4.7. SR 03-17-1997 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Feb. 28,1997 Sir, I recently received your letter dated Feb. 21,1997 concerning handicap parking spaces for the downtown area of Elk River. You detailed how a group of seniors has come forward with concerns of the number of stalls available to them. The enclosed map, of existing sites, helped me understand why this perception has been reached. The handicap stall across from The Depot has been unmarked since our first snowfall of the winter. The sidewalk sign has been down for sometime, and the street markings covered with snow. With proper marking and maintenance, that stall would be an excellent spot for access to both the gazebo and a crosswalk. This is also an excellent spot for a handicap parking stall as it provides for unloading of handicap vans to the sidewalk side of the street. I feel that easier access to the gazebo, for senior or handicap parking, would be in Jackson Square. This location would also provide safer unloading of these vehicles, for lack of through traffic, and also provide a view of the gazebo entertainment without leaving the vehicle at all. This area of parking is seldom used after the normal working hours of the majority of businesses downtown, whereas your proposed site, for handicap stalls, removes five parking spots for two businesses that stay open as long as nine hours longer than others in the area. The proposed two handicap stalls and crosswalk remove five spots from local businesses that try to compete with the myth of 'more parking at the mall' These five spots are occupied from 9:00am to 12:00am most days and always on Friday and Saturdays. It was for that very reason the city council recently resurrected these spots after declaring them as NO PARKING zones. As I recall, it was by unanimous vote. That declaration of the NO PARKING zone was to "create a better view of the river", and I feel this new proposal is a veiled measure to that end. These two spots would definitely be more costly to implement, than repainting two stalls in Jackson Square, and would create an unloading problem for handicap vans. The vans would unload away from the proposed crosswalk and create a hazardous exit into traffic. By putting the spots in Jackson Square, we could still put in the crosswalk, keep the spot next to the gazebo which also provides safe exit to a sidewalk, re-mark the existing spot across from The Depot, and no parking spots would be lost to downtown merchants.