Gilroy
– Police will start issuing $30 tickets to drivers who leave
their cars in downtown parking spaces for more than two hours, as
part of an effort to keep prime spaces available for customers.
Gilroy – Police will start issuing $30 tickets to drivers who leave their cars in downtown parking spaces for more than two hours, as part of an effort to keep prime spaces available for customers.
The two-hour restriction will take effect May 2 and will apply to Monterey Street and its side streets, one block to the east and west. The enforcement area will span the corridor between Sixth and Fourth streets. Parking restrictions will be enforced Monday through Friday between 9am and 6pm, after which residents, shoppers and workers can park without fear of ticketing.
“We’re going to have a community service officer walking the downtown enforcement area and they’re literally going to be chalking tires,” said Gilroy police spokesman Sgt. Jim Gillio. “The officer will come back in a little over two hours to give a little extra time to people with slow watches. If the vehicle is in the same place, they will receive a citation.”
Two-hour parking limits have been posted in downtown for years, but have rarely been enforced. The latest crackdown comes as a remodeled downtown begins attracting new buildings, stores and customers. The gradual recovery from years of decline has also strained relations between City Hall and some downtown employees, whom officials have criticized for hogging prime parking spots needed for customers.
“I guess it makes sense that it’s for the people bringing in business,” said Mercy Barreras, a downtown collection agent whose employer, faced with complaints from the city, is forcing her to use off-street parking by the railroad tracks.
“At the same time, we have to park on the other side (by the railroad tracks),” she said. “It’s not safe at night.”
Pressure from dozens of Barrera’s female colleagues at The Rickenbacker Group convinced city officials to delay a parking crackdown last year. Since then, officials have tried to address safety concerns about off-street parking by installing new lights on side streets and in lots, including the narrow strip of parking along the railroad tracks north of Lewis Street.
Now officials are shifting their energy to preventing prime storefront spaces from being monopolized for hours at a time.
“We need something out there because some of the businesses around here are taking all of our parking,” said Joyce Milla, an employee at Gilroy Bowl on Monterey Street. “Some of our customers who are senior citizens are having to walk two blocks.”
While welcoming parking enforcement, Milla and bowlers at the lanes felt the time limit is too short.
“There’s no way we can be through in two hours,” said Peggy Scudero, an Aromas resident who drives to Gilroy each week for Thursday afternoon league games.
“I would say three hours at least,” she said, adding that many bowlers often stay for a meal and practice after league games.
The bowling alley hosts daytime league play throughout the work week, when parking enforcement will occur.
“I realize there are certain businesses that need more than two hours, but there’s still a lot of places for those customers to use,” City Transportation Engineer Don Dey said. “If somebody is going to park longer, they’re generally willing to walk farther.”
The latest enforcement plan is less severe than initial proposals floated by officials last year. Most significantly, it does not include parking restrictions on side lots to the east and west of Monterey Street (though the two hour limit will apply in a small lot at Fifth and Monterey streets).
In coming months, officials plan to release a parking management study that will detail long-term plans for enforcement and the areas where restrictions will apply. Options include the use of pre-paid parking meters situated at street corners.
To ease downtown employees and others into the enforcement phase, police will hand out warnings – with no fine attached – during a two-week “grace period” starting April 16.
