My city abruptly took away 300 parking spaces in my neighborhood – now with no warning we could all face being towed
Drivers are angry because they will lose hundreds of local parking spaces because of the construction work.
Residents of Encinitas, California, will see 300 fewer parking spaces adjacent to beaches at restaurants in the community as car parking switches from head-on to parallel parking.
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Locals are disappointed that community members didn’t have a chance to comment on the city’s park construction plans, CBS 8 San Diego reported.
“There’s just not enough parking in Southern California and all of a sudden we’re cutting parking in half,” Sara Mertz told the news outlet.
“Where should everyone park?”
She said the city is telling residents that the purpose of the redevelopment project is to prevent parking of oversized vehicles in order to clean up the city and make it safer.
The local’s husband, Mike Brawner, also said he would have liked the city to have been part of the plans.
“It is a disappointment that they did not include us in what was happening,” he emphasized.
“And the frustration that they just decided what was best for us without asking.”
Mertz said if the community had a chance to offer ideas, they would recommend not eliminating 300 parking spaces.
“It’s ridiculous,” she emphasized.
“As it is, there is no place to park. It’s Southern California and people want to go to the beach and it’s going to hurt restaurant owners. It will harm the people who live in the area along the road.”
The Californian explained that parking on the city’s beach is “rare.”
“Don’t remove the spaces,” she said.
The couple apparently contacted the city to no avail.
“I didn’t get an answer,” Mertz said.
“No one will call me back, it’s like calling a black hole.”
Brawner said he wants the city to stop what it’s doing.
“Give everyone an idea of what the plan is,” he added.
“Give us some time to say something and then maybe it’s the right thing, maybe it’s not. But they must first ask us and tell us what they want to do and why.”
“Give it a chance to contribute and then make sure it’s the right thing for the community.”
His wife said she just didn’t feel like the plan was well thought out.
The city of Encinitas did not immediately respond to the US Sun’s request for comment.