Parking Plan Endangered

I'm gonna try to get my blog going on....

The Daily News surprised me a bit this morning with the headline, "Mayor's Parking Plan in Jeopardt." I thought all systems were go for the paid parking plan after the city negotiated agreements with the NRA and Waterfront Trust.

But the council has concerns and I'm not sure they're unfounded. Read them here.

My surprise diminished as I read the article, not only because of the council's stated concerns. I also have my own misgivings.

I do believe we need to charge for parking downtown. We simply are leaving much-needed money on the table by not charging our visitors and residents a reasonable fee to park downtown.

But I never was a fan of Mayor Holaday's inconsistent plan to to charge for parking in the lots while leaving the streets free. Drivers are like water, they'll search far and wide for the path of less resistance (or in this case cost) if its easily available. I felt this plan would lead to increased cruising downtown and excursions into our neighborhoods, which would have led to a hodge podge of resident-only parking restrictions.

I'm not sure why on-street parking wasn't included from the start. I suspect it was a bid to soften any opposition to the plan by assuring residents that they could still park downtown for free, at least on the street. But the overall plan struck me as a half-hearted effort to institute paid parking.

Looking forward to seeing what the full council does.