When we require every property downtown to have its own parking lot, we destroy the walkability of our downtowns. Sebastopol Avenue in downtown Sebastopol is a perfect example. This is the east-west route through downtown and the only entrance to Sebastopol if you are coming from the east. It takes you directly into the core of downtown. It is very car-oriented and not at all pleasant to walk along. One of the primary reasons this is an upleasant walk is all of the parking lots and their associated curb cuts. Every property on this stretch has its own private parking lot, all of which have vehicular access from Sebastopol Avenue. Businesses also become very possessive of their private parking lots which does not support the idea of ‘park once and walk’ which is what we should be promoting downtown.

There are three adjacent properties on Sebastopol Avenue which contain a Napa Auto Parts, a Goodwill and the Sebastopol Liquor and Delicatessen. Each has its own parking lot with a curb cut onto Sebastopol Ave. The liquor store actually has 2 curb cuts.

 

 

 

Napa Auto street view

Goodwill street view

Sebastopol Liquor and Deli street view

The downtown commercial parking requirement is 1 space for every 500 sf. The Napa Auto building is 11,640 sf so it requires 23 parking spaces. It contains 24 parking spaces. The Goodwill is 4,950 and would require 10 parking spaces. It contains 9. The liquor store is 3,000 sf which requires 6 parking spaces. It has 16. My casual observation is that the Goodwill has the most customers of the 3 businesses. And its parking lot is the only one of the 3 that I have ever sees completely full  (It’s actually completely full on a pretty regular basis).

And yet, both the Napa Auto and The Liquor Store/Deli have signs actively prohibiting Goodwill customers from using their parking lots. The Goodwill does not have a sign prohibiting Liquor Store or Napa Auto customers from their lot. Largely because those lots ALWAYS have available space.

Sign on the Goodwill building, facing the Napa Auto parking lot

Sign on the liquor store, facing the Goodwill property

There is simply no way the Napa Auto is going to use all 24 spaces, or the liquor store is going to use all 16 spaces. I personally believe they should allow their parking to be shared by nearby businesses. Really what harm would there be? What if you are patronizing both Napa Auto and Goodwill? Are you supposed to move your car from the Napa Auto lot once you finish your business there? This makes no sense, particularly in the core of our downtown when we are trying to encourage a ‘park once and walk’ approach to moving people around downtown. And maybe if you let Goodwill patrons park in your lot, maybe they would spend some time at your businesses as well.

There is a distinct difference between Sebastopol Avenue and the Main Street core of downtown. Main Street has been built as a traditional downtown that is pedestrian oriented since it was built before we required every property to have its own parking lot. Even without their own parking lots, people still able to patronize those businesses. Imagine that! Sebastopol Avenue is a great example of what happens when you require every business to have its own parking lot which results in the complete degradation of the pedestrian experience.  If we want to improve the walkability of downtown, we need to rethink our parking requirements. Otherwise we’re just in doom loop where requiring every property to have its own parking lot continues to degrade the pedestrian experience.

Where would you rather walk?

Sebastopol Avenue sidewalk

Main Street sidewalk