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 Parking in Downtown Mobile, AL
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| By : Roy_Pope on 22 Nov 2007 at 01:44:20 pm
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Prior to falling ill with cancer, I was a member of the Parking Committee formed by the Downtown Mobile District Management Corporation (DMDMC). The purpose of the committee was to identify existing and future problems with parking in downtown Mobile, to develop a plan for resolving those problems, and to place that plan into action.
In short, the committee was to solve the ever-present problems with parking in downtown Mobile.
That was in January of 2007. Now, a year later, the exact same problems exist and it doesn't seem as though anything has been done at all to even attempt to resolve them.
The following is a publication that I wrote and presented to the Parking Committee on January 26. It outlines my observations of the parking problems, makes sound and workable recommendations for resolving those problems, and gives brief discussions on the benefits of the recommendations that I made.
I am publishing this here so that you can see that (1) the more serioous problems had been identified a long time ago, (2) answers to our parking problems have been provided to the key people who can get resolutions to them, and (3) that practically nothing has been done so far, though it wouldn't be that difficult to do if people would just stop talking about the problem and get their butts into gear.
OBSERVATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR
A MORE FRIENDLY BUSINESS & ENTERTAINMENT COMMUNITY
Introduction
Problems with parking in Downtown Mobile have existed since long before I opened my business on Dauphin Street in 2001. Unfortunately, they will continue to exist in one form or another for long after I am gone.
This paper was authored to point out some of the currently existing problems with parking in our Business & Entertainment District, both perceived and factual, and to present recommendations to the Downtown Parking Committee on how these problems may possibly be remedied or otherwise dealt with.
Observation #1
Business owners - especially those with street-level storefronts - often park on the street in the available 2-hour parking spaces, or in spaces expressly marked as loading zones. When they do so, especially for periods in excess of the allowed 2 hours (15 minutes for loading zones), they contribute the parking problems we are having in a number of ways:
- Their employees follow their examples and also park alongside the street for extended periods of time;
- Availability of street-side parking is diminished for potential customers and tourists in the area;
- Availability of loading zone parking is diminished for trucks delivering products, supplies and produce to businesses in the area.
Recommendation
Since having available street-side parking is essential to the success of all of our businesses, it is recommended that business owners be encouraged to park in available parking lots, and to consider providing parking lot spaces for their employees as employee benefits. These are qualified business expenses that can be written off on the business taxes at the end of the year.
Discussion
I have been paying for anywhere from three to five parking spaces every year since I opened for business in 2001, depending on the needs of my company and its employees. The cost is not that much, and it has led to the following benefits for my company, myself, and my employees:
- No parking violation tickets.
- Employees are not late for work because they "couldn't find a parking spot".
- Parking is available at no additional cost during festivities such as Bayfest and Mardi Gras.
Observation #2
Business is oftentimes weak in the evenings for those businesses that stay open late, such as restaurants. One of the reasons for this weakness is because potential customers are taking their business to areas in West Mobile where they do not have to pay to park in order to patronize the businesses. Another reason is that the average customer may not be properly aware that the the 2-hour limit (or you get ticketed) on street-side parking only applies to those parking before 6:00 pm.
Recommendation
We, as business owners, should consider making it so that our customers are not penalized by the parking situation downtown. One recommendation is for us to voluntarily establish a system by which our paying customers can recouperate either all or part of their parking fees when doing business with us. This can be done one of two ways:
- Offer to give discounts to customers in the amount of their parking expenses in exchange for their parking receipts. The parking receipts should be issued by the persons or machines collecting money in the parking lots at the time of payment. We can require a minimum purchase amount at our stores in order for our customers to "sell" us their parking receipts. The receipts can then be written off on our taxes as a cost of doing business in Downtown Mobile.
- Offer to give "partial" discounts to customers who have paid to park in order to patronize our establishments. A business giving partial discount - say, $1 off on a purchase of $20 or more - would stamp the customer's parking receipt with a commonly used ink stamp to show that the discount was given. For customers that pay more than the $1 for parking, this would then encourage them to patronize multiple businesses in the area in order to receive the maximum possible return on their parking expenses (a person paying $5 for parking would then be encouraged to shop at five different locations in order to recover the $5 through the "partial" discounts offered by merchants).
