Library Parking Plan Submitted to City Council

HPL_Main_Entrance

(WHAV News File photograph.)

Haverhill Public Library Executive Director Sarah I. Moser submitted a proposal to help ease long-standing parking concerns in the library parking lot, at Tuesday night’s City Council Meeting.

Mosher said that many library users have had a hard time parking in the lot during the week while nearby District Court is in session. Moser, along with Public Works Director Michael K. Stankovich, recommended additional signage and permits to help improve parking in the lot.

“Our patrons often find it hard to even get into the parking lot. At certain times of day, it’s pretty impossible,” Moser said. “Especially Tuesdays and Thursdays in the morning when court is in session. Sometimes our lot will actually be three-quarters of the way full by 9 a.m. when we open.”

The parking plan, according to Stankovich, calls for 15 spaces to be reserved for court patrons. Additional parking enforcement would be included in the plan.

“I know enough about parking to realize that it can be complex because we have a number of different constituents,” said Stankovich. “We have library patrons. We have folks that visit the courthouse. We also have some residents that are parking in that lot overnight as well.”

Councilor Melinda E. Barrett agreed with the recommendations of the study but wasn’t sure that overnight parking needed to be enforced.

“I don’t really think you should necessarily go after residents who are parking there overnight and then leaving by the time the library is open. Cause that’s kind of a good use of dormant space at that moment,” Barrett told Stankovich. “But the key points when the library is open. That’s kind of crazy.”

The parking lot dates back to 1969 when the Pentucket Urban Renewal Project added a Civic Center Amendment to accommodate a new library and court house.

Councilors unanimously voted to send the study to the city’s Planning and Development Committee for further review.

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