“Dear Red Phone, I am writing on behalf of the residents of North Depot Street. I have lived downtown since 2008 and have seen increasing problems with traffic and parking since then. On March 31 I returned home about 10:30 p.m. and there were no parking spots on the street. Knowing I was leaving early in the morning I parked in my driveway, as I always do when there are no spots left across the street from my residence. (Which is a very normal occurrence since Odeum and the Granary opened). I received a ticket from the MHPD at 1:30 a.m. for parking across a sidewalk. My issue is not with the ticket; I get it MHPD was doing their job, however I do feel it was petty at 1:30 a.m. but we need revenue right! My problem is that we the residents would like to pay the city to have the parking in front of our homes in front of the Granary and Odeum be residents only. Not all day, just after 5 p.m. on weekdays and all day Saturday and Sunday. We as residents of downtown have to endure parades and special functions, and we feel that since we support the city the city should support us and help us with our problem. It is not a matter of convenience either, it is a matter of safety for me. We have had shootings, stabbings and just this past Friday night a woman on Third Street was almost abducted. So when the patron’s of Odeum and employees park in front of my house I have to park sometimes two blocks away and it is not safe for me to have to do so. Any help we could get to make the community aware would be greatly appreciated. The more downtown gets redeveloped the more these concerns will grow and I feel the city needs to be sympathetic to the downtown residents since we are huge supporters of downtown businesses.”
Red Phone: Dear Searching for Parking, Red Phone contacted Assistant City Manager for Community Development Leslie Little, who said the city of Morgan Hill is sympathetic to the lack of adjacent parking for the residents in the area.
“There are many places, including residential-only neighborhoods, where residents cannot park immediately in front of their homes,” Little said. “The city believes that exclusionary restrictions should only be considered as a last resort, as we have always viewed public parking in the downtown as parking for the entire community. To address this resident’s specific concerns, we agreed to have someone from our Economic Development team contact the owners and proprietors of the nearby businesses to see if we can resolve the problem in a ‘good neighbor’ manner. We also pledged to have someone from the city contact the author of the complaint and advise her of those efforts within a couple of weeks.”
In addition, Little said, staff is evaluating whether two-hour parking, or timed parking limitations and added parking enforcement might be a viable option. The parking design and plan for Depot Street was publicly debated before improvements were made several years ago, so any modifications to parking in the area will need to include discussions with area property owners, tenants and businesses.
“I am also concerned that the letter suggests that the downtown area is unsafe and has experienced stabbings and shootings and a recent abduction attempt. I think it is important to note, that in discussions with the police department, they indicate no such incidents have been reported or responded to by the MHPD in the past few years, let alone the past few weeks. I think that it is important that the community know that downtown is just as safe as the rest of Morgan Hill and the implication that it is a ‘dangerous area of the city’ is not accurate.”
Good caller, looks like the city will be in touch soon. Hope that helps.
