Downtown residents, merchants denounce parking meters again

A parking management forum designed to find out how the current parking meter system can be made better turned into another venting session for more than 50 residents and merchants that say they can’t live with the meters and need them suspended immediately.

City parking manager Mark Lyons started the Feb. 23 forum by asking those in attendance to open up a dialogue about how the meter system can be made better.

But a list of questions that were put on the board to discuss how to handle the system better went unanswered.

Instead, residents and merchants again sounded off on the program again and demanded it be suspended now while the details are worked out.

“We know what the problem is with the meters,” said longtime downtown advocate Paul Thorpe. “They don’t work. Let’s bag them now until you figure out the answer.”

For more information and a comprehensive look at downtown parking locations, pick up a copy of Thursday’s March 1 Sarasota Observer.

Contact Kurt Schultheis at [email protected].