I commented on this issue last year right here in the blog. Look it up. The deal is that folks living near BYU, as with most people living near a university, are complaining that kids are parking in front of their houses/businesses and creating all sorts of mayhem. The solution, as being discussed in Provo, is to have resident permit areas. My solution, which is much easier to institute and will make a bunch of money, is to simply charge for parking on those streets.
Residents would be able to park one car on street without charge, a second car at a low rate. They could get permits for weekend parties. Outside of that, everyone pays. My guess is that a lot of garages and driveways would be cleared out. And all those spaces behind businesses would be used. Kids wouldn’t park there because they couldn’t afford it and if they paid, so what. The money would go back in to new streets, lighting, sidewalks and etc for the neighborhood.
As it is now, they are in a political turmoil, with arguments raging over how many "free" permits a landowner can have, but of course apartment dwellers get fewer even though they may pay more property tax than the individual houses. Businesses are concerned.
Just be consistent, charge everyone, give the residents a little break, but not too much, and watch the problem solve itself.
JVH
