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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I was quite surprised to receive the letter from Liza Farr, the Curbside Administrator for the city, that based on “a resident’s” concerns the city is proposing banning parking on the south side of Ninth Street. I have owned a home on
this street for 35 years with parking on both sides of the street and frankly, I don’t see a need for the two sided parking to change now.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Two side of the street parking has the advantage of working as traffic calming, slowing cars traveling on the street. I don’t know if my neighbors have already experienced cars driving too fast down the street when it is relatively empty
of cars, creating dangerous conditions for those of us riding our bikes, walking, crossing or even just gardening here. Ninth Street is not meant to be a through street. Unless an emergency is on Ninth Street itself, emergency vehicles shouldn’t be traveling
up and down this street. I’d be interested in the data of how often during any given week an emergency vehicle is called to a house on Ninth Street.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Most of us have narrow driveways and two cars which means we often have to park one of the cars on the street to enable the other one to get in and out. Cutting back on street parking also encourages more paving which is very bad for the
environment and also for the aesthetics of the street. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">With the two restaurants ln Hope Street, residents already compete with restaurant goers for parking spaces in front of their homes. If you cut the available parking in half, that will make it every more difficult for those of us who live
here to park here. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Yes, on farmer’s market days the street can be difficult, mainly because those parking don’t create any distance between their cars and our driveways. (and in some cases, blocking driveways entirely). But it is only for a few hours that
it becomes a nuisance. While I’ve cursed a parker now and then as I’ve tried to get into or out of my driveway on a Saturday morning, I also know that I still need a place to put one of the cars as we are exchanging vehicles.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u>So I’m a robust NO, or Option 1 to keep the street as it is.
<o:p></o:p></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But I recognize that Ninth Street has multiple blocks. Perhaps different blocks have different experiences of parking needs.
<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I also think that jumping directly to a vote, after one letter, without the city attempting to convene all of the neighbors on the street to talk to each other about their needs and possible solutions, isn’t a comprehensive and effective
way to make neighborhood decisions. <o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I’m open to hearing other sides. But right now, I’m a NO to the change.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Gayle L Gifford<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">178 Ninth Street<o:p></o:p></p>
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