Plans for People's Park Parking Meters May Cut Crime

Plans for People's Park Parking Meters May Cut Crime

http://www.dailycal.org/article/110395/plans_for_people_s_park_parking_meters_may_cut_cri

By J.D. Morris
September 20, 2010

Plans to possibly install additional parking meters around People's
Park are under discussion by Berkeley community members and city
officials, with the intent to reduce crime and spark business
interest in the area.

Officials are in preliminary talks of increasing the number of meters
around the park to limit the number of vehicles lingering on adjacent
streets, which community members have said may encourage criminal
activity and make it more difficult to shop in the city and on
Telegraph Avenue.

With retail income in the city down $200 million since 2008 -
according to Dave Fogarty, the city's economic development
coordinator - and crime in the park peaking in the past weeks, Jim
Hynes, assistant to the city manager, said community members have
been considering a change in parking policy around People's Park for
the past couple of months.

"We're trying to do everything we can to move people into the area,"
Hynes said. "It's really, 'What can we do to help the business
community by making it easier for people to come in?'"

Currently, signs around People's Park indicate a two-hour parking
zone along its perimeter, but no meters regulate spaces adjacent to
the park. Meters regulate Haste Street's north side and Bowditch
Street's east, both of which are across the street from the park.
There are no meters on either side of Dwight Way near the park.

Hynes said in an interview that it seemed "arbitrary" that meters did
not surround the park.

According to Roland Peterson, executive director of the Telegraph
Business Improvement District, people are currently able to park
their vehicles free of charge for any amount of time, a situation
that has recently come to be regarded as a problem by both city and
UC Berkeley staff. New meters that would limit the amount of time
people would be able to leave their cars parked in the area would
encourage vehicle and patron turnover, he said.

But any concrete action or meter installation is still several months
away, city officials said, as the city's public works staff must
first prepare a report to be considered by other departments before
any plan can be formally sent to the Berkeley City Council.

"The most accurate thing to say is that it's an idea that's being
investigated," Peterson said, adding that he supports the
consideration of such a plan.

George Beier, president of the Willard Neighborhood Association and a
candidate for the District 7 city council seat in the upcoming
November election, said he is "fully behind" measures to reduce crime
in the park, though he added that a real link between crime in the
park and current parking policy would need to be investigated before
taking further action.

"I think that crime in People's Park is a big problem," Beier said.
"Anything that drives new business to Telegraph Avenue is a great idea."

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