By Clarence Cromwell
The first piece of Los Gatos' Downtown Parking Improvement Plan goes into place Sept. 1: a test of permit parking for the Main Street-Montebello Way area.
The Town Council voted unanimously, with Patrick O'Laughlin absent, to set up a three-month test of permit parking for 20 stalls on parking lot nine.
Later, the town might charge 35 cents per half hour to park on all the town's lots, for drivers who park longer than half an hour, but councilmembers said they won't enact any of the fees permanently unless the fees get a successful test run and public support. The town aims to collect $1.45 million yearly in parking fees, enough for a new parking structure downtown.
The permits are supposed to give downtown employees, many of whom work for minimum wage, a break on parking rates.
For $25 a month, drivers get a permit to dangle from their rear-view mirror and rights to use 20 stalls in the southwest corner of parking lot nine, the lot behind Gina's Shop.
Teri Hope, owner of the Los Gatos Coffee Roasting Co., said she'll buy 10 permits for her 40-employee shop. She likes the idea because the permit area will keep workers from using the best customer parking, she said.
Only permit-holders will be allowed in the spaces between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., seven days a week. Permits will be issued to 20 people who live or work in the area bordered by Main Street, Montebello Way and the west side of Highway 17. If more than 20 apply, the town will hold a lottery to pick permit buyers.
Any car parked in the permit zone without a permit can be ticketed or towed.
The council decided against 10 permit spaces in front of Town Hall. Joanne Benjamin said all the spaces should be available for any citizens there on town business, and other members agreed.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, August 14, 1996.
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