After 25 Years Of Unfettered Development Residents Can't Find A Place To Park
& Now They're Angry
Who Could Have Guessed This Would Happen?
Opinion
The Emeryville city council majority has welcomed a 25 year reign of unfettered development, a 'hands off developers' philosophy that has earned the town the reputation in the region of being extremely business friendly. The council majority that enabled this pro-business culture have always denied any associated negative impacts for residents as they carried on with their 'what's-good-for-business-is-what's-good-for-Emeryville' agenda. But those days may be coming to an end.
After the Emeryville Property Owners Association (EPOA) recent town hall meeting on parking in the north Hollis Street area, there's no longer any way it can be denied: residents and now even small businesses that rely on street parking can no longer reliably find parking spaces... and they're angry. It's been an increasing quality of life reduction for residents that promises to get worse as the council moves to start charging money for on street parking.
After the Emeryville Property Owners Association (EPOA) recent town hall meeting on parking in the north Hollis Street area, there's no longer any way it can be denied: residents and now even small businesses that rely on street parking can no longer reliably find parking spaces... and they're angry. It's been an increasing quality of life reduction for residents that promises to get worse as the council moves to start charging money for on street parking.
Where's The TDM?
The problem stems from the rampant rate of development over the last couple of decades combined with a lack of Transportation Demand Management (TDM) practices to mitigate the problems brought on by all the cars associated with the new development. Transportation Demand management practices are paid for by the developers and they lower the use of cars generated by the development by expanding transportation alternatives, providing incentives and rewards for employees for undertaking alternative transportation, imposing full-cost pricing on automobile use and other such measures. These measures have been considered best practice solutions for urban parking by city planners since the 1970's...except in Emeryville.
It should be noted that councilwoman Jennifer West has been calling for mandatory developer paid TDM measures over the last couple of years.
The problem stems from the rampant rate of development over the last couple of decades combined with a lack of Transportation Demand Management (TDM) practices to mitigate the problems brought on by all the cars associated with the new development. Transportation Demand management practices are paid for by the developers and they lower the use of cars generated by the development by expanding transportation alternatives, providing incentives and rewards for employees for undertaking alternative transportation, imposing full-cost pricing on automobile use and other such measures. These measures have been considered best practice solutions for urban parking by city planners since the 1970's...except in Emeryville.
It should be noted that councilwoman Jennifer West has been calling for mandatory developer paid TDM measures over the last couple of years.
It's valuable to identify those public servants who have contributed to this mess. In addition to Ms Davis, councilwoman Ruth Atkin has been a reliable YES vote for the developers over the years as has newcomer and now mayor Kurt Brinkman. EPOA founder and 20 year former councilman Ken Bukowski also shares in the blame even as he now screams from the sidelines about the parking fiasco in north Emeryville.
No TDM, No Parking
It must be stated clearly, had a different council majority been in power over the decades, a council interested in leadership without an overt pro-business ideology, the residents wouldn't be in this fix. Residents that may feel compelled to shake their fists at businesses and all the cars they bring as they search for a parking spot or as they start to pay for parking should know the real culprit here.... it's because the council didn't force developers to mitigate the negative impacts their projects have on the limited supply of on street parking.
Any idiot can sit back at the dais and say YES to what developers request. Without a newspaper in town, it's the easiest thing in the world for a city council member to do.
We look for an accountability moment as residents circle for parking and start paying for parking, beginning in north Emeryville and spreading out from there. Bad public policy should have consequences.
It must be stated clearly, had a different council majority been in power over the decades, a council interested in leadership without an overt pro-business ideology, the residents wouldn't be in this fix. Residents that may feel compelled to shake their fists at businesses and all the cars they bring as they search for a parking spot or as they start to pay for parking should know the real culprit here.... it's because the council didn't force developers to mitigate the negative impacts their projects have on the limited supply of on street parking.
Any idiot can sit back at the dais and say YES to what developers request. Without a newspaper in town, it's the easiest thing in the world for a city council member to do.
We look for an accountability moment as residents circle for parking and start paying for parking, beginning in north Emeryville and spreading out from there. Bad public policy should have consequences.
