Businesses want three-hour limit permanent Businesses want three-hour limit permanent (January 28, 2004)
In December and January, the city allowed cars to spend an extra hour in three downtown parking garages, including the two new structures. Now there is a movement afoot to keep those expanded limits, from two hours to three, ongoing.

Adam Atito, a realtor and a member of the Chamber of Commerce's Government Action Council, is leading the charge to make the change permanent. He suggested the idea at last week's meeting of the action council, which agreed to have a subcommittee study it.

"It will encourage more residents to shop and provide more time for them to do their shopping or eating or dining," said Atito, whose office is downtown, on Lytton Avenue. Having downtown employees, like those at his office, to move their cars every two hours wastes time and hurts productivity, he also argued.

Store managers, not surprisingly, supported Atito's idea, after relishing the extra time for their shoppers this month. Dave Durney, the store manager for the kitchen supply store Domus, said that once a customer's two hours are up "they tend to leave the area."

Two garages -- the Webster Street/Cowper Avenue garage and the one under City Hall -- already provide three-hour parking. --Bill D'Agostino

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