What to do about Olde Marco?

Anyone who heads over to Olde Marco any night during season is acutely aware of the overwhelming congestion challenges. Indeed, residents of Olde Marco have routinely voiced their concerns about pedestrian safety and quality of life.

At a recent meeting, the City Council opened the door to revamping the roadway along the northern part of Bald Eagle to install roughly 60 parallel parking spaces in Olde Marco. Proponents of this plan suggest it will help patrons more easily find parking, support businesses, and alleviate some congestion. Opponents are concerned that additional parking will not solve the underlying problems, will cater to businesses over residents, and could create a traffic hazard with confusion over parallel parking.

It is true that additional parking could potentially create some "relief" for residents by directing cars into new parking spaces for those that are currently parking in residents' swales or illegally in condo lots. However, Councilor Joe Rola posed an important question: what happens when a new restaurant without sufficient parking capacity is built in Olde Marco, and these new spaces are immediately used up?

So, whether or not more parking is a part of the solution is only half the issue because, even in the best-case scenario, additional parking will not be sufficient on its own to solve the problems plaguing Olde Marco.

If the Council is to consider adding parking, it is absolutely critical that this additional capacity to park be coupled with real and lasting relief for residents. Below are three ideas for resident relief.

First, instead of new restaurants in Olde Marco providing one parking space for every four restaurant seats, they should be required to provide one space for every three seats. This strengthening of seat-to-space ratios will better align parking capacity with dining demand in a more realistic fashion, and ensure new restaurants are adequately providing sufficient parking so that residents are not overwhelmed.

Second, simple quality-of-life improvements should be adopted, like banning parking along residents' homes on Palm Street and adding a bicycle lane along the northern section of Bald Eagle. We already restrict swale parking in certain areas of the island where it is a nuisance to residents and adding a bicycle lane to the area of the island with the only bicycle shop should be a no-brainer.

Third, we should evaluate whether existing code audits of restaurants' seating capacity relative to their allocated parking are sufficient in Olde Marco. While I love dining at restaurants in the area, there is a question as to whether there may be instances in which restaurants are putting out more tables and seats then they have the parking spaces to service. Re-examining code enforcement audits - and possibly boosting these audits - needs to be on the table.

So, whether or not we proceed with more parking spaces in Olde Marco, we cannot lose sight of the much-needed resident relief that is an essential part of the equation. These provisions will become even more critical if parking capacity is expanded in the area but should be adopted regardless.

It is long-past time for meaningful improvements to be made in Olde Marco in order to improve the quality of life and more appropriately balance the needs of residents with those of businesses.