Thursday, June 28, 2007
Editorial: Kick valet service notion to the curb
Now that the Roanoke Weiner Stand has secured its spot on the market, patrons could enjoy valet service, if two councilmen have their way.
From the RoundTable blog
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If Roanokers were frustrated by a lack of downtown parking spaces, folks today would smack their foreheads, celebrate the genius of Councilmen Brian Wishneff and Sherman Lea and wonder why they couldn't have hit on such an inspired solution: valet parking. During daylight hours. For free.
What could make visiting downtown more convenient? Perhaps taxpayer-funded, door-to-door limo service for those put off by all the traffic. But that would be silly, wouldn't it?
Don't get us wrong, we like valet parking ... in crowded, congested cities where parking is impossible, where the store or restaurant or hotel owner understands it's good for business to accommodate customers.
We aren't enamored with the city picking up the tab for a service -- estimated to cost $120,000 a year -- that is not only unnecessary but doesn't even remotely address the real problem of parking downtown.
That problem isn't a lack of spaces; the city has done an effective job of building garages to keep pace with demand. The problem is that people don't want to pay the debt on the garages.
People are too used to parking for free all day and night along curbs and on evenings and weekends in the city's garages.
There wasn't a parking problem at all until city council decided to start charging $2 for after-hours parking on July 1 (the date was pushed back to September because of the controversy). That's $2 a night, not even $2 an hour, which parking patrons in other cities would think a terrific bargain. It's about what one would tip a valet.
Still, downtown merchants have a point: Roanokers like freebies so much that a fee could hurt trade. Already downtown patrons have grumbled that they'll just head to the mall and chain restaurants, and there's the fear that the "we just love the farmers market" crowd will defect to Salem's or Vinton's or even to the grocery store for their fruits and veggies if they have to pay $2 to park or walk an extra block from a free curb space.
That's why city council agreed to delay the fee and hear suggestions. They want ideas on how to pay for parking facilities while still accommodating businesses and their evening and weekend customers.
The proposal by Wishneff and Lea to offer free valet service daily from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. doesn't even sideswipe the issue. Roanoke doesn't have $120,000 to blow when it's scrambling to find money to pay its debts.
It doesn't take a genius to figure that out or to realize this cements their minority status on a council that should be working together on a sensible solution.