Discussion
This recommendation is made based upon success that I have witnessed in the use of these techniques throughout all parts of Southeast Asia. People are not put off by the cost of parking to do business because they know that they are going to get their money back, and merchants do not hesitate to give the discounts because they know that they will sustain minimal losses in relation to the larger volumes of business that they will conduct with their customers.
Observation #3
The law enforcement personnel who write parking violation tickets to persons parking illegally or in violation of parking ordinances in Downtown Mobile themselves violate the parking ordinances of our community. Since the occupation of the mini-precinct in Bienville Square by the Mobile Police Department, police cruisers have been parked on the east side of Conception Street just north of the intersection at Dauphin and Conception Streets. The spot at which the cruisers are being parked has not been marked as a parking spot for any vehicle type by the city traffic engineer. On the other hand, there is a parking spot on the east side of Conception Street just south of the same intersection that has been properly marked as a parking spot for police vehicles only, and this parking spot is rarely used.
Update: Resolved! - Within a couple days of presenting this paper to the committee, law enforcement personnel stopped parking illegally throughout the day at the intersection of Dauphin and Conception. This was largely in thanks to the representative at the meeting from the MPD Headquarters.
Recommendation
Without causing conflict between ourselves and the police, this matter should be brought to the attention of the police department in a tactful manner and we should insist that the police be required to observe the same ordinances in our community that they are penalizing others for not observing.
Discussion
"Monkey see, monkey do." This expression is as true today as it was when it was first coined by some chimp 2,000 years ago. When visitors, both regular and new, to our community see our law enforcement officers violating the rules of our community it gives them a false sense of security in following suite. This false sense of security, in turn, leads to them receiving parking violation tickets from the same people that are also breaking the rules, and it sends a message to them that their business is not welcome in our business community.
Another tried-and-true expression is "What's good for the goose is good for the gander." Plain and simple - if we have to follow the rules (or be cited), then the police should have to follow the rules as well.
Observation #4
During festivities such as Mardi Gras and Bayfest, vehicles are often parked on the sidewalks along Dauphin Street. This is especially the case in front of bars and clubs, where radio stations park vehicles such as humvees for live broadcasts and promotional purposes.
Recommendation
Open for discussion on how to handle this matter.
Discussion
Under no condition should vehicles be permitted to park on the sidewalks within the district. Not only is parking on the sidewalks in direct violation of the Code of Ordinances for the City of Mobile, Alabama [Article VII, Div. 1, Sec. 61-273(a)(1)], but it also poses the following risks and dangers to persons and property:
- Our city sidewalks are built over an intricate network of tunnels that most people are not aware of. Parking on the sidewalks, especially of heavy vehicles such as the humvee, poses the risk of weakening and damaging the structures supporting our sidewalks and causing collapse.
- Parking on sidewalks risks polluting the sidewalks with oil and transmission fluids that may leak from the vehicle, thereby creating a safety hazard (slip and fall) to persons who will later walk along the sidewalks once the vehicles have been moved.
- Parking on sidewalks blocks the sidewalks from normal and expected use by pedestrians.
- Moving vehicles onto and from sidewalks puts pedestrians at risk of being hit by the vehicles.
Observation #5
There is already a large number of people living in Downtown Mobile. As condominium development projects currently underway reach completion, there will be even more people living in the area.
Downtown Mobile was built in a time when there were no cars, and so parking was not an issue at that time. These days, people have cars. When a peson arrives home at the end of the day that person should have a place to park his or her automobile.
Unfortunately for the residents of our Downtown Mobile, many of their residences have been or are being constructed without parking considerations for the residents. This forces them to do one of the following:
- Get rid of the vehicles and walk or take a cab or bus everywhere that they go.
- Pay monthly parking fees to park in lots, usually blocks from their homes, then to walk in sometimes miserable weather to and from their vehicles.
- Park street-side in violation of parking ordinances and risk being ticketed regularly.
