(Batesville, IN) – Batesville City Council held the first reading Monday night on a proposed ordinance regulating downtown street parking.
Under the proposal, parking would be limited in a defined area to two hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“The regulation is not applicable to evening hours after 5, and morning hours before 8, nor is it applicable on weekends,” said City Attorney Blaine Timonera, who drafted the ordinance.
However, several voiced concerns about the plan.
“There are certain times of the year when people come into Batesville, and it may not be a Monday through Friday case, but for this particular event I’m going to say it’s on a Friday, and they have to park on the street because there’s nowhere else to park,” said Cindy Todd, who works at Schmidt Bakery. ” And they might be waiting in line for a couple of hours, and that’s a little concerning to me because it happens every year.”
Todd also expressed concerns that if the two-hour time limit is implemented, could it lead to restrictions in parking lots in the business district.
Suggestions such as gathering data and having a steering committee study the issue were brought up.
After a lengthy discussion, councilmember Brad Dreyer called it a “swing and a miss” at an attempt to come up with a uniform ordinance while not taking away from downtown businesses, and added he was glad to hear what the public had to say.
“We need to have these discussions for a lot of other things that, quite frankly, can seem like growing pains which is a good thing,” Dreyer said. “We certainly value feedback and we can take it from there and hopefully make some educated decisions…possibly some group gatherings to help come to a good conclusion to this.”
Council did not take action on the proposed ordinance, which can be found by clicking here, and then on “7-13-26 Council Packet.”
