Dear Editor,
I am writing to you as a former small business owner in Campbell and Mountain View. You suggest that Mr. Bob Tapella soften his stance regarding his parking policy at Garlic City Billiards.
Why did the city of Gilroy with its traffic and parking know-it-alls create the parking and customer unfriendly environment that exits in the downtown corridor? Are they truly concerned with the downtown plight of the merchants? I think not:
n They continue issue licenses and permits to downtown businesses without requiring parking for their employee’s use or for their customers.
n There is no adequate city parking that is convenient to downtown customers.
n The employees use up most of the street parking and convenient city parking because they do not have anywhere else to park. Where do the customers park?
n Garlic City owner Bob Tapella found out the hard way some 13 or 14 years ago when his lot was being used by everyone for their convenience. People from other businesses used the lot and sometimes created an unpleasant situation for Garlic City’s customers especially when the non-customers thought they had parking rights and confronted Garlic City’s customers.
n Tapella pays for this lot, pays taxes for the lot, pays insurance for the lot, pays for the cleaning and maintenance of the lot, etc.
n Why should other businesses expect that their employees and customers can use the lot? What about just the liability of having an incident when someone isn’t even a customer?
n He summoned the Gilroy Police to bring his lot up to standards with the proper placement of correct signage, proper striping of the lot, etc. to be able to manage the situation. After around $4,000 worth of expenditures, even the police stated that “if no one can understand this signage, I’ll tow the cars myself”. If the signage is not clear now, the person attempting to read it doesn’t understand our language or doesn’t care to abide by the signage and is willing to take a chance by leaving a vehicle there.
Before you write an editorial like you did, why didn’t you come read the signs?
n The editorial suggests Tapella open his lot for the public from 2 to 4pm. What happens when people stay longer? At what point do they become unwelcome? There are only 18 spaces available. The billiard hall has a capacity of over 200. Parking is real valuable. As much as he would like to help his fellow merchants, he doesn’t want to subsidize them by providing free parking for their employees and customers. Perhaps the merchants would contribute towards the cost of maintaining the lot. (cleaning, repairs, striping, insurance etc). Bob does help OD’s restaurant until 2pm each day.
n Now the city has permitted a rehab clinic of sorts next door. Where are the staff and visiting patients going to park? The small city lot adjacent to the clinic is already used up by merchant’s employees and customers.
What happens when the city tears up the sidewalks and streets in the near future? Now where do the rest of the merchant’s employees and customers park?
n Why doesn’t the city require parking for businesses that need parking? There isn’t enough street parking to go around. The city certainly required adequate parking in the new shopping centers – or was it just the knowledge of the businesses that knew parking was a key ingredient of a successful retail business. If the city used the same logic as they did downtown, there would be less than adequate parking, no customers, no employees and no shopping centers. Does the city have downtown at heart? Parking is not everything, but like wheels on a car, you’ve got to have it.
Paul N. Roberts
