Ventura Parking Program to Be Revamped

Just when downtown workers had their little yellow parking permits dangling from their rear-view mirrors in hopes of warding off ticket-dispensing officers, the city had to go and change the system.

Call it a communications gap.

But entering into its second month, the Downtown Temporary Parking Permit Program has run into a few difficulties.

In an effort to minimize parking chaos during the coming year of construction downtown, Ventura officials worked with downtown merchants to cobble together a temporary parking permit program.

After filling out forms, more than 800 downtown merchants and their employees received special permits allowing them to park all day in certain city lots. The permits took effect in early June.

The permits hang from rear-view mirrors, facing out, so parking enforcement officers can read them easily from the front of the car.

The problem is, parking enforcement officers work from the back, scratching marks across rear tires with giant sticks of chalk.

And apparently they often miss the brightly colored parking permits.

“They’re nice permits,” said Julia Lawrence, Ventura’s senior police services officer. “It’s just that the right hand and the left hand didn’t know what they were doing.”

The city is now in the midst of revamping the entire system.

Business owners have been asked by the city to resubmit affidavits by July 18.

Effective Aug. 4, downtown merchants and their employees will get stickers to affix to the back of their cars.

By and large, business owners have accepted the glitch without complaint.

“It just seems ironic that no one checked with the meter maids before setting this whole thing up,” said Bill Clawson of the Ventura Visitors and Convention Bureau.

Business owners can pick up new forms at the Redevelopment Agency Office at City Hall, 501 Poli St.