BERLIN, Md. -- Town officials recently announced the town will be opening up a brand-new parking lot near the downtown area. Businesses are hopeful more parking will mean less annoyed customers.
If you walked over to the site of this new parking lot, which will be located at the corner of West Street and Washington Street, all you would see is a snow-capped grassy lot. However, there's more than meets the eye, because for business owner Chauncey Rhodes, the plot of land, in the form of a new parking lot, symbolizes hope.
"Parking has always been a problem and you hear it especially from the customers all the time," said Rhodes. "Even when the town doesn't seem that busy, the parking issue and situations come up."
Rhodes, along with several other business owners, have been beating the drum for more parking for years. Well, it's finally happening, and Rhodes couldn't be more thrilled.
"I think it's a great solution, I mean it's been talked about for about six years now that I remember, and I think it's perfect," said Rhodes.
Berlin's mayor Zack Tyndall told WBOC the goal is to have the new lot open by this summer. Tyndall said because the town just secured the lease for the property, this project is still in its infancy stages.
He was, however, able to send over a few details. According to Tyndall, there is a chance people will have to pay to park in the new lot. He said town officials are exploring potential revenue options for the project and want to make sure it doesn't end up losing money.
At this time, the town doesn't plan on paving over the grassy lot and it's unclear whether or not there will be marked spaces.
Even though all of the details haven't been ironed out, the announcement alone has business owner Michael Ewing standing by with plenty of eager anticipation.
"When we heard the news in the merchant meeting last week we were very excited," said Michael Ewing, a downtown business owner. "It's big news around here and we hope it has an impact and we expect it to."
Berlin will pay for the first two years of the ten year lease with American Rescue Plan Act(ARPA) funds.
