People who own property, operate a business and/or reside on metered streets need a parking permit to access their building, business or residence.  This is common sense.  You can be assured that anyone in this city government who advocates against this is not living with a meter outside their home.

The tenants who live on Broadway, Liberty Street, and Grand Street pay rent and should not have to incur the additional expense for parking in front of their home.  For goodness’ sake, they can’t as much as unload groceries without being subject to a fine. This is ridiculous as parking is a basic amenity given to all other residents and business owners. 

The City Council made exceptions and granted parking permits for people who live on Dubois Street near the hospital, where parking is restricted.  They granted taxi drivers the ability to stand and wait for their next call, in front of the cemetery on Broadway.  They reserve five or six metered spots on Broadway to accommodate those City Hall employees who find the municipal lots full. Additionally, you will often see traffic cones directly in front of City Hall to allocate parking for special visitors or employees of the city.  My question for this city government is, why are the tenants and/or building owners on Broadway, Liberty Street, or Grand Street considered less than anyone else? It’s not bad enough the exorbitant expense this adds for tenants and business owners but we also pay to give free parking to some city employees who may or may not live here. 

The response I received from the government was that there have always been meters on Broadway.  Yes, there have been; however, it was always meant to benefit businesses by moving people along.  It was never meant to be a revenue generator.  The hours used to coincide with the hours of operation for City Hall and included a two-week break during the holiday season and a two-hour daily break at lunch time, to help the many restaurants.   At this point with the extension of longer daily hours plus adding Saturdays, the removal of the lunch time reprieve, removal of the holiday reprieve plus the increase in the cost of fines, this once beneficial policy has become punitive to residents and business owners and a deterrent to business growth in more ways than one. 

Supporting our businesses and residents must be more than a catch phrase to our government officials.  When serious concerns are presented to the city government, it’s incumbent upon them to respond.  These are concerns that I personally addressed to all City Council members plus the ever-evasive city manager months ago. To date I have received no effective response to resolve this issue. 

Again, I say that it’s common sense to provide parking permits to business owners, building owners and tenants who reside on Broadway, Liberty Street, and Grand Street.  I know the council has discussed this very topic. The problem is, like so many other things, it was discussed behind closed doors, which is a true disservice to the people.