Suwon City Signs Eighth Parking-Sharing Agreement with Sahmyung Church

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] Suwon City's parking-sharing initiative continues to expand amid strong support.

The city and Sahmyung Church in Yeongdeungpo District signed a business agreement on parking facility sharing on the 3rd at City Hall to address local parking shortages.

Sahmyung Church is the eighth church to sign a parking-sharing agreement with the city. Since first signing an agreement with Jung-ang Church in Gyodong in January 2018, the city has consecutively signed parking-sharing agreements with Suwon First Church, Suwon Young Lak Church, and Sulkwa Saem-i-inneun Pyeongan Church in Chowon-dong and Young Hwa Church in May of the same year, followed by Pyeongan Church in Homaesil-dong and First Church in March 2019.

Going forward, Sahmyung Church will open 30 parking spaces on its premises free of charge to local residents at night. The city will support facility construction needed for parking lot opening. The project includes paving the parking lot floor and installing security lights, CCTV, and parking control devices. The parking lot will be opened once construction is completed.

The agreement signing ceremony was attended by Suwon Vice Mayor Jo Mu-young and Rev. Kim Seung-joon of Sahmyung Church. Vice Mayor Jo said, "To resolve increasingly severe parking shortages, we must find answers in a 'culture of sharing and collaboration,'" and added, "We are grateful to Rev. Kim Seung-joon for deciding to share the parking lot."

The city's parking-sharing initiative, which began last year, involves opening private parking lots at religious and business facilities to nearby residents. Opening hours vary by facility. The city supports parking facility improvement construction costs.

In addition to the eight churches, the city signed free land lease agreements with LH and KT&G;, creating parking lots from LH-owned land (120 spaces) next to Seyyu Elementary School and part of the KT&G; Suwon Factory site (Dae-yu Pyeong District) in Jeongja-dong (120 spaces).

Through the parking-sharing initiative, the city secured seven shared parking facilities (566 spaces) over the past year. This year, it signed parking-sharing agreements with Seyyu Middle School and Suwon High Court. Over the past two years, the parking-sharing initiative has secured 12 shared parking facilities with a total of 840 parking spaces.

Through the parking-sharing initiative, local residents are alleviating parking shortages to some extent, the city is securing parking space with minimal budget, and parking lot owners are improving facilities with support.

The city continues to increase public parking lots. However, acquiring land and constructing parking lots requires between 70 to 100 million won per space, creating limitations in securing parking space. Creating a 30-space parking lot requires approximately 2.4 billion won. The city is securing parking spaces with minimal budget through the parking-sharing initiative.

Owners of various facilities with 30 or more parking spaces can participate in the parking-sharing initiative. The city determines participation eligibility after investigating parking demand and available opening hours around the application area.