By GARRETT NEESE

gneese@mininggazette.com

HOUGHTON — Houghton is considering changes to the parking regulations in downtown.

The city council scheduled a public hearing for its July 26 meeting on proposed changes to the city’s parking ordinance.

Within the city’s Central Business District, drivers would be able to park for up to two hours without a permit on Shelden Avenue, up from the current one-hour limit. City Manager Eric Waara said that was done to bring Shelden Avenue in line with the two-hour limits already present for side streets, city parking lots and city parking structures.

Drivers also wouldn’t be able to repark the car on the same block or side streets. It’s been a “perennial problem” with businesses and tenants in the downtown, Waara said.

“They just spot-hop all day, and that’s where a lot of our parking issues or perceived parking issues come from,” he said. “Thirty cars around town routinely do that week in and week out. They were doing it before this summer.”

In other action, the council:

• Heard an update from Waara on the demolition of the Lakeshore Drive parking deck. The main structure of the deck should be done either by the end of this week or the start of next week. The stairwells and incoming ramp will be taken out next week, finishing the overhead work. Waara said there may also be a report coming in the next couple of months on the condition the deck was in, based on findings from the contractor as the deck was being torn down.

“A lot of the observations from the contractor have been that we were not too far off of something critical happening there,” Waara said.

New sidewalk is also being poured on the south side of Lakeshore Drive near the Suomi Restaurant.

• Heard an update from Waara on the city’s discussions with Walmart over the property tax issue. The city has settled the state tax case, and has also reached an agreement in principle on the city’s civil suit. The city was suing Walmart for allegedly breaching a development agreement made when Walmart expanded to a Supercenter in the 2000s.

• Heard an update from Police Chief John Donnelly on the traffic measures taken last month to create more gaps in traffic on Shelden Avenue. Closing Pewabic Street appears to have helped, but a longer-term solution may be needed, he said; eventually, the city may also close Huron Street to traffic from Montezuma Avenue.

• Heard an update from Waara on cleanup work after a one-vehicle crash on the parking deck at Portage Street. The deck was inspected to make sure it did not suffer significant structural damage. MJO cleared away damaged steel and is working on plans for reinstalling the railing.

• Approved Saints Peter and Paul Church’s request to use the Kestner Waterfront Park Bandshell from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday for a free concert.

• Approved $312,678.82 in payments for Danielson Contracting for work on Phase 4 of the city’s water and sewer system improvements.

• Approved $38,077.40 in invoices for Michigan Department of Transportation and U.P. Engineers & Architects for Phase 3 water improvements, plus $10,797.30 for Phase 3 sewer.