After a first reading Aug. 26, commissioners voted unanimously Sept. 9 to clarify rules for electric vehicle drivers and for people who live or work downtown. A public hearing was held for each of the two changes at the beginning of the Sept. 9 meeting, but nobody gave comment at that time. 

Sylva’s code of ordinances currently forbids downtown tenants and employees from parking along Main Street and Mill Street, as well as East Jackson Street between Evalina and Spring streets. However, town regulations didn’t specify any areas where residents and employees were encouraged to park. 

The newly amended ordinance fixes that issue, designating the Bridge Park Parking Lot, the Cogdill Parking Lot, and the lot at the intersection of Main and Landis Streets as free parking areas for residents and employees. 

“Both these things make sense to me,” said Commissioner Greg McPherson, who is also a downtown resident, during an initial discussion Aug. 26. “It doesn’t make sense to have Main Street restrictions and then tell everybody to park somewhere else and not give them somewhere else to park.”

The second change comes in response to two complaints the town has received regarding people parking in the town’s electric vehicle charging stations but not using them to charge a car. Commissioners voted unanimously to add a stipulation to its parking ordinance stating that no vehicle may park in a charging station space unless it is an electric vehicle and is plugged into the charging station. Violating this rule will result in a parking ticket.