By Lisa Lucas Gardner, J.D. On March 23, 2009 at 11:10 AM
When discussions about downtown parking problems began, an idea about setting time limits seemed to be the solution to the problem. However, somehow the time limit was set at THREE HOURS instead of just an hour or two.
Three hours is way too long and allows the courthouse parkers continue to take up all the spaces. Even the lawyers are still parking in the spaces because they can finish their court appearances & business within that amount of time. I thought the idea was to set a limit where people who werent conducting retail business downtown would be discouraged from taking up the spaces. I cant think of any businesses downtown that people need to spend more than an hour or two to conduct their business.
I was in the post office today and Marvin said that courthouse visitors are still taking up all the spaces on that side of the road. I thought the post office side was going to be 1/2 hour or one hour parking?
Something still needs to be done to correct the problem. I think an hour or two is plenty enough time to park downtown. The judges should send out a memo to all lawyers and courthouse employees suggesting that they park in the lower lot behind the jail (Its funny how they will do whatever they suggest). The town might try putting up signs that say "No Courthouse Business Parking" to encourage people to park behind the courthouse also. Three hours is just way too long and hasnt fixed the problem.