Old Town Auburn’s problem is as old as the wheel, not enough parking. However, a parking feasibility study done by the City of Auburn suggest there is enough parking in Old Town, there’s just not enough parking enforcement.

Ross Carpenter, co-owner of Serendipity in Old Town and second vice president of the Old Town Business Association is no stranger to the Old Town parking problem.

“We’ve been here 26 years and there’s been a parking problem from day one,” Carpenter said. “Over the years with the difference in the make-up of the businesses down here it’s gotten more critical.”

City officials ordered a parking study last year to assess the needs of the Old Town and Downtown business districts. The study came back indicating more parking wasn’t needed, just better parking management, said Councilman Keith Nesbitt.

“It really said we need to work on parking management,” Nesbitt said. “They did not survey Old Town or Downtown at 5 p.m. on Friday or at noon at Friday.”

Nesbitt said he feels overall Auburn needs more parking spaces and the parking study is flawed because they didn’t survey at peak hours.

“Some of the recommendations were good,” Nesbitt said. “But, as long as I see people getting off the freeway circling around getting frustrated and getting back on the freeway I’m not convinced we have enough parking.”

Spaces in Old Town limit cars to three hours in one spot. However, due to budget constraints the Auburn Police Department does not actively enforce the three-hour rule.

Capt. John Ruffcorn said the department’s priority is criminal law enforcement and answering emergency calls, not parking.

“Right now we are not making routine law enforcement patrols as far as parking goes,” Ruffcorn said. “We are enforcing (parking) on an as-needed or complaint-driven basis.”

Ruffcorn said the person in charge of parking enforcement is also in dispatch. With budget cuts dispatch lost a person so parking enforcement gets less attention.

“We have budget issues just like everyone else. We want to, obviously, provide the most efficient and effective police services possible,” Ruffcorn said. “If someone calls 911 we’ll go to that first, prior to a parking complaint.”

Carpenter said it’s not a problem unique to Auburn and it’s not a new problem, but he would like to see it addressed by the city.

“Two things that would help greatly — better (parking) monitoring and getting parking on Brewery lane,” Carpenter said. “That won’t solve the problem but it will be step in the right direction.”

Carpenter hopes to see an employee parking lot go in on Brewery Lane so the owners and employees of Old Town businesses won’t park on the streets, leaving no room for customers. The property on Brewery Lane is owned by the city and there are talks between city officials, business owners and residents about the possibility of turning the vacant lot into about 15 parking spots.

Meadow Vista resident Michelle Balaguy said she visits the Old Town post office because there’s rarely a line.

“I like coming here because the post office is never crowded,” Balaguy said. “But the parking is awful.”