Call me crazy, but I have to believe that my tax dollars could be spent more efficently then fighting this battle? Too bad I'm going to get screwed in the end with this one...
It sounds like a war is a brewin'.
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Cities battle for parking spaces at transit station
Overcrowding at the Apple Valley bus transit station has prompted the city council to move toward issuing permits that would keep Lakeville and Farmington residents out.
By Sarah Lemagie, Star Tribune
Last update: June 26, 2007 – 12:56 PM
If you live in Lakeville or Farmington, your days of parking in the overcrowded Apple Valley transit station parking lot may be numbered.
On June 14, the Apple Valley City Council told city staff to go ahead with a plan to require permits in the lot on Gaslight Drive near 155th Street. The decision isn't official until the council and the city's Economic Development Authority vote on it, but that could come as early as July, with the new system going into effect this fall.
The free permits would be available to residents of Apple Valley, Burnsville and Rosemount, but not Lakeville or Farmington.
That's because Lakeville and Farmington are outside the transit tax district, in which residents pay extra property taxes for buses and stations.
Police would enforce the permits with $29 tickets.
The council's move is the latest in a battle among the cities. Many Apple Valley leaders resent that commuters who don't pay the extra taxes take up space in the 337-space lot, which routinely fills by 7:15 a.m. A survey last fall of cars parked at the station showed that 59 percent came from outside the transit tax district, according to the MVTA.
Commuters who arrive later can park in part of the nearby Carmike Cinemas lot or on city streets.
Many Lakeville and Farmington residents argue that their regular property and motor vehicle taxes already help pay for transit. "If it's a public transit facility, it should be open and accessible to members of the public, and Farmington residents, last time I checked, were part of the public," said Farmington Mayor Kevan Soderberg, who said he's gotten calls from residents who said they would organize a boycott of Apple Valley businesses if the permit system goes into effect.
Leaders in Farmington and Lakeville have been reluctant to join the transit taxing district because, they say, the move would be unlikely to result in the construction of any stations in their cities, which don't have bus service.
On some streets south of the lot, parking has become a source of neighborhood complaints about obscured sight lines and blocked mailboxes. In addition to requiring permits, the city plans to ban parking between 6 and 9 a.m. on some of those streets, though parking would still be allowed on 155th Street, north of the station.
Apple Valley and the MVTA are trying to get more people to park at a nearby, underused station at Pilot Knob Road and 157th Street.
"The 157th Street [station] has plenty of room. Let's use it," said Apple Valley Mayor Mary Hamann-Roland.
The MVTA surveyed commuters at the Apple Valley station this month to find out what was stopping them from parking at the 157th station. Some say it's because buses that stop there continue on to the Apple Valley station and it's quicker to get on the bus farther down the line.
The permit plan -- which would be the first implemented at an MVTA station -- is the latest in a string of efforts to relieve overcrowding at the Apple Valley station. The city considered a similar plan in 2005 but held off in the hope that Lakeville and Farmington would join the taxing district, or that the newly built 157th Street station would attract commuters.
This spring, Sen. John Doll, DFL-Burnsville, and Rep. Shelley Madore, DFL-Apple Valley, introduced an unsuccessful measure to expand the transit taxing district to the entire seven-county metro area.
And the MVTA is negotiating with a Watson's store, just to the north of the transit station, to buy its land and move the transit station to the larger area.
Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington, called the permit plan unfair and said if Apple Valley moves ahead, he'll consider introducing a bill next session to prohibit cities from requiring permits at transit stations.
"It's bad policy for the whole region," he said.
It sounds like a war is a brewin'.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cities battle for parking spaces at transit station
Overcrowding at the Apple Valley bus transit station has prompted the city council to move toward issuing permits that would keep Lakeville and Farmington residents out.
By Sarah Lemagie, Star Tribune
Last update: June 26, 2007 – 12:56 PM
If you live in Lakeville or Farmington, your days of parking in the overcrowded Apple Valley transit station parking lot may be numbered.
On June 14, the Apple Valley City Council told city staff to go ahead with a plan to require permits in the lot on Gaslight Drive near 155th Street. The decision isn't official until the council and the city's Economic Development Authority vote on it, but that could come as early as July, with the new system going into effect this fall.
The free permits would be available to residents of Apple Valley, Burnsville and Rosemount, but not Lakeville or Farmington.
That's because Lakeville and Farmington are outside the transit tax district, in which residents pay extra property taxes for buses and stations.
Police would enforce the permits with $29 tickets.
The council's move is the latest in a battle among the cities. Many Apple Valley leaders resent that commuters who don't pay the extra taxes take up space in the 337-space lot, which routinely fills by 7:15 a.m. A survey last fall of cars parked at the station showed that 59 percent came from outside the transit tax district, according to the MVTA.
Commuters who arrive later can park in part of the nearby Carmike Cinemas lot or on city streets.
Many Lakeville and Farmington residents argue that their regular property and motor vehicle taxes already help pay for transit. "If it's a public transit facility, it should be open and accessible to members of the public, and Farmington residents, last time I checked, were part of the public," said Farmington Mayor Kevan Soderberg, who said he's gotten calls from residents who said they would organize a boycott of Apple Valley businesses if the permit system goes into effect.
Leaders in Farmington and Lakeville have been reluctant to join the transit taxing district because, they say, the move would be unlikely to result in the construction of any stations in their cities, which don't have bus service.
On some streets south of the lot, parking has become a source of neighborhood complaints about obscured sight lines and blocked mailboxes. In addition to requiring permits, the city plans to ban parking between 6 and 9 a.m. on some of those streets, though parking would still be allowed on 155th Street, north of the station.
Apple Valley and the MVTA are trying to get more people to park at a nearby, underused station at Pilot Knob Road and 157th Street.
"The 157th Street [station] has plenty of room. Let's use it," said Apple Valley Mayor Mary Hamann-Roland.
The MVTA surveyed commuters at the Apple Valley station this month to find out what was stopping them from parking at the 157th station. Some say it's because buses that stop there continue on to the Apple Valley station and it's quicker to get on the bus farther down the line.
The permit plan -- which would be the first implemented at an MVTA station -- is the latest in a string of efforts to relieve overcrowding at the Apple Valley station. The city considered a similar plan in 2005 but held off in the hope that Lakeville and Farmington would join the taxing district, or that the newly built 157th Street station would attract commuters.
This spring, Sen. John Doll, DFL-Burnsville, and Rep. Shelley Madore, DFL-Apple Valley, introduced an unsuccessful measure to expand the transit taxing district to the entire seven-county metro area.
And the MVTA is negotiating with a Watson's store, just to the north of the transit station, to buy its land and move the transit station to the larger area.
Rep. Pat Garofalo, R-Farmington, called the permit plan unfair and said if Apple Valley moves ahead, he'll consider introducing a bill next session to prohibit cities from requiring permits at transit stations.
"It's bad policy for the whole region," he said.
You want me to throw eggs at them?
ReplyDeleteThanks for the offer but that's unneeded. I'd prefer that you don't end up with a criminal record.
ReplyDeleteWell alright. Just know, I'm ready and willing to kick some arse if need be.
ReplyDeleteI think the easy solution is for you to move into a 3 bedroom condo in downtown Minneapolis. That works, right? Then Gina can commute against the direction of rush hour traffic. Everyone wins.
ReplyDelete