City of Salisbury announces Phase 1 of downtown Parking Master Plan

SALISBURY, Md. – The City of Salisbury has announced Phase 1 of its Parking Master Plan.

“We know residents and businesses are concerned with parking in Downtown Salisbury, City Administration hear and understand the concerns. This is only the First Phase of the Parking Master Plan and we addressed the 3 main issues that were heard: Accessibility, Enforcement/Safety, and Communications,” said City Administrator Andy Kitzrow. “We look forward to continuing to work with the public on ways to make Salisbury a more enjoyable place to live, visit, and explore.”

As part of the first phase, more handicap spaces and “limited mobility” spaces will be added in the near future. Limited mobility spots, which will be called Kindness Spaces, are intended to be more accessible parking spaces for those with limited mobility, senior citizens, or families with strollers.

Starting Thursday, June 29th, enforcement hours will be scaled back from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. to 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. There will still be free parking on weekends and evenings after 4 p.m. in all permitted lots and on-street parking. Additionally, the City is introducing Free Parking Fridays, running from June 30th through September 1st. This will only include street parking; permit lots or spaces will not be included.

The parking garage safety audit was also completed in mid-June, identifying lighting improvements, camera adjustments, and signage areas that need to be updated. The majority of these adjustments have already been made, but residents that notice any lights out in the garage are advised to report the issues to the Citizen Reporter page. The timing for the lights was updated to be active 24 hours a day. The cameras in the garage are already monitored 24/7 but frequent police presence will be added at night. Daily parking garage safety checks will also be taking place.

This also comes with the addition of the Downtown Ambassador Program, intended to help communicate with visitors all the various parking options and be a concierge service for all things Salisbury. The ambassadors will help make downtown a cleaner, safer, and more enjoyable destination by monitoring the downtown parking areas throughout the day and helping anyone in need. In the evenings, the Downtown Ambassadors will check in with various nightlife locations and help with taxi or transportation notifications.

“This is only the first round of improvements coming to downtown, various other solutions to parking and convenience are being explored and we look forward to implementing them into our everyday schedules,” said Mayor Jack Heath. “I thank the business owners for their candor and cooperation, because working together we can make Salisbury amazing.”