You know what downtown Natchez needs? A little portable-toilet logic.

OK, I know what you&8217;re thinking, that bald-headed fool has lost his marbles as well as his follicles.

Before the preservationists and planning folks string me up by my toes, note I didn&8217;t say downtown needed portable toilets (that&8217;s another column inspired by another urge), but rather the &8220;logic.&8221;

A good friend of mine, Rob Slagel, owns and manages a portable toilet company up in Ohio. And I think he does pretty well for himself and the people he employs, even though the mere thought of a &8220;portable toilet&8221; can conjure up horrid scenes and smells.

I mean, peddling Port-A-Johns is not exactly the kind of thing that causes beautiful women to throw themselves at your feet. In fact, it&8217;s usually good cause for pause as you shake the hand of someone in that business.

But Rob is lucky; in addition to being one of the cleanest folks I know, he also has a beautiful wife, though I never asked if she knew what &8220;business&8221; he was in prior to the wedding vows.

The point is that portable toilets fill a need. Yes, it may be an unsightly need, but it&8217;s still a need. But no one really wants to look at them. They are not pleasant parts of our society, but they&8217;re a necessary evil.

The same could be said about a growing problem in downtown Natchez: no place to park.

It&8217;s a subject that has been debated and discussed for years. Everyone agrees the city needs some serious parking solutions, but no one wants to deal with it or pay for it.

The issue has received a good deal of chatter lately as a number of groups have discussed the issues publicly.

And just in the nick of time. With plans in the works to construct two hotels in or near downtown, the amount of traffic will likely increase significantly.

Before I go any further, it&8217;s time for a brief bit of perspective. Having a parking problem in our downtown is a good problem. Tons of other small towns would kill to have the downtown traffic and commerce that we enjoy.

A couple of issue plague downtown parkers.

First, while I&8217;ve done no research on this, a number of people complain that downtown business owners and their employees park in the primo spots. That&8217;s an issue of communication and enforcement. The city must find a way to enforce the downtown parking regulations already in place and get serious about the fines, too. The current fines aren&8217;t big enough to dissuade a would-be violator.

The second issue: we&8217;re all lazy. Hey, I admit it. I seek out the closest spots to the door, too. It&8217;s almost like a game to us: must find the closest spot. Again, maybe we need a big marketing campaign to explain to locals that walking a bit can improve the community by making it more tourist-friendly.

And finally, we just do not have enough parking spots to handle big crowds.

Someone recently suggested that this newspaper erect signs on the site of our future building (the former A&P site) on Franklin Street.

In fact, we&8217;ve given several groups permission to use the lot recently. We don&8217;t mind doing so at all. But for liability reasons, the lot cannot be a &8220;public&8221; lot, even temporarily.

In addition, we&8217;ll be doing construction work at the site in the coming months, so implying it&8217;s a good &8220;fix&8221; isn&8217;t looking too deeply into the forest.

The problem isn&8217;t going to be solved that easily. More spaces must be built. I&8217;m no parking expert, but have we (as in the city officials) sought out answers from other small, historic communities?

What kinds of solutions did they find from which we can learn?

Other communities, even ones with historic downtown properties with an eye on preservation, must have found ways to build parking garages or lots without destroying the neighborhoods.

Who knows, with a little creative thinking, maybe we can flush away the parking woes forever.

Kevin Cooper

is associate publisher of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3539 or

kevin.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com

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