Although the City Council decided to hold off on extending
parking limits downtown until after the Hollister Downtown
Association polls its members, business owners are still divided
about who should be parking there in the first place.
Although the City Council decided to hold off on extending parking limits downtown until after the Hollister Downtown Association polls its members, business owners are still divided about who should be parking there in the first place.
Liz Kresky, executive director of the Hollister Downtown Association, said after news of the time limit change came out in the press, she received a lot of phone calls from concerned businesses who knew nothing about the council even discussing it. After hearing the concern, Kresky asked the City Council to wait to make the change until she could poll business owners and make sure everyone had the opportunity to voice their opinion. City officials agreed and postponed their decision.
“It’s tough because a lot of retail stores like the shorter limits for their customers, but a lot of the more service-based companies like the longer hours,” she said. “Regardless, the parking lots are there for the customers, not the employees.”
Hard Times Cafe Owner Terence Woodard disagrees.
“Whether the time limit is two hours, four hours or six hours it still doesn’t change the fact that there isn’t enough parking for the amount of people downtown,” Woodard said. “As much as I want the parking for my guests, no one is eating here or shopping down town for more than two hours now. It’s the employees that need the parking.”
Woodard said, realistically you have more employees downtown than you do guests, but no one works a four-hour shift, so they will have to move their cars around to different spots during the day regardless of the time extension.
“Ticketing the cars is revenue for the city – period,” he said. “When you have a time constraint, all you’re doing is causing the employee to move their car from one spot to another which really doesn’t solve anything. The problem isn’t time, it’s parking availability.”
Woodard and his employees keep a scheduled lookout for the parking enforcement officer and inform each other about when to move their cars.
Meanwhile Sheila Stevens, owner of She’s Apparel and Shoes, said parking should be just for customers.
“Owners who let their employees park in front of their businesses are their own worst enemies,” she said. “It should be stopped.”
Stevens and her employees park behind the building, leaving the spots in front of the store open for potential business.
Sgt. Ray Wood of the Hollister Police Department said parking enforcement will continue to cover the same route, which usually patrols downtown two to three days a week. The cost for a limit violation is $30.
Kresky will present any concerns recognized by the businesses polled to the City Council at the end of May.
