Letter: Parking revenue not adding up

To the community,

Another July 4 is history. And on Venice East the kiosks are in and paid parking is a reality. The fee for all-day is $10, but on the Fourth and four other holidays, the fee is doubled to $20.

As of July 9, the city had not striped the street for paid parking. So who knows how many spaces there will be? On the Fourth I rode my bike to the Keys Marina. There were a good many cars parked on Venice East. I guessed perhaps a hundred. I could have counted, but why count when I could guess using the city’s too often used method for creating a project.

Bill Crawford

Using the number 100 x $20, the city will bring in $2,000 on July 4. Projecting that number for five holidays on Venice East the sum will be $10,000 a year. In five years the sum will be $50,000. That’s the gross. After expenses, who knows what the net will be.

Yes, there will be midweek parking revenue. I have lived near the Keyes Marina 41 years and midweek parking is rarely packed, so it won’t be a gold mine.

I don’t know how may paid parking spaces the city will finally have. So projecting revenue created by paid parking is impossible. But I do know having lived here 46 years that locals are shy about paying to park. The best lesson on that is the city’s parking garage. City dwellers’ use it sparse. And the garage is in default.

Enough said.

Bill Crawford, South Lake Tahoe