In a nutshell, they have been grandfathered in but are under the gun to fix the problem. It is now the City’s job to make sure they do it.

Further clarity, here.

My comments were directed “in general”.

I’m not satisfied with the status quo, much less the vacancies.

However, we the people, are responsible for our leadership, and Nov 3 will reveal ………….
1) The level of citizen participation
2) Citizen review of the leadership

Being a tax paying property owner in the City of Kenmore combined with my level of participation in community and government I am quite comfortable casting stones. However, this is not about me. This is about people that quite literally begged and pleaded for their positions of leadership in this city. I find it unacceptable to paint the members of our local government in the light of victim and blame citizens for not participating.

The economic downturn is not a blanket answer for everything:

The economy had already driven off the cliff and we all knew we (the City of Kenmore) would be stuck with an undeveloped strip mall, when the City Council decided to plow forward with a new City Hall.

The City Council ignored the thousands of empty (and soon to be empty) square feet of retail space owned by the City and signed a lease for a temporary City Hall.

Kenmore Village is a great idea. However, it is the job of government to build infrastructure. It is not the position of government to gamble with tax dollars as a developer of commercial retail space and private condominiums.

The City Council’s complete mismanagement of Kenmore Village has chased away every tenant in the complex. That is not about the economy. Those businesses are still open (or opening) in other commercial spaces and in some cases other communities.

They deserve criticism.

Remember, until you’ve got one or more solid alternative(s), in a lousy economy don’t kill what’s working ….. and providing some local employment and outside awareness of Kenmore.

Remember Murphy’s Auction was here before many of us. I’d be surprised if their senior management isn’t doing some long term, measured planning with declining parking a likely reality.

All I’m saying is it’s real easy to cast stones. Building a community figuratively and literally takes years of hard work …… a continuum, educated decisions and crystal balls.

Business retention and recruitment takes all of us to spend and promote locally and participate in the public process …… as agonizingly slow as that may be.

Ask yourself …….. what have I done or am I doing, in a positive and sustained manner, to improve Kenmore.

When was the last time you contacted and had coffee with a city councilperson, or senior staffer?

When was the last time you gave your 3 minutes of public comment on any subject at a regular council meeting,

When was the last time you attended the quarterly Kenmore City Council Town Hall meetings (Q&A).

When was the last time you approached an outside business to relocate to Kenmore.

Big ideas take either big money (now that’s a real double edge sword), or lots of little incremental steps.

Downtown property acquisition and consolidation was and remains a good idea. No one anticipated the current economic climate. But, certainly more needs to be done to better manage it in the short run.

My two bits.

None the less I think your question is a great one. It seems most of the congestion comes on weekends when parking could be made available at Nothshore Utilities & (the new) City Hall. I would hope that local government entities will work with a long time Kenmore business.