Warsaw Traffic Safety Commission denied a request for parking to be increased from two to three hours in the city lot during its meeting Wednesday.
The city lot is in the northeast corner of Jefferson and Buffalo streets in downtown Warsaw.
The request for the three-hour parking in the city lot came from Giverny Fitness and Expressions Day Spa & Salon.
The businesses felt they needed to increase the parking by an hour to better accommodate their customers. The city lot is directly south of Giverny Fitness and the salon.
The vote was 6-1 with commission member Dan Hampton making the motion to deny the three-hour parking, and Steve Foster seconded the motion.
Commission members Jerry Patterson, Dan Robinson, Greg Schroeder and Jeremy Skinner also voted to deny the three-hour parking.
Commission member Kip Shuter was absent during Wednesday's meeting, and commission member George Clemens voted against denying the three-hour parking request.
"There are people like Giverny Fitness and the day spa that come in and spend hundreds of thousands of dollars turning an eyesore into a beautiful thing downtown and all they are asking for is three-hour parking," Clemens said.
Hampton said he has talked to downtown merchants who have indicated a disgruntlement about employees using two-hour parking reserved for customers, and if it is extended that would give the employees another hour to park.
During Tuesday's meeting, Kim Arnold, parking enforcement, said there are currently 25 non-rented parking spaces that can be rented in the city lot for $15 per month.
She also said there is free parking behind the license branch south of the railroad tracks where parking is not limited to two hours.
There also is free parking in the lot south of the Presbyterian Church on Indiana Street, Arnold said.
There are 68 two-hour parking spots in the city lot, five are handicapped and 28 are two-hour parking spaces available for rent.
Arnold said from January 2010 to Nov. 17, she has issued 135 tickets to people parking over the two-hour limit in the city lot.
Out of those tickets, 47 of them were single-issued tickets, and 88 were for people who received more than one parking ticket. The ticket is $10 and it is $15 per month to rent the space in the city parking lot.
Foster said the downtown merchants will be made aware of the parking areas that can be rented and those that have free parking.
In other business, street superintendent Lacy Francis said yield signs have been installed on Dubois Drive.
