It's been nearly five months since the Aiken City Council eliminated downtown parking restrictions and reception to the situation continues to be mixed. The Aiken Downtown Development Association maintains that the John Edwards study was good and that there should be some type of restriction. Some downtown business employees state that they can't really see a difference between when the restrictions were in effect and now. The Metro Spirit writer states, "While downtown streets have continued to be busy, the amount of shoppers and lunch-goers did not significantly increase or decrease following the change," but offers no data or metric to support this statement.

The Aiken City Council voted unanimously during tonight's meeting to eliminate the two hour downtown parking restrictions. Existing 30 minute parking spaces will remain as they are. The City Council plans to reevaluate the downtown parking situation in six months.

The movement opposing the 2008 implementation of a two hour time limit on downtown parking has gained considerable momentum and organization during the past week. Movement organizers have created a facebook.com group which currently has 179 fans, recruited supportive downtown business owners to display "Free Parking" signs in their business windows and garnered the attention of several local news outlets. Today revealed a front page story in the Aiken Standard about the opposition and an afternoon news recording outside of Plum Pudding by WJBF which aired at 6:00 PM.

Some of you may have already noticed a couple of new additions to the Department of Public Safety's patrol fleet. These would be two Dodge Chargers driven by officers whose sole job is to enforce the traffic laws in the City of Aiken. The officers are also tasked with educating students at our two high schools about safe driving.

This past December the City Council voted to impose a two-hour time limit for parking in certain areas of downtown. This measure was recommended by the Aiken Downtown Development association in an effort to combat the difficulty many of us face when trying to park downtown. As approved by the City Council, the limit will only be in effect from 9AM to 4PM, Monday through Friday. The program is set to begin sometime in early March with Public Safety officers issuing warnings to those parked for more than two hours.

During the meeting on Monday night, City Council voted to remove St. Mary's Help of Christians Catholic Church from the City's Historic Register. With this hurdle overcome, the church is now able to proceed with their plans to expand their current facility.

City officials are attempting to get funding for the installation of a new landing system at the Aiken Airport. The new landing system would allow airplanes to land despite inclement weather and dense fog.

City Council is hoping to pass an ordinance requiring all rental property owners in the City of Aiken to register their properties with the city on an annual basis and designate a local contact person. This is the same type of program which created much controversy a few years ago in Athens-Clarke County and has been subsequently banned by Georgia law. City Council has already approved the ordinance on the first reading this past Monday, with a second reading and public hearing to occur later this month.

As drivers approach Aiken city limits traveling north on Whiskey Road, they'll encounter the newest type of officer with the Aiken Department of Public Safety: the cardboard type. ADPS has already deployed the cardboard officer on Whiskey Road at the city limits sign, with plans for more around Aiken in the near future, in hopes that it will remind drivers to travel at the posted speed.


Image courtesy of WIS TV, Columbia.

David Allen submitted this piece to the Kaolin Kronicle regarding the Design and Review Board meeting he attended last week. I am republishing it, unedited, in its entirety here for all to read.

From the article:
Our city seems to want to regulate all of the citizen rights and increase the power of government. Last night at the Design and Review Board meeting, I got to see it in action.

Frankly, I find what Mr. Allen describes appalling. Click "Read More" below for the entire article.