Athens City Council discusses adding two more locations for vendors uptown.

ATHENS, Ohio –– Athens City Council is potentially adding more locations for vendors to park near Court Street.

The two new locations will be in front of Bentley Hall and near the Athens Armory. These spots will be in addition to the parking spaces that are already in front of College Green on West Union Street.

Councilmember Peter Kotses said many vendors have been looking for additional sites to sell at, so this seemed like the best solution for everyone involved.

Currently there is A and B licensing. A-licensing gives someone a specific space that they have at all times and B-licensing is when one is allowed to park in that space, but it is not specifically just for them. The council wants to move away from this approach and move towards first come first serve.

“We are eliminating A and B licensing because the administration told us it was a problem,” said Kotses, “Apparently some of the vendors were having issues with each other, so it is easier to move them around.”

Due to eliminating A and B licensing and creating more vendor sites, there will be a small price increase each month for vendors. The specific price has not been determined yet.

After a specific time if the spots are not being used by a vendor, it will become open to public parking. According to Kotses, this is a good solution because many times businesses and people of the community have complained that they can not currently park in vendor spots, even if they are not being used.

In other business, Athens City Council also discussed:

Creating 72-hour parking throughout the city of Athens. Originally, 72-hour parking was launched as a pilot program, but it was well liked and is sought after by members of the community.
- According to councilmember Arian Smedley, many west-side residents were asking why their streets did not have the 72 hour limit.
- Currently there are mostly 24-hour parking limits throughout the city. This is a burden to people who live in the community and who do not have driveways to park in.
- According to Kotses, the police department is considering getting cameras that will read license plates to monitor the spaces, rather than putting chalk on tires like they do now.
The approval of shutting down Mulberry Street to all traffic except for buses on May 16th with the backup date of May 17th.
- The street will be shut down due to students filming in front of the graffiti wall for a police training video.
- The street will be closed from 6 a.m to 7 p.m. along with the first four parking spaces coming from Richland Avenue.
Peter Kotses is leaving city council after five years. Many of the councilmembers gave great speeches to wish Kotses well in his future endeavors. Mayor Steve Patterson put it very simply, “You have been a great councilmember, period.”
- “You have not seen the last of me,” said Kotses.