Parking Committee

Paul Carew, Committee Member

The Parking Committee shall study the present and future parking needs of the Chapel of the Cross, identify present and future resources available, and make recommendations in light of the Next Step Committee's draft facility proposals.

And so our charge goes. The committee, with Jim Crow (senior warden) as chair, Dana Campbell, Paul Carew, David Joseph, Martin Rody, Frances Widmann, and Barbara Hastings as members, is tackling one of the most difficult assignments of the Next Step process. Without a doubt, there are no neutrally minded parishioners when church parking is addressed. Perhaps Sunday is less of a problem with street parking permitted and the Morehead lot open at no charge (except for the 5:15 service). But weekday parking is another and much more volatile issue.

The church has 31 marked parking spaces but 46 vehicles can be accommodated when cars are parked next to the low wall and around the circle. During ABC Sale week, for example, parking is a total free-for-all and a nightmare.

To avoid an ABC Sale week parking problem in spades, should the church go forward with the proposed construction of new facilities, the committee is looking carefully at all the possible options. Concerns such as the impact of the loss of the parking area during construction (the lot being a potential staging area for equipment and material) as well as the permanent loss of a limited number of parking spaces due to the new facilities are being examined.

The committee is exploring other immediate, intermediate, and long-term solutions, including underground parking under the new facilities, a different configuration of the parking area (angled rather than perpendicular), widening the circle for convenient drop-off and pick-up, designated prepaid parking at the Morehead lot, prepaid parking at close-by town lots, and property for purchase as a parking lot.

Yes, the committee has its work cut out for it; and yes, we want to hear from you with your views and recommendations. Nothing is more frustrating than not finding a parking spot at the Chapel of the Cross. Let's work together to solve this problem.

Send items for inclusion in future "Cross Roads."
The deadline is the first Thursday of the preceeding month.

© 2006 The Chapel of the Cross