In the never-ending quest for parking revenue streams, Minneapolis has de-facto created some "permit parking areas". Several blocks around Abbott-Northwestern and Childrens Hospitals have parking limitations (30 min, 1 hr or 2hr parking) to discourage employee and patient parking on the streets (thankfully). In order for residents to park on the streets in front of our homes, we are required to purchase Critical Area parking permits annually. I suspect this situation exists in other areas of the city where parking is at a "premium" or is very limited.
As for requiring garages and basements in new construction, basements make more sense, providing energy efficiencies and additional mechanical space for furnaces or laundry facilities, generally considered "necessities". Garages are more problematic as a requirement. Some list-members don't consider cars necessary for transportation, lot configuration or size makes placement a challenge for others and some people consider other uses of limited space more important than a garage. The city shouldn't create a mandate in a non-necessity area, but allow people to decide what option works for them (and pay accordingly). A requirement for off-street parking might be workable with provision for exceptions in unusual circumstances (ie. alley houses or lot configuration). Sue Anderson garageless in Phillips _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
