Courthouse parking problem stalls city
Anyone who has ever tried to get a parking space near the courthouse on a weekday knows it’s almost impossible. And if you need more than two hours to complete your business, be prepared for a parking ticket.
Downtown parking, or the lack thereof, has been a problem for years – even sparking a battle between the city of McMinnville and Warren County as to who really owns the area around the courthouse and has jurisdiction to change the parking laws.
The ownership dispute has been resolved, but the parking issue is still a problem. The city owns all the property around the courthouse while the county owns the actual courthouse, meaning the city decides where county employees can park when they go to work. The city also reigns over parking for all court and county business that takes place inside the courthouse.
While larger cities have built paid-parking facilities to assist with their parking problems, the city of McMinnville has not yet felt that was a necessary solution. Paid parking involves paying a fee to park in a spot for a set amount of time. Paid parking can be by the day, by the month, or by the year. Over the course of a year, paid parking can be expensive.
City officials are working on various solutions, particularly for the area surrounding the courthouse, but so far have not come up with something that seems fair for everyone involved.
One thing is certain: Until some sort of equitable solution is reached, parking in the downtown area will continue to generate controversy.