Point Reyes Light- July 27, 2000

Bolinas parking riddle makes for one sorry mother

Members of a Bolinas Public Utility District committee have given themselves until December to solve a downtown parking problem as perplexing as the "Riddle of the Sphinx."

And like King Oedipus, whose misfortune it was to solve the riddle, the committee will probably come up with an answer that involves varying degrees of walking.

In Bolinas, the overwhelming problem is the insufficient number of parking spaces downtown for residents, beachgoers, and Bolinas store customers.

Even if the committee can reach a consensus on the best ways to deal with the problem, it will have the authority only to make recommendations to Bolinas Public Utility District, noted Phil Binley, committee chairman.

BPUD authority limited

BPUD, in turn, will have the authority only to make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors, noted manager Phil Buchanan. In fact, the committee grew out of an April 19 town meeting with Supervisor Steve Kinsey, Community Development Director Alex Hinds, and other county staff, Buchanan added.

The committee's 15 members meet at 7 p.m. the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month in the utility district office on Elm Road. However, the committee requires a 50 percent quorum to meet, so any member who misses three or more consecutive meetings without special permission will be dropped, and Binley last week predicted the committee will be getting smaller.

The committee's stated objectives include coming up with a "plan [that] would embrace the spirit of our unique committee. While no plan is apt to receive full community support, some ideas are apt to receive overwhelming condemnation."

Parking meters unlikely

For example, the committee says it will "make recommendations on long-term strategies [such as a] parking district, village association, parking meters, parking lots, [and] shuttles."

However, parking meters are among those ideas expected to "receive overwhelming condemnation," Binley acknowledged.

As part of the parking study, the committee will make recommendations on "traffic patterns, managing tourism, pedestrian and cycling concerns," the group has stated.

Apart from discussions of parking meters, managing tourism, and bicycling, the rest of the suggestions now scheduled for evaluation assume that people will probably have to do some walking to get around downtown.

Binley said his committee will have to decide "what's appropriate." For example, he said, "I think painting [parking-space] lines on the street in Bolinas would be an extreme case."

"Each recommendation," noted the committee's stated objectives, "would be supported by some cost-benefit analysis."

Point Reyes Light Cover | News | Coastal Traveler