River Street Parking Fiasco
BY ISAIAH FRIZZELL
Winter Bike Lanes
If you live near or do business on River Street in Hailey, chances are you’ve seen or heard of the increase in parking tickets over the past several months. In fact, it’s any street with bike lanes.
Local businesses along River Street are expressing extreme frustration and concern as their customers experience an unprecedented wave of tickets and vehicular towing.
Local firefighter Phil Rainy is trying to put out the fire. Often, community members don’t know who to talk to or even have an official way to voice concerns. Sometimes it only takes one voice to activate a community and Rainey took the initiative to be that voice.
“First, I spoke to Lisa Horowitz and asked her, ‘Why are we enforcing this when it’s the dead of winter and almost no one is on a bike anyway? Most of the time the bike lane is unusable because it’s full of snow and ice.’ Her reply to me was, ‘We want to train people to use the bike lane.’ I said that it doesn’t make sense. Why wouldn’t we just have winter rules because the people that are riding bikes aren’t using the bike lane, they’re using the street.
“I sent a formal letter to the City Council and Lisa [Horowitz], asking why we couldn’t have winter rules like we do for parking during snowplowing. During the two dates that are considered winter, we don’t enforce that parking. They replied that the city wants to keep the bike lane open whether it’s used or not. Then they started giving tickets and towing vehicles away.”
Businesses like Discount Grocery are furious. Employees have to park on the street and they’ve done away with all parking on the street near this facility.
Community Solutions
“Every business owner I’ve spoken with can’t believe that they’re doing it and is incredibly upset. Discount Grocery, Les Schwab, every business I spoke to, same problem, and so I started a petition. If nobody wants this, why are we doing it? But I didn’t want to complain unless I had a solution. So I suggest that we put the bike lane parallel to the road so the bikes can move from the road to the bike lane to the road and it’s safer.
“It’s a problem the city created that didn’t exist before and it’s potentially life threatening. Right now you can ride a bike down that bike lane between the curb and the vehicles and if someone steps out in front of an ebike going 20 miles an hour, either a little kid or an older person who can’t see over the vehicle and—boom—someone’s going to the hospital if it doesn’t kill them. Again, it’s a problem the city created that didn’t exist before.
“Why does a bike need six lanes? Right now a bike can travel in six lanes, a vehicle can only travel in two, one in each direction, and pedestrians can only travel in two. Put the bike lane parallel to the road. Give them a cushion so they can ride safely. Right now it’s not only a pedestrian hazard but in a vehicle, if you’re backing out, you’re going straight into traffic and you can’t see a vehicle coming at you and they can’t see the vehicle coming out.
GURP
Some months back, Wood River Weekly wrote about the Gateway Urban Renewal Project in Hailey that aims to make the city both a more bike friendly and walkable place as well as give it a stronger identity in the cluster of Ketchum, Hailey and Bellevue that make up the Valley. Three extra feet were found that could be put to use in growing trees, making better sidewalks and in general enhancing Hailey as a walkable city.
Is this type of enforcement part of a longer-term plan to change the city? Are tax dollars being appropriately designated?
“As a taxpayer, I’m wondering about liability,” continued Rainey. “But they’re not looking at it that way. If we want to keep it, if you really insist on this bike lane, then put it where it makes sense. Then, during the winter, people aren’t worried about tickets when they shouldn’t have to. It’s a disaster for business in the community.”
Rainey has printed up a petition and is amassing signatures. So far every signature has been from a local business that feels it’s been wronged by a new ordinance that the business’s tax dollars have helped pay for. It’s hitting businesses twice, first through tax dollars and second through loss of income when people are understandably angry about their cars getting towed or ticketed.
Signatures and Signs
“The big thing is there’s virtually no signage,” said Rainey. “There’s one sign at the north and south ends of River Street. People parking around the businesses don’t see the signs.
“At Wood River Inn, when people come to stay and they get towed, they’re not coming back. They have to put signs on their counter asking customers not to park there or they’ll be towed.
“One of the most bizarre aspects of the fiasco is that if you get a ticket, it goes to Newport Beach, California. Should you want to dispute it, you have to do so through them. You get a ticket in Hailey, Idaho, and have to take it up with Newport Beach, California, to handle it? How does that work?
“Granted, it’s only a $35 ticket, but driving records, wallets, businesses and moods are affected. So I made sure I could get enough signatures on the petition to show the consensus in the community. On the City of Hailey’s website, they claim statistics showing x number of people voted in favor of these lanes but I know I wasn’t asked, so I wonder who was?”
If you’re concerned or impacted by the ticket fiasco, you can sign Phil’s petition in person at Hyperbarics of Sun Valley or online at Change.org under the title “Implement Winter Rules for Bike Lane Parking in Hailey, Id”.
If you’re reading online, click the link below:
https://chng.it/dk24jHdz
