Parking Spaces

HAGERSTOWN - Hagerstown city officials could loosen the requirement on the number of parking spaces that developers have to provide when they build new housing downtown. Earlier this week, City Comprehensive Planner Stuart Bass recommended that the City Council require developers to provide one parking space for each one-bedroom unit. The existing requirement is for two spaces per unit across the board, he said. For each additional bedroom per unit, the requirement would increase a half space.

The Hagerstown Planning Commission on Wednesday approved a site plan for a second Bob Evans restaurant in Hagerstown. The new Bob Evans would be built at 190 Railway Lane on the southwestern edge of the city limits, city officials said. The proposed 4,142-square-foot restaurant, which would be near the Outback Steakhouse and Hagers-town Ford, would be on a 1.25-acre property. Richard Kaspar, senior regional real estate manager for Bob Evans Farms, said company plans call for the restaurant to open in May 2004.

Stadium plan doesn't include major new parking By DAN KULIN / Staff Writer Contrary to previous reports, the $15 million proposal to build a new baseball stadium at Municipal Stadium does not include plans to significantly increase the number of parking spaces at the site. But Richard Phoebus, chairman of the private task force pushing the proposal, said he's working to arrange for additional parking near the stadium. He said there could be 400 to 600 new parking spaces near the stadium, but he refused to say where they are. Phoebus said there are nearby parking areas primarily used during the day, while stadium parking is typically at night.

Plans for a Golden Corral restaurant were approved Monday night by the Washington County Planning Commission. The 1,661-square-foot restaurant is to be built at Valley Mall, near Firestone, according to plans. It will have access to interior roads in the mall, and the developer will add 149 parking spaces for the restaurant. Plans estimate that the restaurant will serve 1,000 customers per day.

HANCOCK - In an effort to encourage ridesharing and mass transit usage, the Maryland State Highway Administration (SHA) is doubling the number of parking spaces at the park-and-ride facility along westbound Md. 144 near Center Street in Hancock. As a result of the expansion, the park-and-ride will have 100 parking spaces. SHA began construction of the $109,000 project on Oct. 2 and work is expected to be complete by the end of November, weather permitting. In addition to the 50 new parking spaces, SHA will resurface the lot, install reflective markings and add new stop signs.

scottb@herald-mail.com The Hagerstown City Council on Tuesday decided by consensus not to pursue a state proposal to change parts of the left-most travel lanes into parking spaces along West Franklin and West Washington streets between Burhans Boulevard and West Side Avenue. Council members decided against the proposal at the suggestion of Hagerstown City Engineer Rodney Tissue. While the change would add parking spaces and might reduce the number of people speeding, it could also increase the number of pedestrian and car accidents, Tissue said.

By LISA GRAYBEAL Staff Writer, Waynesboro WAYNESBORO, Pa. - Parking along Main Street is going back to what it was before the Waynesboro Council passed a no parking ordinance for snow emergencies late last year. Under pressure from residents and business owners along Main Street and some side streets who opposed the new ordinance, the Council voted 5 to 1 Wednesday night in favor of amending the ordinance to allow parking downtown overnight. However, no downtown parking will be allowed on Mondays and Fridays between 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. for street sweeping.

The issue: Berkeley County recreation leaders must attempt to keep up with the needs of a growing community with little support from outside sources. What's new: Quad/Graphics, Berkeley County's largest private employer, has donated $500,000 toward expansion of the Berkeley 2000 Recreation Center. What's next: Recreation officials must obtain money for 175 parking spaces, a second entrance and equipment for the building before turning their full attention to development of an aquatic center and regional facilities in the north and south ends of the county.

scottb@herald-mail.com The City of Hagerstown will encourage downtown employers to stop their employees from parking at metered parking spaces so they'll be available for downtown visitors and customers, Finance Director Alfred Martin said Wednesday. Martin said he and Economic Development Coordinator Deborah Everhart plan to meet with major downtown employers to remind them of the availability of parking spaces in the parking deck and elsewhere off the city streets.

