If they can do it, so can we. That was the idea behind a Nov. 5 decision by the Fayetteville City Council to appeal a decision by Georgia Department of Transportation that denied a city request to install angled parking spaces on the Stonewall Avenue side of the old courthouse.

The proposal would add needed parking spaces downtown, doubling the current nine spaces used for parallel parking, according to the council.

Main Street Director Brian Wismer and city Engineer Don Easterbrook in making the request to have the city appeal the GDOT position said downtown merchants were in favor of the new parking alignment. City engineering staff had previously conducted a study showing that moving to angled parking would work.

But the hitch came from GDOT with the agency’s denial of Fayetteville’s proposal. And GDOT calls the shots since the area in question is in the GDOT right-of-way.

Wismer and Easterbrook said city staff have witnessed an identical parking situation in the city of Lawrenceville that establishes precedent. They asked the council to support an appeal directly to the GDOT chief engineer.

Discussion on the issue was brief, with the council voting unanimously to send the appeal letter. Both the city and Main Street will seek a similar letter of endorsement from the Fayette County Commission.

Also at the Nov. 5 meeting, the council agreed with the recommendation of Police Chief Steve Heaton and imposed $500 fines and a warning to four businesses whose employees had been discovered Aug. 7 selling alcohol without a permit.

Representatives of Aldi Foods, La Parrilla Mexican Restaurant and Phillips 66 Food Mart on North Glynn Street were present at the meeting. All apologized and took responsibility for the violation. El Ranchero had no representative at the meeting.

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