Southern Pines tackles parking and vandalism

The first order of business for the Southern Pines Town Council on Tuesday was to receive a $16,000 check from the local pickleball club. The donation was to help cover the cost of new pickleball courts.

Moving from pickleball to parking, the council addressed many parking issues facing the downtown area. One project under consideration is extending the one-way nature of SW Broad Street. The plan, as discussed, would extend the one-way portion of the street as far as Hatchet Brewing Company. The Town also discussed possibly doing the same for SE Broad Street near Gully’s Garden Center. 

The project would provide an additional 140 angled and parallel parking spots. Another advantage for the Town would be that Broad Street is scheduled as part of this year’s North Carolina Department of Transportation projects, whereby the state would pay for the repaving. Potentially, this could leave the Town responsible only for the cost of the paint and labor to stripe the parking spots.

The project would extend the downtown area to almost Morganton Road, Red’s Corner and the banks. It would fit with the Town’s long-term plan to link more of Southern Pines to the downtown area. The project would extend the Town’s bicycle routes and change the downtown traffic flow. 

According to Town Manager Reagan Parsons, one challenge of angled parking is the number of large pickups in Town, as the spots are small for oversized vehicles.

The Skaters for Moore project to build a skating park was discussed in the council round table discussion. During a past council meeting, Southern Pines offered the use of town land at Memorial Park for a skating park and would provide the upkeep. They also authorized a $50,000 donation to build the skating park. Now, both Aberdeen and Pinehurst are considering supporting the park. Additionally, there are grants available that could help fund the project.

Also discussed were problems with vandalism at the Town’s parks and the recently completed swimming pool. After discussing this at length, including many of the issues associated with this, including the fact that many of the perpetrators are juveniles, the Town is considering meeting to let the community know of their challenges and solicit input for a possible solution.

The next Town Council Business Meeting is Tuesday, July 11, at 6 p.m. It will be held at the Douglas Community Center on West Pennsylvania Ave.

~Written by Sandhills Sentinel reporter Chris Prentice.