Public Comment, Town of Palm Beach Admin
admin
over 1 year ago
Received via mail 10.23.23:
Dear Members
I was very frustrated and disillusioned when I left todays meeting. I was one of many residents who were so grateful to The Council for hiring consultants, bringing the residents together to solve our parking issues in an expeditious and fair manner. What I heard today suggested, there was no sense for immediacy. There was more concern about the design parking stickers, than creating great a program with a substantial result that could be implemented in a timely manner, benefiting a majority of permanent residents.
Allowing residents to purchase prepaid parking, as an alternative to using an APP, does nothing to anything to increase the amount of parking available to residents. The only thing the prepaid stickers do is allow you to pay for parking, more quickly. I readily agree it may be of use to seniors residents who struggle with the App. It does nothing to alleviate the limited amount of parking for residents to enjoy their island home.
The consultants, on their own, mentioned the overwhelming amount a streets with resident permits, in key parts of town. They noticed how many of these spaces were unused during high season. Someone at the meeting today, said these permits are "a law". I am struggling with that. It might be many things, but it is not a law. There must be some way to alter that permit program so more residents have access to parking. The streets near Bethesda by the Sea, are altered to allow parking anytime you are in the church. So, there is a precedent to make changes on the other streets. This option does not take anything away from the residents who already have it. It simply enables more residents to use parking that is not currently being used. It is very inaccurate to say the residents who live on "Resident Only" parking streets do not have other parking. 30 residents walked the streets with these restrictions. With the exception of the rental building on Hammond and Worth, every residence on these streets has at least one parking space. We met with one resident who said she needed the street space for her housekeeper. She has a home with four spaces. Why couldn't her housekeeper park in one of them? Why are these residents allowed to buy eight stickers?
Have you considered a two tiered parking sticker program for town residents? One sticker that allows parking in designated park mobile spaces without the use of the App. A second more expensive sticker option, that allows all residents to buy a sticker to access all the streets in town, including Resident Parking only streets. This could be a benefit to residents who live in various areas of town to enjoy restaurants, shopping, beaches and visiting friends and family. As well as business owners who are as frustrated with the lack of parking for customers.
I remember this town when there were very few permit only streets. As I recall, the street owners simply requested to be a permit parking street. I have never heard of any street that was denied. Over the years, homes that did not have onsite parking have created them. Or when the home was torn down, the new home added garages and parking. The discriminatory system is obsolete. It should have been corrected as part of the overall parking problem.
Respectfully,
Denise
Received via mail 10.23.23:
Dear Members
I was very frustrated and disillusioned when I left todays meeting. I was one of many residents who were so grateful to The Council for hiring consultants, bringing the residents together to solve our parking issues in an expeditious and fair manner. What I heard today suggested, there was no sense for immediacy. There was more concern about the design parking stickers, than creating great a program with a substantial result that could be implemented in a timely manner, benefiting a majority of permanent residents.
Allowing residents to purchase prepaid parking, as an alternative to using an APP, does nothing to anything to increase the amount of parking available to residents. The only thing the prepaid stickers do is allow you to pay for parking, more quickly. I readily agree it may be of use to seniors residents who struggle with the App. It does nothing to alleviate the limited amount of parking for residents to enjoy their island home.
The consultants, on their own, mentioned the overwhelming amount a streets with resident permits, in key parts of town. They noticed how many of these spaces were unused during high season. Someone at the meeting today, said these permits are "a law". I am struggling with that. It might be many things, but it is not a law. There must be some way to alter that permit program so more residents have access to parking. The streets near Bethesda by the Sea, are altered to allow parking anytime you are in the church. So, there is a precedent to make changes on the other streets. This option does not take anything away from the residents who already have it. It simply enables more residents to use parking that is not currently being used. It is very inaccurate to say the residents who live on "Resident Only" parking streets do not have other parking. 30 residents walked the streets with these restrictions. With the exception of the rental building on Hammond and Worth, every residence on these streets has at least one parking space. We met with one resident who said she needed the street space for her housekeeper. She has a home with four spaces. Why couldn't her housekeeper park in one of them? Why are these residents allowed to buy eight stickers?
Have you considered a two tiered parking sticker program for town residents? One sticker that allows parking in designated park mobile spaces without the use of the App. A second more expensive sticker option, that allows all residents to buy a sticker to access all the streets in town, including Resident Parking only streets. This could be a benefit to residents who live in various areas of town to enjoy restaurants, shopping, beaches and visiting friends and family. As well as business owners who are as frustrated with the lack of parking for customers.
I remember this town when there were very few permit only streets. As I recall, the street owners simply requested to be a permit parking street. I have never heard of any street that was denied. Over the years, homes that did not have onsite parking have created them. Or when the home was torn down, the new home added garages and parking. The discriminatory system is obsolete. It should have been corrected as part of the overall parking problem.
Respectfully,
Denise