Wednesday, February 14, 2007

Ketchum needs parking


I am delighted that the Ketchum City Council and Planning and Zoning Commission are attempting to improve our city. I have been coming here for more than 30 years and am concerned. It is apparent that the city is losing restaurants, grocery stores and stores selling less expensive merchandise. Instead, we are getting an excess of banks and expensive condominiums (many of which are not sold).

One of the terrible and obvious problems in Ketchum is the lack of available parking. This is more important than anybody appears to realize. It appears to me that everyone is trying to do "feel good" things, like making it easier for bicyclists and pedestrians. The latest Fourth Street plan takes away more parking. This prevents even more people from parking close to where they want to be. By the way, bicyclists usually pass through without stopping, and pedestrians usually arrive in cars.

I am familiar with an area in Southern California, called Belmont Shores, where there was the exact same problem. They solved it by passing a law that allowed no more new banks to be built. It became obvious that the banks were replacing needed shops and restaurants. Also, the parking situation was nearly as bad as in Ketchum. They built a large amount of additional parking. Guess what? It worked. The people have come back. New restaurants have opened. You can find many people strolling the sidewalks, shopping in small shops, and eating in the restaurants. It is a wonderful revival.

We, too, must increase parking. I understand the city has been collecting fees from developers to be used for parking. Why hasn't adequate parking been built? How about it? Get us some more parking in the center of the city, parking that is not so far away that people will not be able to carry bundles to their cars. I am positive that this would help store owners. If people have to walk great distances carrying bundles in order to reach their cars, they might just go to a nearby city. Restricting banks might or might not be useful, I am not sure. But it certainly worked for Belmont Shores.

I hope we can get our act together and revive the city of Ketchum before it is too late. This is a very special area. Do not let it be destroyed.

Dr. Ronald H. Hartman

Sun Valley and California




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