The city council unanimously voted to seek an external consultant to evaluate parking needs in Wilmington. (Photo by Thomas De Wever/iStock Getty Images)
Tired of driving around the same four blocks for a half hour trying to find a parking spot?
The Wilmington City Council is taking action to remedy the parking concerns of residents and visitors.
Resolution 24-039, sponsored by Councilman James Spadola, R-at large, requests that the city administration hire an external consultant to assess Wilmingtonâs parking needs.
âEvery resident, business owner and visitor to Wilmington I have spoken with agrees that the city’s parking system is difficult to navigate and could be much more user friendly,â said Ken Grant, a spokesperson for the Wilmington Fines and Fees Team.Â
The resolution unanimously passed the city council during their bi-monthly meeting last week
âThis resolution gives an opportunity for the city to hire an outside consultant to examine what we are doing and what we are doing wrong, tell us what we can be doing better, and to tell us what we are not even talking about that we could implement,” Spadola said.
By working with a professional consulting firm, the council can plan for the future using best practices from other cities and the best way to handle the complexities of Wilmington, Spadola said.Â
âWe have some neighborhoods that want weekend enforcement and we have some neighborhoods that don’t,â he said. âThe aim is to have a strategic plan that will improve parking accessibility, efficiency and convenience for our residents and visitors.â
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Grant said the decades-old system is confusing, contradictory and uses illogical signs throughout the city that even Wilmington Police Officers have admitted they don’t understand.
âThe need for a comprehensive study of Wilmington’s parking system is obvious to just about everyone who lives, works or drives in the city,â he said. âThe policies put in place nearly 30 years ago do not reflect the current parking and transportation needs of a city with a changing night-life, growing weekend activities, and more residents in its downtown neighborhoods.â
City’s already hired parking firm
John Rago, deputy chief of staff for the Office of Wilmington Mayor Mike Purzycki, said the city engaged with a firm earlier this year to conduct a comprehensive parking study to better understand the parking needs of residents, businesses, daily commuters and visitors.
“Council Member Spadola had been informed previously that such a parking study was being conducted, so his resolution was unnecessary,” Rago said. “The City is relying on the expertise of urban planners and engineers to conduct a holistic study, which began in the downtown area and will expand city-wide.”
He said the city anticipates seeing some of the early results of the downtown portion of this study sometime in the fall.
âThe need for a comprehensive study of Wilmington’s parking system is obvious to just about everyone who lives, works or drives in the city,â Grant said.Â
Raised in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, Jarek earned a B.A. in journalism and a B.A. in political science from Temple University in 2021. After running CNNâs Michael Smerconishâs YouTube channel, Jarek became a reporter for the Bucks County Herald before joining Delaware LIVE News.
Jarek can be reached by email at [email protected] or by phone at (215) 450-9982. Follow him on Twitter @jarekrutz
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