Letters to the Editor

+ Parking meter placement defies commonsense
Dear Editor:
One has to wonder what kind of science or logic the City Commission and staff used to decide where and how many parking meters to place in each area. Commonsense would dictate that if meters are good for an area, they are good for all areas. If they are bad for an area, they are bad for all areas. 

Our city believes that meters are bad for St. Armands, Burns Court, the Rosemary District, Hillview-Osprey, Marina Jack and Newtown. They are, however, good for three blocks of Main Street — 1300 to 1500 — but not good for 1600 to 1900, and then good again for the 2000 to 2002 blocks. (They are) good for one block of Central Avenue, but not the rest. Good for two blocks of Palm Avenue, but not the rest. Good for two blocks of Pineapple Street, but not the rest.

They built a downtown garage and then left out an entrance or exit on the downtown side. There’s no elevator on the southeast side of the garage. (It’s) 260 yards from the middle of the garage to the corner of Main and Palm, and that does not put anyone in a business; it just gets them to the corner, and then they have to do the reverse to get back to their car.

As long as my family has been in business in this area, more than 60 years, the season for the food and beverage industry has been 100 days and 100 nights. Our City Commission has now decided that high season runs from Nov. 1 to May 1 — 180 days — and parking meters should be at a higher rate for this period. I don’t know how they came up with these dates, but I do know that December is the second-worst month in the restaurant business right behind September.

Looking for answers and sanity, (you) certainly cannot get any from City Hall.
Kenny Barr
Sarasota