The future of parking in downtown Wareham will up for discussion at a public meeting on Monday, Sept. 29 in the Town Hall auditorium

Parking consultant firm Nelson Nygaard will deliver a presentation on the total number of spaces in downtown Wareham and the best way to utilize those spaces before soliciting input from residents at the end of the meeting.

“Overall I think people will be pleased by it,” said Sal Pina, director of the Wareham Community and Economic Development Authority.

Pina said the discussion will include ways to make Merchant’s Way behind Main Street better, safer and easier to use.

He also said the consultants at Nelson Nygaard have all but ruled out parking kiosks in downtown Wareham.

The kiosks have been essentially ruled out. “You need high demand for that and there just isn’t high demand [in downtown Wareham],” Pina said. “Demand determines price and without any demand there is no price”

While the demand for parking spaces might not be high, the supply of them certainly is. Pina said that while there is an impression that there is a lack of parking downtown that is not the case.

He said people like to park right in front of a building, but just because they can’t doesn’t mean there isn’t any parking very close by.

“From the Narrows Restaurant to the Fire Department is one-third of a mile,” said Pina. “It takes the average person 15 minutes to walk one mile. So anywhere on Main Street from the Fire Department is going to be a 5 minute walk or less.”

Pina said the concept of shared parking will be a big part of the presentation. That is the idea that if a business has private spaces and is only open from 9-5 it can share those spaces with other businesses or the public after business hours.

Pina stressed that this is a preliminary report and that residents should give their input at the meeting.

“Nothing is set in stone,” said Pina. “It’s a process and people have the opportunity to come and participate”

The presentation will take place on Sept. 29 at 5 p.m. in the Town Hall Auditorium.