Several parking spaces along Race and Raleigh streets in Martinsburg are being eliminated to make way for the addition of turn lanes and traffic lane changes that are part of the Raleigh Street Extension project. Martinsburg City Council Thursday night approved four modifications that state Division of Highways traffic engineer Kenneth L. Clohan said after the meeting would result in the loss of six or seven parking spaces. Paul Turner of 222 N. Raleigh St., who was the only resident to air concerns about the proposed parking reduction at the meeting, was able to convince city council to preserve one of three spaces slated for elimination near his home.

Planting areas for trees became a last-minute add-on to a parking lot rehabilitation project in the Borough of Waynesboro on Wednesday. Susan D'heedene, pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ, asked the Waynesboro Borough Council to make changes to a parking lot project already under way. Maintenance crews recently started preparation work for next week's paving of the church lot, which is open to public parking under a lease agreement. D'heedene asked for cuts to be made in sections where trees can be planted.

NeXgen Hobby store owner Mark Gaylor talked to the Funkstown Town Council Monday night about a parking issue - even though his shop might be replaced by a convenience store. Gaylor said Tuesday that nothing was finalized, but that he was considering moving the hobby store and leasing the 117 E. Baltimore St. site to someone who would open a convenience store there. Gaylor said he hoped to make a decision within three weeks. Mayor Paul N. Crampton Jr. said there used to be a grocery store there.

Martinsburg officials hope to complete as many as 18 street-resurfacing projects this spring and create three handicapped parking spaces at two parks as part of the city's paving program. Depending on the outcome of the bidding process, the work could be awarded May 10 by the Martinsburg City Council. City Manager Mark Baldwin said recently that he hopes the improvements can be completed by June 30, the end of the fiscal year. Two parking spaces for the handicapped are being eyed for P.O. Faulkner Park, and city officials want to put another in War Memorial Park.

A new lease unanimously approved by the Waynesboro Borough Council on Wednesday will keep the Trinity United Church of Christ parking lot available for public use. The borough council and church off North Potomac Street spent months negotiating a new contract to allow parking on the otherwise private church property. Leasing the lot for downtown business and special events parking will cost the municipality $150 a month, officials said. That is the same rate as used in previous years.

The Washington County Board of County Commissioners voted 4-1 Tuesday to transfer $245,000 in leftover budget funds to help cover the cost of a parking area at the county's new transit bus transfer center. The funds were left over from a Maugans Avenue road improvement project that came in under budget, said Robert Slocum, the county's deputy director of public works. The parking area construction was approved by the previous board of commissioners as part of the transfer center project.

The Waynesboro Borough Council is taking steps to further restrict parking on two public streets near Waynesboro Area Senior High School from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. School officials want more students to park on the campus, Councilman Ronnie Martin said last week. “They have arranged to make 45 more parking spaces,” Martin said of the school. The council approved parking restrictions for Virginia and Enterprise avenues if the Waynesboro Area School District pays for signs, estimated to cost $60 each for 10 signs.

Three days into the operation of Meritus Medical Center, hospital officials were still fine-tuning some logistics, but they  already were seeing improved emergency department wait times, room availability and morale, Meritus Health President and CEO James P. Hamill said Monday. One issue that needed to be addressed in the first few days was parking, Hamill said. “We have plenty of parking,” he said. “It’s just, with the cold weather, everybody tried to park real close to a door.

A convenience store is scheduled to open on Jefferson Boulevard near Smithsburg, where Lewis Orchards is closing its farm stand. Plans on file with Washington County's planning department say a High's Dairy Store with gas pumps has been approved for the site. There are about 75 High's Dairy Stores in the region, according to the Hanover, Md.-based company's website. A site plan shows a 3,500-square-foot building, with 23 parking spaces. The plan estimates around 650 customers a day. County records say a building permit was issued Aug. 31. Sunday was the last day Lewis Orchards' roadside market was open at 22550 Jefferson Blvd.

"This is to all the people complaining about the headline for the South High graduate who killed his father. Come on people, The Herald-Mail was not pointing out South High, they were just trying to say that he was from this area. Perhaps they should just have said he was from Hagerstown but this headline sure got a lot of recognition, so I say it worked. Good job Herald-Mail. " - Washington County "You know, I've been watching TV about the plane incident where the guy tried to blow the plane up, and I've been thinking, we've got a real bunch of inept (people)