Parking downtown: love it or hate it?

Here is a contest of parking for you. How much money does the city of San Rafael that parking meters and downtown parking citations?

The answer may surprise you. It is "no."

Parking services -City, parking, agency functions as an "enterprise fund," said on its website as follows: "[A] ll of our proceeds go to support our services. Being completely self-sufficient, not provide money for not taking money from the General Fund of the City. "

That means that the entire center of the buyers fork over the money in fees and fines for parking meters do not pay for improvements in quality of life of local residents, but only pay for the parking department.

According to parking services budget for fiscal year 2009-10 the majority (more than half the department about $ 4. 2 million in revenue was again the lion, the payment of wages and benefits for people who empty the meters, walk in MeterMaid-mobile to make entries and manage the people who empty the meters to turn in themetermaid- phones.

Another large part (almost one third was for "supplies and services," and more than 10 percent (about $ 500,000 went to pay the huge parking lot at Third and C.

According to Parking Manager Vince Guarino, the state also takes its cut: $ 12.50 for parking violations, for court costs associated.

Guarino says that current revenues will soon be insufficient to maintain parking facilities operating on a self-sustaining. "We have large capital investments for equipment, as well as new meters and pay stations and facilities that come in the next two to five years."

As said Parking Services has proposed a number of options to increase revenue to the city of San Rafael Council. That means more expensive meters or more expensive parking tickets, or both, could be coming to downtown.

Unless … What happens if I only got rid of parking services? If the meters and tickets do not contribute to the municipal coffers, making it good for?

The answer is "turn-over," a theoretical concept to support the downtown merchants. Imagine the fourth street had no parking rules, and someone parked in front of his store at 8 am and did not leave until 5 pm lost guests throughout the day.

That's why communities of Sausalito to Novato Marin all deadlines established in the downtown parking generally and two hours. But meters are another matter. San Rafael, Mill Valley and Sausalito use. Corte Madera, Larkspur, San Anselmo, Fairfax and Novato no.

Presumably, if two hours of parking encourages turn-over two hours of parking meters further encourages more turnover. One would think that business owners who want the highest turnover, but also between the fourth street traders, opinions are divided.

John Godsey, owner of Fourth Street Press, falls into the "m as a necessary evil" of the field.

"There is no easy answer for downtown parking," he says. "When we have free parking at Christmas, people-employees, including business owners, park right in front of your business, tie up all the parking for customers, and since it was free, will be there all day. "

"It sounds good when you say" free parking "" continues, "but then you ask people," Could you take advantage of street parking? And say, 'No, no spaces, "and what have achieved? "

Godsey in favor of maintaining the meters, but to encourage business owners to be proactive in helping clients avoid fines for having the meter change, informing them about the best options for parking or even offering to control the timing of customer trade and warn them that if they are in danger of expired meters.

Joel Eis, owner of the library rebound with his wife, Toni, has a contrary view.

"If you really do the math," he says, "if there was free parking to encourage people to stay and make purchases, the amount of sales tax that [the city] we get from people feel more comfortable going Shopping is more than the money that makes the meters. This is why malls have free parking. "

Eis think that the meters do not work from any perspective. "From the standpoint of creating an environment where small businesses can compete with the malls, by creating the essence of village life, which is to slow down, relax and shop, the parking meter is disagree with that, "he says. "And from the opposite side, which is rapidly advancing, it does well, because if you already have your list of things to do, and move along quickly and that only feed the meter so that they will leave you alone. "

Eis which leads to the conclusion that the concept of metro has outlived its usefulness. "I can see no possible reason to save," he says. "You do not what to do. Period."

"We do not like the m," says Toni.

With or without meters, all day parking for employees of the center remains a universal concern. Parking services offers several solutions to this problem: the card monthly frequency Parker and Parker card offer reduced rates in the garages, and all day (10 hour meters are available in nine different locations in the center.

Meanwhile, what about bike racks? The West End of them succeeded, but the core of properties across the section between D Street and Highway-just two, both about the same place (in the gymnasium of a meridian and next to San Rafael Joe.

Whatever the answer might be, it seems everyone agrees the status quo can be improved. Assessing the current situation, Broken Drum Smallback director Matt sums it up: "As garages go, I think they are great, but nobody uses them. As for parking on the street is brutal, brutal.

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