Kate Rucker
St. Augustine
Publication Date: 08/21/09
Editor: We keep hearing that the city wants residents to support businesses downtown. Last Saturday, my husband and I and some friends came downtown to eat and then take in a movie. After riding around and around and because we were on limited time, we finally parked in a lot on Spanish Street. We noticed that the cars around us did not have parking permits on them, so we parked. We have a handicap sticker and because I am unable to walk far, we parked there.
When we returned, we had a parking ticket. What seems odd is that the cars around us did not have parking tickets. Most of them were from other states.
Could it be that because we had a Florida plate (St. Johns County), we were singled out? Why can't all the lots in the historic district be open for public parking on the weekends? Why doesn't the city build more garages downtown and offer free transportation to the historic district?
It is too far for the handicapped and the elderly to walk from the current garage to most of the historic district especially in the heat.
Why doesn't this town do like Williamsburg, Va. and get all of the cars out of downtown? It is unsightly and takes away from the beauty of the city.
Permits should be issued to those who live in the old city. Business owners should have permits to park in the existing parking lots.
I will pay the ticket but never again will we come back to the old city to eat or shop. There are plenty of other historic cities where we can park close by for free such as Cocoa, Sanford, Mt. Dora and don't have to walk a mile to where we want to be.
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1 comment:
I live in DeBary, FL. Apparently 2 1/2 years ago I was in St. Augustine... I JUST received a parking ticket this past Friday dated for July 2007! I can't remember that far back, so perhaps I was in St. Augustine... I don't know because it's not a place I frequent. However, I can say, had I received a ticket when I was there, it would have been paid.... so this is a bit odd to me....
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