Sullivan’s Island, S.C., like a lot of cities and towns, is facing a significant revenue shortfall because of COVID-19. But when the town council proposed instituting paid parking, the beach town’s business owners revolted, saying they’d lose customers if people had to pay to park.
“This is not a way to try to keep people from coming. We want to support our businesses, we want them to continue to be popular with the people in the Charleston area,” Mayor Patrick O’Neil told local channel 5 news. “But if we need to have decent streets for people to park on for those businesses, we need to be able to provide them with fire and rescue and police coverage while they are here. We need to get the money from somewhere.”
Business owners banded together to install a “No Paid Parking” banner and asked their customers to voice displeasure to the town council, which plans to meet this week to talk about the proposal.
Read the whole story here. And let us know in the comments: What advice would you give both the town council and business owners in this situation?
Finding themselves too crowded for comfort during COVID-19 on weekends and, in some cases, too desolate for business during the week, beach towns through the U.S. are enacting–and sometimes removing–restrictions on parking to effect traffic one way or another. A few examples: