Chillicothe — Downtown parking needs some more tweaking a few years after parking meters were installed, and a Chillicothe Council committee is working on it.
That was the message from Tiffany Baldwin, the program manager of Downtown Chillicothe Inc., representing downtown businesses. She sat in on the Development Committee meeting chaired by Greg McKeever on October 20th, 2025. (Hear her in her own words in the below video interview.)
McKeever had requested action in January (see his letter below), and his committee first met on the issue on August 6th. He said they want to have one more meeting – hopefully within two weeks – and then council will have legislation they can start to take action on.
Baldwin explained that “Downtown Chillicothe” meets quarterly to hear from businesses to get opinions or suggestions for improvements. In January, they discussed enhancing and modifying street parking.
Baldwin said the metered parking has not turned over enough, and businesses do not want drivers to take over parking spots indefinitely. She said that is why meters were installed recently…a few decades after they had been removed.
So, she said Downtown Chillicothe recommended to add hours of enforcement, add more meters to create more metered parking, but also add two more 10-minute “to go” spots for to make it easier to pick up food from restaurants.
Baldwin said the plan is to install and replace meters as the city budget allows, since there is no money for that right now. They are trying to get city code changed so they will not need to go back to this discussion when there is money.
She said new the meters should be updated to be able to use charge cards; the current meters accept payment from only coins or a smart phone app.
Council also discussed tax reimbursements to taxpayers in the “committee of the whole,” before sending it to a specific committee to further work it out…before it also appears before council as legislation to vote on.
Apparently, yesterday’s internet problems persist – find the interview video at: https://youtu.be/3nuIOK7Wr2M
Greg McKeever, Development Committee chair in Chillicothe Council, requested an assignment on downtown parking meters:
