In Redondo Beach, CA, the city council has voted to provide free parking around Christmas. The Merchants don’t like the idea and have said so. They have good reasons:
The city of Redondo Beach is continuing its annual practice of approving free holiday street parking in Riviera Village, but some business owners are concerned the spots may not be available to shoppers. The culprits: employees who take advantage of storefront parking for a short jaunt to work, and others who stay in spots for prolonged periods of time. Mike Morales of the Riviera Village Association on Tuesday asked the City Council to make the planned free-parking dates later to “cut down on abuse.” He also urged the city to conduct a parking study for the village.
However the City Council knows better —
As for the employee troubles, Councilman Steve Aspel said, “We can’t solve that problem. That’s internal for you guys.”
Now, I agree with Councilman Steve that merchants should be responsible for their employees, however some merchants understand the problem, others don’t. Soooooooo that’s the issue, isn’t it. Some people don’t think about the results of their actions. Let’s say you are an insurance company with 20 employees or a real estate office with 30. In neither case is convenience for the public important. Why would the management of either location concern itself with parking?
However the gym, or restaurant, or jewelry store, or clothiers are very concerned. They can keep their employees in line, but I’m not certain the realtor or insurance agent gives a hoot.
I’m afraid that Redondo Beach will find itself in the jaws of a law they didn’t pass, the law of unintended consequences. Like gravity this law cannot be defied.
JVH
