Nelsonville Bans Parking on Spring Street

Village board also raises permit fees

The Nelsonville Village Board voted on Monday (Dec. 16) to ban parking on Spring Street, where cars left along the side of Blacksmith Wines leave only one lane for drivers in both directions. 

Mayor Chris Winward said the village needed to “rip the Band-Aid off” concerning the issue, which has created safety concerns for drivers and pedestrians for years. The ban includes an exception for deliveries and will take effect when the village installs signs. 

With one lane blocked, drivers turning onto Spring Street from Main risk collisions with oncoming traffic when they reach the curve where Spring becomes Secor Street. Drivers turning onto Spring also must sometimes wait for cars turning onto Main, said Winward. 

“We’ve kicked the can down the road as far as we reasonably should when we’re talking about public safety,” she said. “There’s a lot of parking on Main Street.” 

Pandemic funding

The trustees voted to designate the remaining $10,000 of the $64,000 the village received from the federal American Rescue Plan Act to costs related to the review of the Village Code. 

Under the rules for funding, municipalities must have their ARPA money obligated via contract or purchase order by Dec. 31 and spent by the end of 2026. Nelsonville spent most of its share on signage to improve safety on Main Street, Winward said. 

Pine Street

Crews have installed drainage pipes on Pine Street, one of the roadways damaged by flooding in a July 2023 storm. Winward said earlier this year that Nelsonville suffered $840,000 in damage on Pine, Bank, Pearl and Secor streets and Healy Road. Healy took the biggest hit, with $250,000 in damage, she said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will cover 75 percent of the costs and the state 12.5 percent, leaving 12.5 percent for the village. 

Pine Street has not had any repairs since 1975, said Winward. “It sucks that it took a FEMA-declared storm to make that happen, but I’m glad that it’s getting fixed the right way,” she said.

Permit fees

The board approved higher fees for construction and plumbing permits and for services such as fire inspections and record searches. 

A permit for new construction will increase from 50 cents per square foot to $10 per $1,000 in building costs for residences and $12.50 per $1,000 for commercial buildings. Permits for interior construction will increase by the same amounts from 40 cents per square foot. 

The board also approved increases for deck permits (40 cents per square foot to $10 per $1,000 in costs), plumbing ($75 to $100), solar panels (15 cents per square foot to 2.5 percent of construction costs) and a basic file search ($75 to $175). 

Some fees, such as for permit applications, were removed because “they didn’t make sense anymore,” said Winward. “Obviously, it means we get more income for the village, but more importantly, building permit requirements are here to protect the homeowner and make sure the work is done right.”