CDA: Don't pinch parking

I guess I would like to know why the City of Coeur d’Alene is against small businesses in downtown Coeur d’Alene? The city keeps eliminating parking all over town, and now they want to get rid of more parking by the lake to supposedly make disabled access to the lake and beaches easier.

If they were smart they would use the existing lot and put in a ramp to the beach. But, of course, the beach is right off of the parking lot, so what are they talking about? First, they eliminated all the parking along 4th Street, from Front Street to Sherman. Their excuse is that when the park is done there will be loads and loads of people needing to walk from the park to town, and the walkways were not wide enough. This also eliminated handicap parking. Now they have gone around town and put bike racks in existing parking spaces, getting rid of more street parking. They could have put smaller bike racks on the corners of the sidewalks, but of course that would not get rid of more street parking, which I think is the city’s goal — to get rid of as much of the street parking as they can.

Then they put in a right turn lane off Sherman onto 3rd Street, heading south towards the park. Why was this done? It was never needed before, but of course they will come up with an excuse for putting it in and eliminating more street parking. Since they made 3rd Street into a two-way street from Front Street to Lakeside, they eliminated all parking along the street on the east side of the street. After you eliminate all of the parking that the city has taken away from downtown, including the old parking lot that used to be in the park area, and adding the parking lot half buried, they have, over all, eliminated parking in the downtown area.

Of course I am sure they will say that the new parking garage in the park area more than makes up for the eliminated parking. They will say the added parking over by the library makes up for it also. Again, older citizens and the HC parking is further away from the small businesses that they want to go to. Keep a watch on the parking in downtown and watch more of the street parking keep being eliminated. Ask yourself why the government wants to keep doing this. More power, more control of the people. That is what the government wants. More Power More Control ...

JOHN M. MINDEN

Coeur d’Alene