HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-01-2020 Public Comment - D. Horne - Parking Benefit DistrictsFrom: Diane Horne
To: Agenda
Subject: [SUSPICIOUS MESSAGE] Public Comment on Ordinance 2033
Date: Sunday, March 1, 2020 4:10:01 PM
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Public Comment on Ordinance 2033 to Establish a Downtown Parking District and Benefit
Parking Zones.
My name is Diane Horne, and I reside at 205 N. Bozeman Ave. While my residence is within
the B3 zone, the opposite sides of the streets (both to the north and east) are in the proposed
map for the Downtown Parking District. Our home is mixed-use commercial as required by
B3 zoning. We live on the top floor, and my husband’s private counseling business is on the
main floor; this includes two mental health-counseling offices, with a professional counselor
as a tenant in the second office. Clients arrive on the hour during weekday business hours.
Furthermore, we have a tenant in our basement apartment. As you can imagine, parking can be
difficult at times, and will only become more difficult with the completion of The Merin
Having lived in this neighborhood for many years, I can assure you that all-day commuter
parking is what causes parking shortages, not the residents themselves, nor short-term
downtown patrons. So why include commuter passes in these benefit-parking zones, while
limiting resident permits to two per building? First, offer FREE resident and visitor permits
for every adult in the zone, both owners andtenants, and then extend paid permits to
commuters if space is left. It’s bad enough that you want to charge people to park in their
own neighborhoods, but why deny residents space in front of their own homes to make room
for commuters who could just go park in the downtown garage, which the parking director
admitted at the Feb 3rd
meeting that he cannot get commuters to use?
The worst parking issues are not within the outlying neighborhoods in the proposed downtown
parking management district, but within the B3 zone. Adoption of Parking Benefit zones that
allow commuters to purchase parking permits will only exacerbate the already problematic
shortage of parking for residents and businesses within the B3 during business hours. Why
would commuters pay big bucks for a permit in a parking benefit zone, when they can just
park in the B3 zone for free?
Until you can provide specifics that show that these so-called “Benefit” Parking zones will
actually produce any real benefits for downtown residents, this ordinance should not be
adopted. From what I can see, the only benefit will be to the city in the fees collected so that
people can keep parking where the are already parking. I’m at a loss to understand how
collecting money from people so they can park in their own neighborhoods will remedy the
problem of commuters overtaking our parking. In fact, I predict that adoption of this
ordinance will only make matters worse, but I suppose that doesn’t matter as long as the city is
making money off it. It’s truly disheartening to know that we have no real say in how our
beloved neighborhoods are managed.
I urge you NOT to adopt Ordinance 2033 at this time.
Thank you for your time.
Ms. Diane L. Horne