Two-hour parking limit approved for downtown
By Elizabeth Billips Associate Editor

After two years of asking for help, downtown merchants will finally get some parking relief.

Monday night, Waynesboro City Council unanimously approved the second reading of a parking ordinance that sets a two-hour parking limit in the heart of downtown and keeps big rigs off right-of-ways.

Officers will begin enforcing the ordinance in 30 days, after signs have been posted and parallel parking spaces have been striped. The minimum ticket will be $20.

Mayor Jesse Stone said the "ad hoc" enforcement will be regular, but random.

The tightest patrol will be on days when court is in session and downtown parking spaces are tied up all day, despite a des- ignated county parking lot.

"I've taken photographs on court day and Liberty, Sixth and Myrick were full while the county's public lot was virtually empty," Mayor Stone said at the ordinance's first reading. "This ordinance is long overdue, and we need to get it on the books."

The two-hour limit will affect portions of Sixth, Liberty and Myrick streets in the core commercial district, along with Court Alley and a section of Seventh Street.

Some truckers will also be hunting for legal spots. Under the newly passed ordinance, they'll be ticketed if their rigs or trailers are parked on any right-of-way in town for more than two hours.

City Administrator Jerry Coalson said he's hoping a few local property owners will open truck parking lots on the edges of town.