[Vision2020] Downtown & Gritman Parking

[Donovan Arnold]

Gritman created their own parking problem by remaining downtown, expanding downtown, and taking out parking spaces downtown. 
   
  Students have every right to park in public parking. As much as Gritman clients pay, Gritman should build a parking garage for them. 
   
  I think Gritman is one of the few hospitals in Idaho that doesn't pay and create their own parking but takes public parking spaces with new buildings and then complains about not enough parking. 
   
  Best,
   
  Donovan
   
  

Bruce and Jean Livingston <jeanlivingston at turbonet.com> wrote:
  This problem of students poaching parking spots in the downtown area and 
walking the rest of the way to campus is endemic to the area in the southern 
downtown in particular. At University Pointe, on Sixth Street between 
Otto's and Taco Time and across from Gambino's and the Ale House, the 
students have done the same thing to what is clearly marked "private" 
parking for customers only. The problem has improved based on serious 
policing efforts by the building's management, which included parking 
stickers for employees of building tenants, and signs indicating that 
unauthorized vehicles would be towed.

I encourage the City to resolve Gritman's parking problem quickly, by giving 
the public designated and clearly marked spots, somewhere in the Gritman 
lots, and allowing other parking spots to be maintained, controlled and 
policed privately by Gritman. Gritman would then have the ability to police 
the remaining "Gritman only" spots privately, and could tow unauthorized 
interlopers.

It may be that the City and Gritman disagree on whether replacing the 16 
parking spots lost by the street vacation and subsequent hospital expansion 
is sufficient compensation for the vacated land, and that more than 16 spots 
ought to be provided. I cannot speak to the alleged oral and written 
agreements between the City and Gritman about parking. But whatever number 
of spots need to be provided to the public, there ought to be some way to 
delineate those spots and segregate them from those that should be the 
exclusive province of Gritman employees, patients and visitors.

Bruce Livingston


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "B. J. Swanson" 
To: 
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2007 2:08 PM
Subject: [Vision2020] Downtown & Gritman Parking


>
> This morning, Dan Carscallen asked, "But, just out of curiosity, is the
> Wren lot public or Gritman only?"
>
> It's a long story but is probably typical of the more recent parking
> problems in Downtown.
>
> In 2002, Gritman asked the City to vacate 8th Street between Main and
> Washington to allow expansion of the main hospital facility. A verbal
> agreement was made with the City that Gritman would provide equal public
> parking spaces for those displaced by closing 8th Street; 16 spaces to be
> exact. Gritman owns the land north of the Wren Garden so a 30 space
> parking lot was constructed by and is maintained by Gritman. It was
> decided that Gritman would not place any restrictions on this lot,
> no 'Gritman Only Parking' signs etc., and consider it to be open parking,
> more than compensating for the 16 spaces displaced on 8th Street.
> Sometime after the verbal agreement with the City, a written agreement was
> made, but differed considerably from the verbal agreement. The written
> agreement actually stated that both Gritman parking lots north and south
> of Lewis Street are "Public Parking." Gritman didn't feel that was a
> concern at the time so let it go.
>
> Since last fall, Gritman has received numerous complaints about the lack
> of parking available for patients and visitors in any of the Gritman lots
> as well as on-street parking. Gritman has been tracking this and found
> that many students were parking in the Gritman lots. They seemed to come
> early, take many of the spaces, put on back-packs, and hike out for the
> day, leaving no room for Gritman clients. To compound the problem, in
> March the City placed "Public Parking" signs on both Gritman lots. This
> escalated the parking complaints from patients and visitors. The addition
> of the "Public Parking" signs to the Gritman lots make them the only
> parking lots in Downtown Moscow where the public can park all day for 
> free.
>
> Gritman asked the City in April to revisit the "Public Parking" issue. So
> far, there has been little response from the City and nothing has been
> done. Gritman will keep working to resolve this problem.
>
> B. J. Swanson
>
>
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