Daycare asks for restricted parking in front of business
After a request from a parent, the Public Health and Safety Committee looked at limiting parking in front of Kids First Childcare on Main Street, during a meeting Feb. 27. Tammy Morgal, daycare owner, says parents are having trouble dropping off and picking up kids, as the spots in front of the building are taken up.
“I think there’s plenty of parking around there throughout those times, anyway,” said Cornell Police Chief Brian Hurt, “that if somebody needs to park there, there’s plenty of ample parking.”
With 35 kids in and out of the daycare in a week’s time, Morgal says it can get hard to find spots on that side of the street, especially as some cars take up two spots by parking on the white lines, instead of between them.
Employees of the daycare park across street and cannot park in the back of the building, as that belongs to tenants of the upstairs. Currently, all but two employees who work at the daycare drive from out of town, with the other two to three walking to work.
After talking with Morgal, Aimee Koger, committee chair, said limited parking would take place between 6-8 a.m. and 3-6 p.m., during the weekday, in the two spaces in front of the daycare.
“At the most, they’re (parents) in there for five minutes, if that,” said Morgal.
Korger says she did talk to someone at Big T’s near the daycare, about the matter, but no one showed up for the meeting, so it was hard to know what they thought about the matter.
“For convenience sake and safety’s sake of the children… I think it’s a very smart idea,” said Hurt.
Korger said because the city already has limited parking spaces, a new ordinance would not have to be drafted, simply added to.
Members of the committee agreed to go forward with a recommendation for the timed spaces, something they wanted to discuss with the entire Cornell City Council at the March 5 regular meeting.
Korger said instead of enforcing a 12-hour parking ban, with just limited times, she thinks it would be OK.
“That might make it a little less harsh for the other businesses nearby.”
