HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/7/2023 Item 6a, Fouhy
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:Downtown Parking
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Hi,
Thank you for taking the time to read my email. I am sure you have received many regarding this issue. I want
to state that I realize that parking is not free. I do understand that in order to build this new structure on the
corner of Palm and Nipomo, we have to fund it somehow. I do however feel that there were too many negative
changes at one time. Parking spots are continuously reassigned to new purposes. Curbs are painted over time
and time again. Can I park in the gray? What happened to the yellow here? Why can’t I park in these meters
now? It’s frustrating as a consumer. The 1 hour free to residents in one structure feels so strange. Why not just
have 1 hour free in all but one structure? Or in every structure? Don’t we want people parking in the
structures? I don’t want to have to get some weird permit to park for an hour on Palm. I want to feel valued as
a local. Let all locals park for an hour in all structures. As the holidays approach, I plan to shop in cute
downtown Atascadero or Paso. It’s so much easier to park! It’s more pleasant to walk around.
The crux of the issue is that I, someone who has worked downtown in retail for years (11 at Pottery Barn, 2 at
Ambiance) no longer enjoy circling around and around the block hoping to find a spot to then pay $4/hour.
Getting my hair done now costs an additional $12 at Tigerlily because of parking. I’ve thought of finding a salon
away from downtown.
My friends and I don’t meet downtown for lunch anymore. It’s too hard to get in and get out. We drive around
looking for parking, then freak out if we miss the window to add to our metered parking or we have to move our
car after 2 hours of lunch and shopping. We now choose to go to Papa’s Thai, Petra, Laguna Grill,
Taste…anywhere but downtown. It’s just too much of a hassle.
I try to support downtown business, but it’s easier for me to shop on-line and less cumbersome to return things.
The number one reason is the parking. I am lucky, I am 10 blocks from downtown so I often walk, and I know
that’s what we want people to do, but honestly, I’d like the option to drive in a day when I am getting my hair
cut and then have to get my kids from Laguna middle school. I am one person, but most of my friends feel the
same way. We could go downtown to eat and shop, but we prefer not to now. This feeling is new. We have not
always felt this way. Everything is so expensive now from food to gas and this just adds a layer that makes it
feel less easy to say “let’s go downtown.”
I know they say 70% of downtown fees are paid by people from out of town, but it doesn’t feel that way. It feels
like those of us who are downtown often, because we live here, are the ones paying for the majority of the
parking. For young people who are walking blocks to their car after working downtown into the evening, it
doesn’t feel safe lately for them to walk to their free or 10 hour parking spots due to increased interaction with
the homeless population.
We need to make some changes back in the other direction. It’s too much change too quickly in a time when
every daily need and service is increasing in price.
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Thank you for your consideration,
Dana Fouhy
Sent from my iPhone
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