Businesses and the City

I have fielded a lot of questions lately about the City’s role in enforcement of current ordinances.

As in all government, there are laws on the books that for one reason or another are not being followed.

First, how did those ordinances become ‘law’?

If a city ordinance forbids spitting on the sidewalk there was undoubtedly a reason some past council thought it necessary to address.

Second, does it apply today? If not, it should be modified, removed or replaced.

Third, if an ordinance is applicable and needed, how should we enforce it and to what extent?

These principles apply not only to ordinances, but city policy as well. The mayor puts policies in place to make day-to-day operations run smoothly, but more than that there are certain issues that need a decision.

Policies are therefore more versatile and can be shorter term. They are common sense rules that can be adjusted as needed.

So, what are current issues that need to be addressed? One is the multitude of complaints I get about downtown parking.

Business employees park in front of other businesses to keep their store accessible and those other businesses park their vehicles in front of the business that clogs up their access.

As a result, both business owners are mad at the other, and employees often argue or complain to the city.

I’ve been asked to create special 10 minute parking spaces, a two-hour limit in the entire downtown, install parking meters, or hire additional staff to chalk tires and write parking tickets.

None of those things make sense to me, so my “policy” is to ask all businesses to be considerate of each other.

Folks regularly approach people parking on the public street to tell them it’s their spot and “don’t park here”. Seriously?

There are two obvious solutions. Those business owners can ask their employees to park off the main street; or the city can enact unwanted rules that are distasteful and expensive to enforce.

I’m asking everyone to consider other business owners and please not force the city to make things unpleasant for those who don’t care about others.

We all struggle too hard to promote downtown businesses. Is it too hard to walk a block to work?