CORVALLIS, Ore. — The City of Corvallis posted an online survey asking residents their thoughts on the current parking experience in the downtown area. The city is looking to redo the parking situation, which is raising eyebrows among some local business owners.
Along with the numerous shops and restaurants in downtown are countless cars parked in the many street spots and other places throughout the area. Because of the layout of the downtown area, the city is trying to reorganize parking in the area. Lisa Scherf is the Public Transportation Supervisor for the City of Corvallis. Scherf said that the area experiences heavy congestion that is believed to be exacerbated because of the parking situation.
“We currently have kind of a donut around downtown where we have a core of free parking where you are limited to three hours. We have a sort of a ring of paid parking of various time and then beyond that we have free again,” Scherf said. “We’re going to reorganize how that’s laid out so it’s more coherent and that it reduces the extreme congestion and that can be experienced in that core.”
Scherf added that the plans do not intend to remove free parking in Corvallis. However, for local business owners, the red flags and alarms have been sounding ever since they heard about the proposed parking reshuffling. Jason Biga is the owner of Taco Vino in the downtown area. Staunchly apposed to the parking changes, Biga said if free parking be taken away, the businesses are going to suffer…