Recommendation
It is my belief that residents within our community should be provided with parking decals that once properly affixed to their vehicle windshields would exempt them from receiving parking violation tickets for parking within a reasonable distance from their residences. Such decals could be made as a part of their residences and required surrendered upon moving so that they could be passed to the next occupants of their residencies.
Discussion
The more people that we encourage to live within the community, the more people we have to form our customer bases. It would be in our best interest as business leaders to push for non-penalized parking for these residents as this would make our community more attractive to inner-city living. And with those people that prefer to live within our community comes the money that they will be spending on a more regular basis with the local merchants.
Observation #6
Parking violation tickets (and even "the boot") have been received by a couple of downtown merchants for parking in loading zones while conducting the business of loading and unloading their vehicles for business purposes.
Recommendation
Paint your company's name and the type of service that your company operates as on the sides of your vehicle and get a "Loading Zone Decal" from the office of the chief of police for $50 per year.
Discussion
According to the Code of Ordinances for the City of Mobile, merchants can park passenger vehicles in loading zones or metered parking areas for the purposes of loading and unloading vehicles for business. The only requirements are that the vehicles be properly marked with the company name and service type, and that a special "Loading Zone Decal" be affixed to the vehicle's windshield [Article VII, Div. 3, Sec. 61-312].
By following these simple requirements of the law, merchants will be relieved of the frustration and expenses that come along with receiving parking violation tickets. They will also spend less time looking for places to park in order to load and unload their vehicles for business purposes since loading zones and metered parking spaces will then come open to them.
Observation #7
Day after day, all day long, the same vehicles can be found parked in generally the same places alongside Dauphin Street (and other streets). These are nearly always business owners and their employees.
Recommendation
Conduct a week-long block-by-block survey of the vehicles parked at street-side. The easiest way to do this is with a camera, by taking one or two photos a day at different times of the day, then comparing all the photos of the week, per block, to determine which vehicles are routinely violating the 2-hour parking limit.
Once the vehicles have been identified, move to phase two where an informational pamphlet is placed under the vehicle's windshield to notify the parking violator of other parking options within the area such as parking lots and garages, to inform the violator of the community's efforts to improve the parking situation downtown, and to encourage the violator to work with us in resolving our existing problems.
Discussion
This is an issue that is going to undoubtedly cause a bit of friction between those of us that work towards improving the parking situation downtown and those business owners and other persons who feel it is their right to park at street-side throught the day, every day. It is, however, an issue that needs to be confronted and dealt with if we are to improve the current situation.
As long as merchants and their employees continue to park their vehicles street-side throughout the day, every day, potential customers are going to have difficulties finding places to park. Eventually, this will lead to our potential customers not reaching the merchants, and the merchants (including those parking street-side) will lose business.
Observation #8
With all their rules and ordinances, the City of Mobile is basically forcing people wanting or needing to stay downtown for longer than two hours at a time to park in parking lots or garages which require payment to park. The majority of these parking lots and garages is owned and-or operated by Central Parking (a monopoly?).
The problem is that Central Parking does not properly maintain their parking lots. Many days - especially following the weekends - their lots are littered with broken beer and liquor bottles, posing hazardous threat to vehicle tires and people walking to and from their cars parked in these lots. Additionally, the pavement in many of their lots is damaged to the point of being able to damage vehicles driving over them.
The parking lots in Downtown Mobile are very unwelcoming to any person requiring a place to park a vehicle. So unwelcoming that some definitely discourage parking and contribute to people violating ordinances in order to park on the streets.
Update: Resolved! - Within a few weeks of presenting this paper to the committee, Central Parking got into gear and fixed up their parking lots. Unsightly poles and chains were removed, and new asphalt was poured and leveled. Unfortunately, this also encouraged them to (1) raise their prices to park, (2) do away with the reserved parking spaces, thereby adding new problems to the books, and (3) now they are planning to charge people to park during festivals when those people already pay a monthly fee and have a parking decal!
Recommendation
Companies such as Central Parking may operate as businesses within our community, but if the laws of the community compel us to either park in Central Parking's lots or risk being fined then it only goes to reason that Central Parking should be compelled by law to maintain their parking lots in as clean and safe of a condition as are the parking spaces alongside the city's streets.
