Parking in downtown Warsaw is going to be changing, that much is certain. But what kinds of changes will be made are still being discussed.

Warsaw’s Traffic Safety Commission met this afternoon to share some priorities that have been set for this year. Among those, a proposal to maintain 2-hour parking only along a four city block area.

Warsaw Police Lt. Kip Shuter, Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer, and Warsaw City Planner Jeremy Skinner got together in December to outline some ideas to address parking issues in the downtown area. They came up with 7 priorities and today – in the absence of only two members – the safety commission discussed those key points.

First up was discussion on limiting the 2-hour parking to downtown streets within an area including Market Street to the south, Lake Street to the west, Main Street to the north and Indiana Street to the east. Outside of that area, parking times would be unlimited. The hope is that downtown merchants and employees would utilize parking areas outside of that enforcement zone to free up parking for patrons.

Also being considered: making city parking lots open to unlimited parking and eliminate leasing options. Shuter said, “It’s long been the thought that the city should not be in the business of leasing parking lots and we’d like to get out of that business.”

During initial meetings, Skinner noted a possible exchange program with businesses, churches and even banks that have their own parking lots, and the city. It was suggested that those entities could work with an organization, such as the Warsaw/Kosciusko County Chamber of Commerce or Warsaw Community Development Corporation, to offer unused parking spaces for lease.

Skinner explained that such an exchange program could be a source of additional review for those businesses and also be another way to free some downtown parking spaces.

Angled parking along Lake Street and other areas within the proposed 2-hour parking area were briefly discussed, as was some type of permit parking for residents who reside in downtown apartments.

Metered parking was suggested by commission member Mike Klondaris, but Skinner noted, of the nearly 500 parking surveys completed over the summer, not one person said they would be willing to pay for parking. “I think at this point we would be setting ourselves up to fail by adding meters,” he said.

Commission member Greg Schroeder added, “My main thought is that (meters) would ultimately punish those we want to bring downtown because of the actions of those who work downtown.”

The priority points are now being sent to three separate subcommittees that will delve further into each option and report those findings back to the Traffic Safety Commission. When a finalized recommendation is drafted, the Warsaw Common Council will then review it and act on any changes.

The next meeting of the Warsaw Traffic Safety Commission will be at 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 6.