Politics & Government

Suisun City Council Backs Off Two-Hour Parking Restriction Downtown

The City Council wants to see more alternatives from city staff before it makes up its mind

The Suisun City Council backed off an idea to limit parking in the 31-space Harbor Theater parking lot to two hours Tuesday night.  Instead, the council agreed to have city staff come up with alternatives they could pick from at a later meeting.

According to city data and especially Councilman Sam Derting — who lives nearby Harbor Square — ever since the Social Security Administration office moved from Harbor One at the north end of the waterfront to Harbor Square at the south end, parking has been at a premium at the Harbor Theater lot.

Prior to Social Security moving in, the city pegged occupied space in the lot at lunch at 79%. With Social Security moved to Harbor Square, that figure jumped to 85%.

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While theater patrons tend to occupy the spaces in the evening, after Social Security workers have gone home, students and actors use the theater during the day to rehearse. Plus, patrons park there for other Harbor Square establishments.

Mayor Pete Sanchez was particularly interested in how the enforcement strategy would work, because Suisun City has no dedicated parking enforcement.

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Suisun City Police Chief Ed Dadisho said sworn officers need not be used to do parking enforcement, suggesting unsworn officers and in some cases, police staff whose schedules overlap with other staff.

Dadisho said city code enforcement would field complaints, then go out and mark tires, wait two hours, then cite violators. Dadisho said a service called Turbo Data would determine the amount of the ticket.

Councilman Mike Segala said restricting parking in the Harbor Theater lot to control the behavior of Social Security employees would be a little like “chasing a rabbit with its tail on fire.” He also objected to the $1,250 it would take to put up two-hour parking signs.

“Where are these people who are parking there going to park next?” he said.

The city opened up two temporary gravel parking lots in the downtown in recent months, one right across the street from Harbor Square, but they haven’t proven to be popular parking places.

Councilman Mike Hudson agreed with Segala and called the two-hour restriction in the Harbor Theater lot “reactionary” and worried about the cost of parking enforcement downtown.

Mayor Pete Sanchez said he could not support the two-hour restriction in the Harbor Theater lot.

“I’m not anxious to give this kind of restriction unless it affects everyone downtown,” he said.

Derting was adamant that something should be done, and that the council should not stick its head in the sand.

“I live downtown,” he said. “I ride my bike downtown. There’s a problem with parking downtown.”


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