An ugly towing incident and lost visitors for good

So I was privy to another ugly towing incident yesterday. This specific parking spot has been discussed over and over again, it was the subject at a parking meeting last October. The location is one parking space at Fuller Street and Main Highway, in front of Florentine Plaza. It's been an ugly and embarrassing thing for the Grove for years and the city nor the BID seems to want to do anything about it.

It's supposed to be a loading zone, only no one uses it as a loading zone. The space was empty when UPS parked in the center of the street here and then later the plumbing truck took the space. The plumber told me he can park there because he is commercial. The UPS truck doesn't use the space at all. It basically lies in wait as cars come, park and get towed, sort of like an assembly line.

Anyway, as I was walking down the street I saw a lady yelling to Grove merchants about her car being towed. If you look at the sign, it is confusing because while it says "no parking" there is also the info to pay for parking. So people park there, go to a restaurant or store and then are towed. Not ticketed - towed.

In the end, the store they were shopping in lost a few hundred dollars, I was told by the store owner that they lost $400, which was left at the cash register because this towing incident happened while they were about to pay.

The lady told me they had not been to the Grove for 20 years, and I am guessing that it will be another 20 before they return. I was standing at the parking space with a few people for a little while and we shooed away quite a few cars, catching people before they paid for parking. So it's an ongoing issue and confusing for people parking.

If the city wanted to do something right, they would put up a large "NO PARKING" or "LOADING ZONE" sign on a pole right next to this sign, which is right at the parking space. 

Last week cars were towed in front of the 24 Hour Fitness Gym and they are constantly being towed on Main Highway and Commodore Plaza, on the side of the street where that unused info booth is.

It's a scam and it hurts the Grove in the short and long run, because people don't return and businesses lose business. The only people who prosper are the city and the towing company and Uber, because people take Uber to pick up their cars in some god awful place in the northwest area somewhere.

That miserable booting company is awful, too.

On Sunday morning, about 8 am, I was leaving the gym. I was parked on Grand Avenue, one of maybe four cars parked that time of day and the booting company came by. The guy stopped the truck right in front of me and stared at me, giving me a menacing look. I don't know why, they don't boot people on the street and it was too early to feed the meter and I was standing at the car. But they are so used to being miserable bastards, that that is their demeanor. They stare people down as if they own the neighborhood.

You would think that people would get a break just for coming to the Grove during this total mess of a village between the streets that are closed by developers, blocked parking spaces and closed sidewalks. They should be rewarded for coming here, not towed.

I'm not sure why people cannot be ticketed rather than booted and/or towed, but we are losing people who spend money here, big time. I know it has something to with private lots, but the street parking spaces are not private lots and in other cities, the parking authority tickets cars even in private lots, rather than towing them.