Bumper Cars Compete For Limited Parking
One of our neighbors and a member of HB Neighbors sent us this posting about parking in front of his house.
Kirk of 11th Street went on to say:
On Saturday my son was leaving to go to a friend’s house and noticed that his left rear taillight was cracked. Parking was crazy early in the morning. There was no available parking and the cars that were fortunate to have a space were jammed so close together they couldn’t safely get out of their spots. Unfortunately this is a common occurrence and people are forced to play bumper cars to get in and out of spaces. My son’s car was damaged as a result. We are not sure what type of vehicle was parked behind my sons Honda Element, but it was high enough to miss the bumper but hit the tail light. Of course after they damaged the car they did not leave a note.
We hung out in the front yard quite a bit Sunday and Monday and witnessed vehicles bump others a few times, cramming both small cars and large SUV’s into the unmarked spots.
Having marked parking spots like 5th & 6th St would prevent most of the damage issues. But we still don’t have enough parking to support all the visitors who want to get to the beach or visit downtown.
For many years the parking problems in the residential area surrounding DTHB has been a problem pushed on to the residents of DTHB. If the City Council is allowed to push through their own agenda of increasing the commercial presence in DTHB, this problem will become much. much worse for the residents. We do not need any increased commercialization in the DTHB area.
Gregg DeLong
Candidate, 2010 HB City Council
The main reason the folks on 11th street have such a problem is because the city allowed the Strand to be built on an existing surface PARKING LOT and our neighborhood lost the approximately 200 parking spaces. Yes, it’s true that the Strand “Parks Itself” as the councilmen kept repeating in the televised council meeting. But they refused to address the lost parking and the impact to our neighborhood. If our council was interested in doing the right thing they would have used the in-lue fees collected to date and they should have built a parking structure on that lot, not a tourist trap. That is all in the past now.
Is there anywhere left to build a downtown parking structure now? Why doesn’t the city buy the old manic motors lot and build parking on that site? Why doesn’t the development-happy council just take the lot by eminent domain and build parking. That lot has been an eyesore for long enough. I’m sure the construction company that the city will contract to build a new structure will contribute heavily to the supporting council members’ future campaigns. I wonder who would be willing to contribute more to their campaigns in the future, the current lot owners who desperately want the DTSP to pass or the construction company contracted to build the new structure? Hummmmmm……who should the city council strong arm next?
Frank Dodd
Marked Parking on the street, meters in the coastal zone and a city funded permit parking program are all things that could and should be done to alleviate parking concerns in the the Downtown. The DTSP failed to put in common sense solutions like this as it would have required work outside the “scope” of the plan. Once I am elected I will work hard to amend the DTSP to lower density and include parking mitigations measures like those listed about to help create a livable area for all the residents in downtown.
Go Gregg & Blair – I wish both of you luck in your campaigns, you both have my vote.