Parking rules flawed

I found Gary Crooks’ column on Sunday, Aug. 29, about parking a déjà vu moment. Those of us in the Audubon neighborhood, adjacent to or near the Flying Goat, find his comments hit home about the mandate for parking based on square footage of the building.

He said, “the mandate is designed to ensure that cars won’t spill over into nearby neighborhoods,” which is exactly what has happened in our neighborhood.

The mandate leaves much to be desired. It should be rewritten to address businesses whose seating exceeds the square footage of the building, i.e., outside seating. Parking spaces required for those businesses should be based on both inside and outside seating. It should also address the possibility that once parking spaces have been based on square footage, the business might skirt the requirements by adding outside seating. The mandate should require that once parking spaces are determined on the basis of square footage, outside seating will be prohibited.

In the Audubon neighborhood near the Flying Goat there is much animosity toward the city and the Flying Goat because of the parking problems exacerbated by the behavior of some of the patrons.

This could happen to your neighborhood.

Ann Carlin

Spokane