OBERLIN — Everyone agrees: Parking is a nightmare in downtown Oberlin.

But a decision by the Oberlin Planning Commission to require angled parking on West College Street has preservationists and Oberlin College officials upset because it would encroach into the greenery of Tappan Square.

“We are considering at this time a possible appeal,” said Sandra Hodge, the college’s special assistant for community and government relations. “Oberlin has always been concerned with sustainability and green space, and we just do not believe cutting into Tappan Square is part of our mission.”

The college has 30 days to appeal the 4-0 Planning Commission vote, which was taken Jan. 28 and involved the commission rejecting an alternative plan proposed by the college to lease the former Verizon lot north of the post office, said City Manager Eric Norenberg.

Norenberg acknowledged being torn.

“I think the Verizon lot is the better alternative,” Norenberg said.

The issue has everyone talking — and passions are running high, said Greg Tisher, director of Oberlin Main Street/Chamber of Commerce.

“It’s perceived as an incursion into Tappan Square,” Tisher said.

Marilyn Fedelchak-Harley, who chairs the Oberlin Planning Commission, said the goal is to provide more parking downtown and help businesses whose customers have the choice of waiting for a space or walking blocks.

There is now angled parking on the south side of the square in front of popular businesses like The Feve and Bead Paradise, and parallel parking on the north side of West College.

Adding angled parking on the north side of West College would create 15 to 17 more spaces and help make up for 20 parking spaces that were lost due to the construction of Oberlin College’s new Litoff Jazz Studies Building, according to Norenberg.

The Verizon lot would provide about 25 more spaces, Norenberg said.

Fedelchak-Harley said the Planning Commission had some problems with the proposed lease of the Verizon lot because either party could withdraw from the lease with 30 days’ notice.

Like Norenberg, Council President Kenneth Sloane favors the Verizon parking lot and making sure the lease “is bullet-proof.”

But Nicholas Sajka, an employee of the restaurant Tooo Chinoise, said parking is a problem, even for people like him who have stickers to park in the lot in back of the downtown businesses.

He said that lot is used by students and others at the nearby Oberlin Conservatory of Music — as well as shoppers and employees of stores and restaurants.

Contact Cindy Leise at 329-7245 or cleise@chroniclet.com.

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