Parking Reprieve Fails to Pass, Jail to Leave City Code and a Look at the Drop in Speed Limit

Roads and parking were two of the main focuses of this week’s Saratoga Springs City Council meeting. 

The council considered a bill that would suspend seasonal parking fees for two days and held it’s first hearing on a bill that would reduce the speed limit in the city from 30 to 25 mph. 

These were just two of the items on the agenda for the city this week. Here is a rundown of major events and happenings from City Council. 

Parking bill fails to pass. 

A proposal to give residents and visitors two days of fee-free seasonal parking failed to gain traction in city council. 

The bill was designed to promote economic activity and support businesses downtown. Under the bill, two days would be selected by the Commissioner of Public Works to have no fees on parking in city owned garages and surface lots. 

Commissioner of Public Works, Chuck Marshall proposed the bill because he didn’t expect the paid parking program to reach its anticipated financial goals and he wanted to give two days back to the business community. 

Marshall has consistently been opposed to the paid parking program and argued that since they’re not going to get their promised revenue from the program, then the program should be temporarily suspended to incentivize people to stay in the downtown area particularly after major events such as shows at SPAC or important races at the track. 

When presented before City Council, the proposal met stiff opposition from other council members. Accounts Commissioner Dillon Moran argued that cutting off revenue was financially unsound while Public Safety Commissioner Tim Coll wanted a full year to review the program and its impact on the city. 

Ultimately, these concerns won out as the measure failed to pass by a vote of 3-1 with Coll, Moran and Mayor John Safford opposing the measure and Marshall supporting it. 

Residents voice opinions on proposed drop in speed limit.

A Proposal to reduce the city’s speed limit to 25 mph held it’s first public hearing this week. The measure has been proposed by Public Safety Commissioner Coll in order to make the streets of Saratoga Springs safer. 

Before the public got a chance to speak, a presentation was made by Safe Streets outlining how reducing the speed limit would reduce traffic injuries without significantly increasing travel times. According to Safe Streets, accidents at 20 mph had a 90% survival rate while accidents at 40 mph had a 100% survival rate. At the same time, the mile time from 30 mph to 25 mph was only reduced by 24 seconds. 

The proposed speed limit reduction had widespread support from members of the public. The first speaker, a young boy who said he rides his bike and walks around the city, argued that a slower speed limit would make the roads safer for kids like him. The boy received a round of applause from council members and audience members, and his views were echoed by other speakers. 

Many argued that the speed limit had to be reduced and also urged more enforcement of the speed limits both new and current. 

The ordinance is set to be voted upon on a later date as city council members wanted to ensure proper time for consideration. 

Public hearing set to remove jail time for 39 offenses. 

A public hearing has been set on a proposed ordinance that would remove jail time for 39 different municipal offenses.

The proposal, which is coming from the mayor’s office, comes at the urging of Assistant City Attorney Tony Izzo who said that in his 40 years working for the city, there has only been one instance where he can recall someone went to jail for violating city ordinances.