Hey, Glens Falls! Let’s Talk About Parking!

On January 1, 2023, the City of Glens Falls returned to their pre-COVID parking regulations and enforcement methods – the City had previously suspended its parking enforcement in March of 2020, but the City now once again enforces the two-hour parking limit for parking spots in the downtown area. To communicate this upcoming change, the City had given out “warning” tickets when a car was parked in a spot for too long, issuing approximately 900 warnings in the last three months of 2022.  The return of these regulations has been met by the business community with exasperation and support alike. 

Bill Dingman – District Operations Manager for Spot Coffee – is concerned not only about the availability of parking spots, but also the cost to his employees: “My workers are 18 to 25 (years old), they are just starting out in their careers and they can’t afford the extra expense” Dingman said. Since the reinstatement, Spot Coffee employees have had to stop work to move their cars, with some even having been ticketed! “This is costing the company employee productivity… The tickets are $30 and $60 if you don’t pay in 10 days. For an 18-year old cashier at a coffee shop to pay a $60 parking ticket is punitive” Dingman said.

Dingman knows that the parking in the downtown area is a complex situation: “I fully understand that businesses need convenient parking for their businesses, I fully support that… (But parking) is equally important to the workers, the business owners and the residents who live downtown. There are not enough spots” Dingman said.

Dingman also has an eye on the upcoming tourist season when the parking will become that much harder for people in the community to navigate:  “I think there has to be a solution from the City… whether it be a seasonal approach or a discounted rate for workers.” 

Another perspective on the parking situation comes from Robb, who’ has been’s worked with the Lake George Olive Oil company for 8 years and has been vocal about the lack of parking enforcement – during the two-year enforcement hiatus, he has seen cars parked for hours taking up valuable downtown spots. This is a detriment to his business, where customers have come into the store because, “I saw a spot, so I stopped.” 

Samantha from Rude Betty buys a pass for parking – she found that in a year’s time, she was paying about $300 for parking in the garages in town, while the parking pass was only $150, and she has always found a spot for her car. 

The City is invested in finding parking solutions moving forward – there is a Special Parking Committee that is looking over the entire issue, who will provide recommendations in February. Glens Falls has also invested in parking sensors that will feed into an app that can be downloaded onto any phone; this app will show where the open parking spots and occupied parking spots are throughout the downtown area. The City is currently working on calibrating this system.   

The COVID pandemic which led to the pause of the parking enforcement has had lasting effects on communities and businesses alike.  “I think there has to be a solution for the workers and the employees… In the restaurant industry we, in this city, are lagging dramatically behind the state and the region… In re-employment… So, how can I then ask the employees that I’ve got to incur extra expense to work here?” Dingman asked.