Important Parking Update

Good afternoon, New Eden family. 

Please take a few moments to read through the following information regarding our parking situation on Sunday mornings.

THE SITUATION

As you might have noticed, parking can be a challenge on certain Sundays. Part of this is because our building has no private parking spots.

Currently, no downtown businesses are open on Sunday mornings, so parking from customers and patrons has never been an issue. When parking is full on Bank St, it is typically due to other churches using those spots.

To save their main parking lot for their guests, First Baptist Church shuttles their regular attenders and volunteers from Bank St, which has sometimes resulted in Bank St parking being full by the time our gathering starts. This has not been intentional, and Pastor Blake Kersey from First Baptist has has expressed that they want to do everything they can to avoid taking parking spots directly near our building.

THE SOLUTION

Because we don’t own any parking spots downtown and because we have tried to avoid appearing territorial, we have avoided designating spots for New Eden parking.

However, we have now decided to invest in signage to clearly request that certain areas be reserved for New Eden on Sunday mornings. First Baptist (and other downtown churches) have welcomed this approach and said it would help them more clearly communicate to their attendees.

So, starting this week, you will see designated areas marked with some temporary signage on Sunday mornings.

The areas we will be designating are (1) on the west side of Bank St (facing our building), (2) on either side of Lafayette St, and (3) in the back parking lot of the City Center (entrance off of Lafayette St).

*If you park in the City Center lot, please start by using the spots facing the fence, and please be mindful of the residents. They have graciously allowed us to use their private parking lot on Sunday mornings, and we want to be good neighbors to them. The biggest issues they have had in the past were noise complaints and running through the parking lot when elderly residents are outside walking.

We also request that the 6 parking spots directly in front of our building be reserved for the elderly or disabled, expecting or new moms, and visitors. (We are working on getting signage for these spots as well.) *If you do not fall into any of those categories, you are more than welcome to pull in those spots to drop off your family or spouse, but please use one of the other areas to park your car.

Below is a map to help visualize the parking areas we will request for New Eden.

Also, keep in mind that all downtown public parking is available to you, not just the areas we will designate. You are more than welcome to park across the street if it is available (though you might have a First Baptist shuttle try to pick you up 😂).

We thank each of you for being flexible and working with us as we work toward solutions. We’re grateful for your patience. If you have any questions about anything, please email Joel McCarty at joel@newedenchurch.org.