Parking meters don't enhance downtown

I am sorry, downtown business owners, but your city has let you down. I was out of the car for five minutes, failing to notice the meter, and got a $15 dollar ticket.

What could have been a meal or some item bought in a local businesses. Instead the city got it and not one of you.

I immediately went to City Hall to pay and express just a little portion of my frustration on how downtown customers and businesses get the stick with the downtown parking program. Count all the empty parking spaces and vacant storefronts on most any day.

If meters are such a great money maker, how about doing it evenings with the bar crowd too?

Better yet meters like in Asheville, North Carolina. These look like our solar meters from a while back but have much more user friendly software. Clever software and numbered curb markings save shoppers from feeling tethered close to their parked car for fear of receiving a ticket should they be too far away when time is up.

Shoppers can top off their time at any of the meters. Downtown Asheville businesses, I might mention, are quite vibrant days and nights with near 100 percent occupancy in storefronts and commercial buildings. Go figure.

This story was originally published March 18, 2016 at 8:44 AM with the headline "Parking meters don't enhance downtown."