Ivanhoe Village is no stranger to parking woes. Sandwiched between a lakefront park and a railway, Orange Avenue fronting shops from Swanson’s Ivanhoe Row, to Lucky Lure, and Savoy have been forced to share a dedicated number of on-street parking spots amongst themselves for years. However, with recent road construction in the area, parking has become even scarcer.
The City is juggling a number of infrastructure projects in the area, namely by the intersection of Orange and Virginia. But there is more down the line that will continue to shake things up in the coming months, including the eventual closure of Brookhaven Drive during the construction of The Yard Part Deux.
Now it seems, a longtime option for locals, the large private parking lot owned by Lake Highland Prep is no longer on the table. Event-goers to a recent Ivanhoe Park Brewing Co. Run Club event in late July were greeted by a security guard, who turned them away from the property and wished them the best to find their way out of the maze of detours in the neighborhood.
We reached out to the school multiple times for a statement but never received a response, but according to local businesses and the director of the Ivanhoe Village Main Street, Allex Englett, a change in campus leadership has led to a change in how the lot is being operated.
According to the Mayor’s Office, there are no written agreements between the city and other entities regarding public parking, and Lake Highland Preparatory is under no agreement to share its property with local businesses.
As it stands, campus security seems only to be onsite to deter public parking when there is a larger community event happening nearby, like at The Hammered Lamb, Gnarly Barley, The Hideaway, or Ivanhoe Park Brewing Co.
The lack of parking and the refreshed mobile vending code updates will make it very difficult for businesses in the area to host large-scale events. Code requires a certain amount of parking to be provided for in the case of larger events like food truck pods and code enforcement officers have been actively policing events that spill into the public right-of-way without having an 18-A permit. A permit that requires a parking plan.
Audubon Park Garden District avoided a similar issue just up the street when Audubon Park K-8 was considering closing off its campus to public parking after school hours. Thanks to the cooperation of the local Main Street, Teresa Jacobs, and school reps, who all agreed on providing insurance that would allow for the public use of the parking lot, paid for by Commissioner Robert Stuart.
We’ll be watching Ivanhoe to see if it ends in a similar, happy way.
