Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
A request to change parking in front of Coldwell Banker, 210 N. Buffalo St., Warsaw, from unrestricted to two-hour parking was shelved by the Traffic Commission Wednesday while the city is undergoing a study of its downtown.
In presenting the request, Jeff Smith, representing Coldwell Banker, said they’ve moved their business into that location about 1-1/2 years ago.
“We want to do a new look for the business,” he said, noting the building is outdated and the sidewalks are cracked. The sidewalks that lead to the street, the curbs are 1-1/2 inches higher. “We just went through a lawsuit in Fort Wayne with a curb like that where a lady’s heel caught the upside of the curb, she fell, broke her hip, and we just settled out of court on that one.”
Smith said they want to fix the sidewalks and redo them, and they have a landscape design for it. While they’re fixing the front of their store up, he said they’ve had the same cars parked in front of the store every day, blocking the business.
“We would just like to have a two-hour parking, like everyone else south of us on the street. I think it would show our store off a little more, to be honest with you, and make it a little more convenient,” he said.
There is a parking section on the side of the building with 14 spaces. A parking lot adjacent to Coldwell Banker’s parking lot went up for auction at the beginning of the year but the price tag for it was “very, very large,” Smith said, and Coldwell Banker’s real estate firms wouldn’t buy it.
Since they didn’t buy that parking lot, Smith said they’ve had problems with neighbors who park wherever they see parking lines.
“Well, if you cross the line, you’re in their parking lot and they would come out and actually yell at our guest. I mean, the top of their lungs, four or five different times,” he said.
As a result, he said they had a company come out and put concrete bumpers down the line so their guests don’t go into the neighbor’s parking lot. They also put up a sign that says “Guest Parking for Coldwell Banker Guests.”
Maybe in the future they will buy the adjacent parking lot, but Smith said half a million dollars for a little section of parking lot was too big.
Smith said they want to be good neighbors as Coldwell Banker plans to remain in that building for years, but they just want two-hour parking in front of the store so people can see it and come and go.
Smith presented the Traffic Commission with pictures and drawings of what they plan to do.
Councilwoman Cindy Dobbins said some of those parking spots may be occupied by employees of downtown restaurants and boutiques.
“I have two-hour parking in front of my business, but I still see the same cars there every day. And sometimes, they may get two tickets a day, but they apparently pay them and prefer to do that as opposed to parking elsewhere. I just want to make you aware that, in fact, it may or may not discourage people,” she said.
City Planner Justin Taylor said from a planning standpoint, he could see the logic behind Coldwell Banker’s request.
“I think at some point in the future, two-hour parking from downtown will extend north. I think at this point, since we’re currently in the midst of a downtown study, my recommendation would be more toward let’s get through the study and see if that study recommends expanding that at this time,” Taylor said.
At this point, he said he would be hesitant to change the unrestricted parking to two-hour parking.
Warsaw Police Department Capt. Joel Beam said if a vehicle is parking in the same spot for 72 hours, it could be tagged and eventually towed.
Dobbins told Smith a community vision meeting on the downtown, open to the public, will be 5:30 to 7 p.m. May 15 in the City Hall Council Chambers. She welcomed him to attend that meeting. The public will be invited to give public input on the downtown.
Warsaw Community Schools Transportation Director Mark Fick gave the Traffic Commission an update on the new beacon sign with a flashing light at the school bus stop on Center Street near Papa John’s. It was installed March 20.
“Prior to that, when we had the old sign, which was the digital (sign), we had eight total (bus stop arm violations), from January 12 to March 20. Since we put the new beacon sign up, we’ve had 18, and we’ve had one stopped by police. And that’s with a week off with spring break,” Fick said.
He said the biggest “hits” are Thursday and Friday afternoons and Monday mornings. They had four last Friday.
“It’s just a constant flow of traffic,” he said, adding that it was his opinion that the old sign worked better than what’s up there now. He said he doesn’t think the drivers see the new sign and light because of the lights that are at the top of the Center Street hill.
There are less than three weeks left in the school year.
Traffic Administrator Lance Grubbs asked Fick if he had the number of stop-arm violations there have been for this school year. Fick said he will give the commission a breakdown at the June meeting, but said they’re approaching 300 throughout the county in the Warsaw School District.
No action was taken.
Beam reminded the Commission that the Fat & Skinny Tire Fest begins May 19 with a mass bike ride going from Winona Lake to downtown Warsaw on Center Street. He urged everyone to be cautious. The ride starts at 6:30 p.m. and there will be bicycle races and other events downtown Warsaw.
The next commission meeting is June 7.
Editor's Note: After this story was originally published, Patrick Maloblocki, chief operating officer for Coldwell Banker Real Estate Group, provided the following statement: In the article posted on May 4, 2023 titled "Change in Parking on Buffalo Street Shelved for Now" there were comments made by an employee of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Group: Jeff Smith. Mr. Smith, an employee responsible for building maintenance at office locations, was authorized to petition the Warsaw Traffic Commission for consideration of converting parking in front of 210 N Buffalo to 2-hour parking. The employee was not authorized to speak beyond the scope of that request and the comments made are not indicative of the direction or sentiments of the leadership at Coldwell Banker Real Estate Group. Comments made regarding surrounding businesses or available neighboring properties were outside the scope of Mr. Smith's involvement in company matters, were unsubstantiated and largely inaccurate. Mr. Smith's understanding of Coldwell Banker Real Estate Group's intention or interest in purchasing any surrounding real estate were off-base and inaccurate. Unfortunately, several of Mr. Smith's reported comments were largely inaccurate. We apologize for the misrepresentations made in his comments and will be handling this employment matter internally.
