. to double the assessed valuation and make it eligible for a $20,000 economic development grant. Councilman Jeremy Biondi abstained from the vote due to personal involvement.

Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-92-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com.