I recommend that an ordinance be drafted and presented to the City Council for inclusion in the Code of Ordinances for the City of Mobile which would -
- require operators of parking lots to maintain their parking lots in clean and safe conditions, free from broken and unbroken glass and other hazardous objects, and in good repair so as not to be damaging to vehicles using the services of the parking lots.
- levy punitive fines against parking lot owners on a daily basis for violation of the ordinance until such time that their parking lots are brought to code.
Discussion
If people are going to be forced by law to park their vehicles in parking lots - which is the only place that they can park for more than two hours at a time without being in violation of city ordinances - then the law should also ensure that these parking lots are reasonably safe to drive and walk across.
Observation #9
It has become common practice for law enforcement officials to block off Dauphin Street at the intersections of Jackson and-or Joachim Streets on weekend evenings (Friday and Saturday nights). By blocking the street, several problems have been occurring:
- People are unable to drive beyond the barracades to park in available spaces alongside Dauphin Street and other streets.
- Clever people are "snaking" their ways through parking lots to reach available street-side parking spaces beyond the barracades and, in the process, are creating traffic congestion within the parking lots.
- Businesses that remain open into the evening, even after the barracades have been put into place, suffer by their customers not being able to reach them without having to walk for blocks, oftentimes with the cold night air hindering them further.
- Available properties in the downtown area to the east of the barracades become less attractive to investors and potential business owners considering opening businesses such as restaurants and bars in the area since these types of businesses would most likely remain open into the nights on weekends.
- By reducing available access to the blocks east of the barracades, the potential for crime and undesirable behavior in these blocks is fueled by the reduced traffic of people who are concerned with the common good of the community as a whole. The further east of the barracades that people cannot travel to, the greater potential there appears to be for people urinating in doorways, begging, prostituting, and dealing in illegal narcotics.
Update: Partially Resolved! - Sometimes, this problem is resolved, sometimes it is not. According to representatives with Central Parking, the barracades are necessary for "crowd control" on weekends - but we barely have ten people on the streets at night before 10:30 pm!
Recommendation
Make an active push towards doing away with the barracades in the streets on weekend evenings.
Discussion
The further east you go along Dauphin Street beyond the setup locations of the barracades, the fewer businesses you will find that remain open beyond 6:00 pm. This is, in part, because businesses that operate in the evenings are being denied fair and equal access to the east of the barracades that those in the vicinity of the barracades enjoy.
Additionally, by getting rid of the barracades more street-side parking spaces will become available to people in the evenings on weekends and those people parking at street-side will have more money to spend with local merchants since they will not have to pay for parking in over-priced parking lots for the evening.
Observation #10
Many of the buildings within the district are historic in nature. They were constructed in a time when the shop-keepers were also the land-owners, and they lived on their properties above their shops. These buildings were not constructed with garages because, plain and simple, people didn't have automobiles in the days of their construction. Today, they still do not have garages because the Historic Development Commission requires their current owners to maintain them in historically accurate styles of construction.
With that said, land-owners have no place to park their vehicles when visiting their properties in the downtown area for extended periods of time without having to pay to park in glass-riddled parking lots oftentimes blocks away from their properties.
Recommendation
It is my belief that owners of land and buildings within our community should be provided with parking decals that once properly affixed to their vehicle windshields would exempt them from receiving parking violation tickets for parking within a reasonable distance from their properties. Such decals could be made as a part of their properties and required surrendered upon the sale of their properties so that they could be passed to the next owners.
Discussion
It is unreasonable and absurd to expect the owners of land within the downtown area, or any place for that matter, to have to pay in order to park their vehicles in order to visit their properties. It is equally, if not more, unreasonable and absurd for land owners to receive parking violation tickets for parking in front of or in the immediate vicinity of their properties - the very same properties that generates revenue for the City of Mobile through sales taxes, service taxes, and rental income taxes.
The majority of land owners who are also merchants operating on their properties realize the vital importance of having available street-side parking for their potential customers. In this, it is safe to assume that the majority of land owners who are also business owners on those lands will not be willing to abuse such a parking priviledge at the cost of convenience to their customers. It will, however, better enable land owners to quick and easy access to his or her property for the maintenance and care of that property. |
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