Quote:
Originally Posted by photon
I could see if there was a capacity problem, and in some areas there probably is, but isn't that the point of the permit process to start with? If an area has too many people then limit the # of permits.
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They did limit the number of permits given out: by no longer giving them to residents of apartment buildings 4+ storeys tall and/or 20+ units.
What they sought to prevent is residents of those larger buildings completely overwhelming the street parking in the area. Say you have a block in the Beltline with three, 20-unit apartment buildings and residents of every unit apply for a permit. That's 60 cars occupying street parking. Average length of a city block is about 145 m and assuming a very conservative 5.5 m for every parked car, that's only space for 52 parked cars on that block: those three apartment buildings' worth of people have thus not only consumed all of the parking in the street on their block, but now they're spilling over onto other blocks. It's absurd that we not only used to encourage this situation by allowing them to apply for the parking permits, but we gave it to them
for free.
So now residents of bigger buildings can't apply for the permits, and others who are still eligible will have to pay for it, and so they should.
I think people misrepresent the reason why we have the RPP program in the first place. A lot of people say it's about ensuring people have a place on the street to park their car near their home, but no: it's really meant to ensure people who
don't live in the area
aren't allowed to park their car on those streets. It's about keeping other people
out. Until now those residents have been getting this privilege for free; frankly I think it's high time they started paying for it.