The proposed parking plan for next year's Arts Dockside includes a barrier running from the driveway island to the north corner of the marina building, blocking off 13 paved parking spots and the nearby grass and gravel lot for registered boater use only. A marina employee will be stationed at this entrance during special events to give boaters information and let them in and out of the lot. Overflow parking will be offered at the city's lot on Spring Street across from the Bell office complex. Parking spaces marked here as "red spaces" will be painted red before summer next year, and will be reserved outside of special events for registered boaters and their guests, who will be given a red sticker or tag. (Photograph by Dave Kunze) The St. Ignace City Marina will be changing its parking configuration and communication efforts to boaters during special events in response to several complaints the city received about a lack of parking for marina guests.

"The boaters were sick and tired of being pushed out of their parking spaces for the fifth time this year," said Donna Pope, one of the Arts Dockside organizers during the Tuesday, September 8, City Council meeting. Arts Dockside on Labor Day weekend was the most recent of several festivals and events to take place on or near the marina grounds this summer.

Marina Director Gene Elmer and Harbor Master Jeff Davenport both dealt with eight complaints after Labor Day weekend, and Mr. Davenport said there has been some unhappiness about parking during special events from boaters for many years.

"It just escalated over the years and came to a peak," he said. "These people just had enough. A couple of them said they were not going to be coming back because of it."

Five seasonal boaters who threatened to leave the marina and never come back have changed their minds, Mr. Elmer said, after he assured them there would no longer be a problem with parking and dock access for marina guests. Losing this handful of boaters would cost the marina about $10,000 each year, he said, something the city entity cannot afford as it struggles with a budget deficit and repaying its construction debt.

Mr. Elmer said he received one complaint the weekend of Arts Dockside from a boater who had also lost his parking spot during the St. Ignace Car Show. During the car show, he was told to move to the city's back-up lot on Spring Street, where a state trooper told him he couldn't park there, either.

Mr. Elmer has since given his cell phone number to that boater and others who complained, telling them to call him if anyone tells them they can't park in that lot.

"That will never happen again," he said.

The reason boaters are so upset that events have blocked them out of the lot is because many of the marina's seasonal guests live on their boats for the summer and see their boats and the marina as a home away from home, Mr. Davenport said.

"It's almost like someone rented your driveway out," he said. "They feel like they're being put out. They were very upset."

A compromise was reached with Arts Dockside organizers during the Tuesday, September 15, Harbor Authority meeting, during which it was decided to hold 13 parking spots and the gravel and grass lot belonging to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) at the northwest corner of the marina exclusively for boaters during the annual event. A fence will be run from the landscape island separating the in and out driveways to the marina building and a marina employee will be placed at this entrance to allow only those with the marina parking sticker into the blocked-off portion of the lot.

About 20 boaters' vehicles can be fit into the gravel and grass lot between the marina and Ace Hardware, Mr. Elmer said, and there will still be room there for trucks to load and unload the privately owned ferry Polaris, which moors on the north side of the marina's main dock.

Mr. Elmer said holding this blocked-off area for marina use will also enhance safety, since it will provide a clear lane in case an emergency vehicle needs to drive onto the dock, something that would not have been possible if festival booths were placed in this area.

Losing this real estate at the northwest area of the marina will be a challenge for the Arts Dockside event, Mrs. Pope said. Eight booths are usually positioned in the zone the marina plans to take for boaters, and vendors park in the DNR lot that will also be reserved for boaters, Mrs. Pope said.

"We don't know how that's going to work for us," she said. "That would put a little cramp in our style."

Mrs. Pope said the Arts Dockside organizers will meet before the end of the month to discuss the new parking plan and evaluate its feasibility.

Going into the meeting, Mr. Elmer was asking for 35 of the regular parking spots, which would stretch almost halfway across the lot. The compromise will give marina guests 33 spots in the lot and in the gravel and grassy area next to it, and extra parking will be available at the city's Spring Street lot.

The marina parking lot is used wholly or partially for six events each summer, the Yooper Motorcycle Show in May, Antiques on the Bay and the St. Ignace Auto Show in June, Fish Feast in July, Bayside Music Festival in August, and Arts Dockside in September. Two of these events had not impacted parking there previously, as the marina was a new location for the motorcycle show this year and the music festival is a new event. The Fish Feast is in only its second year.

Parking changes for the other yearly events have not been made yet, Mr. Elmer said.

Mr. Davenport said issues with parking at these other events will be dealt with one by one prior to the date of the event next year.

Owing to a suggestion from Mr. Davenport, when the parking lot is re-sealed for next summer, 35 spots at the northwest end of the marina will be painted red and reserved for registered boaters, who will receive a red tag or sticker when they arrive. These parking spaces will be for their use outside of special events.

A big part of the problem, according to council member Paul Fullerton, is that there was a lack of communication between the marina staff and boaters about what their parking and loading options were during special events.

"The biggest complaint I heard was that no one had provided them with alternatives," Mr. Fullerton said. "The boaters don't know because nobody told them."

To combat this problem, Mr. Elmer said a marina staff member will be placed at the north driveway during special events, allowing those with red stickers and tags to park there and instructing boaters on where they can load, unload, and park their vehicles.

Mr. Davenport said boaters could be updated on the changes in parking policy in the newsletter sent out with contracts for seasonal boaters each spring.

"I am sure Gene will put that in there," he said.

Boaters don't have a problem with the events themselves, Mr. Davenport said, but it is important to keep these city customers happy by giving them a place to park and, most importantly, a way to load and unload close to the marina dock.