(Photo Kevin L. Smith of The Cortland Voice).
The City of Cortland has sold a majority of its parking permits, but a city official said more will be available in the future.
According to city clerk Andy Jewett, as of Nov. 1, parking permits for Cortland’s downtown area are sold out. Jewett, however, noted that there are currently 15 spaces available for permit use in the parking lot near Dexter Park.
To date, Jewett said that the city has issued 499 parking permits, 206 of which are residential permits. The rest, Jewett added, are for day and evening parking and for businesses/employees.
Jewett said that there is a waiting list for parking permits, but no one is currently on the list. If there were people on the waiting list, he added, the next available spot in the downtown area would go to the next available person on the list.
“I presume in the future we will have people on that waiting list,” Jewett said.
The city is planning to have more permitted parking spots available next year, Jewett said, noting that work is being done to make “a few dozen more” spaces available in the Cortland Youth Bureau and Port Watson Street lots.
According to Jewett, a reconfiguration of the Groton Avenue parking lot next year could allow for 50-or-more spaces. Further details have yet to be determined.
Jewett mentioned that the parking permit application could come with a possible rejection, depending on where the individual lives outside of the downtown area.
“People who don’t meet the eligibility, who might’ve applied through the portal, we would have rejected them,” Jewett said. “If someone who lived on Homer Avenue or up on the college hill applied, we would’ve rejected their application.”
City parking spaces with a two-hour limit are still available, in different parts of downtown, to people who do not have parking permits.
