'Unethical' parking tickets hurting Visalia's downtown, business owner says

VISALIA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) - A concern proprietor successful Visalia has taken it upon himself to pass those walking oregon driving done downtown that the metropolis is making "unethical revenue" disconnected its visitors.

Owner of Crawdaddy's successful Visalia Keith Korsgaden says helium has taken it upon himself to enactment up informing signs adjacent the edifice aft aggregate "close calls" and parking tickets person impacted his customers.

"I virtually had customers accidental 'I americium ne'er coming downtown anymore'," Korsgarden said. "Everybody gets upset erstwhile they get a parking usurpation and immoderate of them are deserved - but there's immoderate tickets that person been issued that person been truly uncool."

Korsgaden says adjacent transportation drivers person been cited aft lone a fewer minutes of being parked adjacent the restaurant.

"The different time I had a person of excavation present a mates of cases of wine," Korsgarden said. "He wasn't determination 5 minutes and helium got it: $40 parking ticket."

Korsgarden says the parking summons contented is adjacent much frustrating erstwhile radical connected skateboards and bicycles are not cited, adjacent erstwhile they are a hazard.

"The elevator is close astir the country from the parking store wherever they travel racing down the parking store and astir wounded 1 of my customers," Korsgarden said. "I've seen not 1 skateboarder fixed a summons violation."

Downtown Visalia does diagnostic signs that explicitly prohibition the usage of skateboards and bicycles connected the sidewalk, including the ones extracurricular Korsgarden's restaurant.

Korsgarden says helium understands it's easier to enforce parking, but helium says the fig of tickets handed retired has not lone impacted Downtown Visalia's customers - but everyone who works there.

"Some of these small boys and girls are moving part-time astatine the restaurants, successful the movie theaters. You know, they're depressed. They get a $40 ticket. Maybe they worked 3 hours. You cognize that, by the clip they paid for gas, they worked for free."

In effect to Korsgarden's contented and the signs helium has enactment up adjacent Crawdaddy's, the City of Visalia issued the pursuing statement:

The City of Visalia has a Parking Enforcement Unit, similar astir municipalities, that show for parking violations and contented citations arsenic appropriate. We besides person a HOPE Team and Downtown Policing Officer who enactment proactively to code each issues of nationalist information successful downtown, arsenic good arsenic with those who are experiencing homelessness. 

The City of Visalia

Korsgarden says helium stands with the Visalia Police Department and Visalia City Council - but helium wants to spot thing done astir Downtown Visalia's parking issues and radical disrupting the businesses connected skateboards and bicycles.

"I'm not heartless, but you can't travel down present and origin problems," Korsgarden said. "You don't person to person six metropolis assembly meetings and a large powwow, conscionable bash it. We request to marque downtown a affable place."