Comments on: Does 315 W. Ponce Need A Parking Contingency Plan?

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 30 May 2008 12:15:05 +0000

Hey, Scott, like I said, take to the people who can make it happen.

By: Scott

Scott — Fri, 30 May 2008 05:38:05 +0000

I agree that an administrative redefinition of duties for the PALS squad seems like a pretty small deal if that’s all that prevents the neighborhood folks from maintaining the quality of life they’re used to. It certainly beats shelling out $20,000 a space for parking that’s not actually necessary.

By: Steve

Steve — Fri, 30 May 2008 01:35:00 +0000

Re: previous comment about Decatur PD having dedicated folks working parking violations (PALS). The PALS are actually part of Decatur Downtown Development Authority working under a Memorandum of Understanding with the PD. They are only authorized to issue meter violations and nothing else. They cannot issue citations for No Parking zones, Resident Parking violations, etc. My suggestion is to approach your City Commissioner about expanding their scope and size if you want them to enforce other regulations.

By: Scott

Scott — Thu, 29 May 2008 23:40:58 +0000

The scope of this thread keeps pointing out the obvious: we are faced with a program management challenge, not a supply problem. We have established that Decatur visitors can park legally without much problem — sometimes free, sometimes for a fee. However, keep in mind that there is no such thing as Free Parking. Someone always pays. Sometimes it’s the property owner; sometimes it’s the taxpayer; sometimes it’s the person parking the car. If you don’t like the price of the products you purchase reflecting the “free parking” you used, or if you don’t like the idea of your tax dollars subsidizing drivers, then payment by the driver is the fairest way to go.

Regardless, it’s not the point here. The point is that if the adjacent neighborhood’s existing resident-only parking ordinance were enforced effectively, all this back and forth would simply vanish. And it’s not an unreasonable requirement in development circles for the developer of the project in question to play a part in making that happen.

Finally, let’s neuter the argument that Decatur PD has bigger fish to fry. The city has an existing infrastructure in place to enforce parking: the PALS folks. They are more cost effective and easier to source and train than a police officer. All we need to do is increase the size of the PALS staff and have dedicated enforcers working the neighborhood between 11am and 2pm and then from 5pm to 10pm (or so). It would not be unreasonable to require the developer to subsidize this staff cost.

Why is everyone shouting positions instead of working on solutions? Seems like a good way to get nowhere.

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 29 May 2008 21:05:54 +0000

Just looked at that link Wardell and both the courthouse and the Maloof parking decks (representing probably close to 1,000 spots) are FREE after 5PM.

Maybe the city needs to do a better job of directing folks to park there.