Data from drone flyovers to help Greensburg officials reassess downtown parking

Greensburg is taking to the skies and to the streets to get a handle on an issue that can be frustrating for many: downtown parking.

Professor John Benhart Jr., director of Indiana University of Pennsylvania’s Unmanned Aerial Systems Science and Applications certificate programs, teamed up with Greensburg’s planning commission to pilot three drone flights this week over the 122-acre heart of the city.

Joined by observers including city planning director Jeff Raykes and two IUP seniors who are working with Raykes as interns, Benhart launched the drone from the roof of the First Commonwealth Bank building on programmed passes over city blocks no more than 400 feet above the ground.

The drones captured images at about 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Tuesday to get a snapshot of how available parking spaces are being used. That date was selected because there were no major events in the city that could have attracted more motorists than usual.

“We wanted to get baseline (parking) data for an average day,” Raykes said.

That data is meant to inform the planning commission and a team preparing the city’s comprehensive plan update, as they consider possibilities for making parking work better for those visiting, working and living downtown.

“This drone flyover is an easy and quick way to get up-to-date parking information,” said Dave Kahley, chairman of the planning commission. “It’s good to look at what’s current. It allows us to think more deliberately about parking requirements.”

Parking is sure to be mentioned when Greensburg stakeholders are asked what topics they consider a priority, city councilman Gregory Mertz noted.

So, he said, “We wanted to do a study to see what parking looks like at various parts of the day.”

Mertz, who works closely with the planning department, said existing rules that require businesses to provide a certain minimum number of parking spaces may not match the actual need at all times.

Those requirements generally depend on the facility’s square footage and number of employees and they vary according to the type of business.

“We have to make sure our ordinances are aligning with the needs of our downtown, and that’s what we’re doing with the study,” said Mertz. “It’s seems really restrictive to say a business must follow these rules at all times of the day. Not all businesses need that. There should be some flexibility.”

Pittsburgh-based Environmental Planning & Design, the consultant working on the city’s Shape Greensburg comprehensive plan, will add to the parking database with street-level surveys on Wednesday and Aug. 11. Company manager Carolyn Yagle said those efforts will expand beyond the city’s specified downtown district to include a half dozen additional parking lots on the periphery — for a total of 31 surface parking areas that are not “backyard type of parking.”

There are 15 city-owned public parking lots in downtown Greensburg and about 750 metered spaces along streets and at some of the lots. There are 400 additional spaces in the city’s Robert A. Bell parking garage.

Greensburg Council in June agreed to lease 188 spaces to the county at a monthly cost of $7,.080, but city parking officials indicated courthouse workers are using just 118 of the leased spots, scattered among the Bell garage and some surface lots.

According to Raykes, the parking survey that is underway will take a broad look at downtown parking, encompassing private as well as public lots while verifying the number of spaces. He said the courthouse lease can be “backed out” of the data to provide a picture of more typical parking usage — without the disruption of the courthouse garage project.

Raykes noted traditional urban parking strategies generally have been driven by the numbers of cars to be accommodated. He said a more balanced approach places greater value on allowing space for the places, including businesses, that attract people to a town.

Westmoreland County Land Bank Executive Director Brian Lawrence said there are plans to seek proposals for redevelopment of a vacant lot on Pennsylvania Avenue that the Land Bank acquired after the Westmoreland County Redevelopment Authority demolished a dilapidated building there that once housed the former Derby’s Delicatessen.

“A lot of folks have said they would like to put a parking lot there,” said Lawrence, who also is vice chairman of the city planning commission. “Ideally, it is a building that’s our goal.”

“I hope that we can get something that is valuable to the community and can generate taxes and benefits everybody. Parking lots don’t generally generate taxes the way that buildings do.”

Amy Beeghly, president of the Greensburg Business and Professional Association, has several off-street parking spaces at her business, Beeghly and Company Jewelers on South Main Street. But many other downtown merchants rely on public on-street or lot space to accommodate shoppers.

She believes there is enough parking available to support downtown businesses, including spaces along Pennsylvania Avenue that aren’t always occupied. But she noted parking may not meet visitors’ expectations for convenience.

“It’s kind of frustrating,” she said. “I think people have come to expect parking right in front of a business. They forget that they also have to walk when they park at a Walmart.”

Beeghly said the merchants “would love to have free parking during the month of December.” But she noted the city’s past efforts to do so were thwarted when downtown workers moved into parking spots near stores, making it even more difficult for shoppers to gain access.

Councilman Gregory Mertz said the city several years ago tried free holiday season parking from 1 to 4 p.m. weekdays, hoping to provide shoppers a window of opportunity to take advantage of free spaces. “But it didn’t work out,” he said.

He said council since has supported downtown holiday events, including a luminary night, by sponsoring carriage rides. “The children and families seem to enjoy it,” he said. As for alternative holiday parking options, he said “We’re open to any ideas.”

In an attempt to keep on-street parking spaces available during the weekday, the city has designated eight color-coded zones, with parking limited to two hours in each zone.

In 2016, the city introduced a Meter Feeder smartphone app that allows motorists to pay parking fees electronically instead of with coins. It is supposed to provide a push notification when time on a meter is about to expire.

When paid by coins, metered parking costs 25 cents for 15 minutes. After 5 p.m. weekdays, parking is free in most public spaces in town, but not in the Bell garage.

In 2021, Greensburg parking fees, leases and fines generated about $1.7 million, with $1.2 million transferred for use in the general fund.

Going forward, the city no longer will receive revenue from the J. Edward Hutchinson Parking Garage, next to Excela Westmoreland Hospital. The garage was closed in December after officials determined $2.5 million in needed repairs would extend the structure’s life for no more than five years.

Before the covid-19 pandemic, Greensburg received $139,000 in revenue from the garage, which was used to buy police vehicles and firetrucks. The city has taken out a $1 million loan to make up for that lost revenue and raised taxes by 1 mill this year to help pay off the loan.