OSWEGO, NY – Mayor Randy Bateman recently appointed a new Downtown Parking Committee to address issues relating to parking in the downtown business district.
The committee will be reviewing the Downtown Parking Plan and current parking regulations, and will propose any recommended changes to the Common Council for consideration.
The committee is chaired by Councilor Cathy Santos.
Members include councilors Shawn Walker and Mike Myers, Police Chief Mike Dehm, DPW Commissioner Mike Smith, Beth Hilton, director of the Oswego-Fulton Chamber of Commerce, and Norma Barnes, Marilyn Boyzuick, Tonya Crisafulli, Mike D’Amico and Ann Marie King.
Questions or concerns for the committee may be addressed to the mayor’s office at 342-8140 or Santos at 342-8496.
The council approved the current version of the policy late last year. It went into use as of Jan. 1.
Downtown Parking Policy (second revision – 4-16-10)
I. Policy Statement
In an effort to provide adequate parking in the City of Oswego for all current and prospective users of on-street parking and city parking lots, the City of Oswego has implemented a Downtown Parking Policy.
This policy is designed to provide adequate on-street parking for all citizens and to apportion the use of the downtown parking lots in a fair and equitable manner.
Also, it is intended that there will be no authorized parking in the downtown parking lots between the hours of 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.
Therefore it is necessary to provide adequate overnight parking in downtown parking lots for downtown residents and their guests.
To this effect, the City of Oswego will take an active role in educating the public about available parking and will provide strict enforcement of parking regulations in the downtown area.
II. Downtown Parking Lots
For purposes of this parking policy the downtown parking lots will be designated as follows:
Lot A – Former Green’s Lot (behind Canal Commons)
Lot A1 – Behind Pontiac Apartments
Lot B – Cayuga Street (Lower) (East)
Lot B1 – Cayuga Street (Upper) (West)
Lot C – Market Street (Next to Old City Hall)
Lot D – Midtown Plaza (Upper)
Lot D1 – Midtown Plaza (Lower)
Lot E – East First and Bridge (In front of Board of Education Building)
III. Cooperation of Downtown Business Owners
A.   The City will encourage Downtown Business Owners to discourage their employees from parking in prime downtown parking areas and to direct them to alternate parking lots A1, B, B1, and C.
B.   The City will encourage Downtown Business Owners to make use of alternate parking lots to park commercial vehicles when parking for extended periods of time.
IV. Reserved Permit Parking Spots
A.   Thirty-eight (38) parking spots will be reserved for the permanent use of owners of downtown area buildings. These reserved spots will be located in Lot A along the guardrail on the east side of the lot.
Eight (8) of these parking spots will first be made available to the owner/manager of King Arthur’s Hotel for use of its guests, should he/she chose to purchase the annual permits.
These parking spots will be considered permanent driveways and will be maintained for snow removal by permit owners.
These parking spots will be available only by annual parking permits issued by the city of Oswego.
B.   Up to forty (40) additional permanent parking spots in lots A, A1, B and B1 and up to ten (10) permanent parking spots in Lot D1 can be designated by the Commissioner of public Works in consultation with the Chief of Police upon request for and subsequent purchase of same.
C.   The location of the parking spots referred to in Section IV B will be determined by the Commissioner of public Works in consultation with the Chief of Police.
V. Guest Parking
A.   Fifteen (15) parking spot along the lower west wall of Lot B will be reserved for overnight parking for guests of downtown residents.
B.   In the event that the parking spots in Lot B are filled, an additional twenty-one (21) parking spots located on the west side of Lot C will be reserved for guest parking.
C.   Additional parking spots for guest parking may be designated in any downtown parking lot by the Commissioner of Public Works.
D.   The guest parking spots will be available only by temporary parking permits issued by the City of Oswego.
VI. Annual Parking Permits for Permanent Downtown Residents
A.   Annual parking permits for reserved permanent parking spots may be purchased from the City of Oswego solely by owners of properties located in the downtown area or their authorized designee.
B.   Downtown property owners will be permitted to purchase no more than two annual parking permits for each dwelling unit located within their property.
C.   Downtown property owners will be responsible for obtaining and distributing annual parking permits to their tenants.
D.   All annual parking permits will be issued by the City Chamberlain’s Office and will be valid for one calendar year from January 1 through December 31.
E.   The fee for each annual parking permit for the 2010 calendar year will be $25 per month. The fee for annual parking permits is subject to change by the Common Council.
F.   Payment in advance for annual parking permits or quarterly payments of parking permit fees is subject to the discretion of the City Chamberlain.
G.   The City of Oswego reserves the right to rescind any and all annual parking permits for non-payment of the fee or at the request of the Commissioner of Public Works of the Chief of Police.
H.   Current annual parking permit holders will have the option to purchase renewal annual parking permits for the following year before new annual parking permits are sold, provided that they are not delinquent in payment to the City for their annual parking permits, they have no outstanding parking tickets, they have adequately maintained their parking spots for snow removal, and there are no objections from either the Commissioner of Public Works or the Police Chief.
I.   Annual parking permits must be displayed in the front window of the vehicle that is authorized to park in the reserved parking spot. Failure to display the annual parking permit will subject the owner of the vehicle to a ticket for unauthorized parking.
VII. Temporary Overnight Parking Permits for Guest Parking
A.   Temporary overnight parking permits may be purchased from the Police Department at a cost of $5 per night. These permits will authorize parking in designated overnight parking spots from 9 p.m. until 9 a.m. the following day.
B.   Temporary overnight parking permits for lots B and C may be purchased by guests of downtown residents who have valid annual parking permits.
C.   Temporary overnight parking permits for guests of other City residents may be purchased for temporary parking spots which have been designated in other downtown City lots by the Commissioner of Public Works.
D.   Guests who purchase temporary overnight parking permits will be required to provide their name, address, driver’s license and the name and address of their host.
VIII. Temporary Overnight Parking for Other City Residents
A.   The Commissioner of Public Works may, at his discretion, designate overnight guest parking spots in downtown parking lots that will be available for guests of City residents who have not obtained am annual parking permit.
B.   Such guests will be required to purchase permits pursuant to Section VII herein.
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You should change the parking signs in front of the Oswego Theatre. People would like to go watch a movie during the day in the summer without comeing out and have a damn parking ticket. People should beable to park in front of the theatre and go in to watch a 2 1/2 hour movie without tickets.