The Sunnyvale Sun

News

Parking at a premium despite lack of downtown business

By JASON GOLDMAN-HALL

It is often said Sunnyvale's downtown is empty and lacking the business traffic it once did, but on a busy day--or during lunch hours most weekdays--parking can be hard to find, even in the numerous parking lots around the area.

Some of the cars belong to people who work downtown or park and ride trains from Sunnyvale to various points around the peninsula.

"I had noticed--and I was guilty of it, too--that employees would park in the lots behind [S. Murphy Avenue], and I heard a lot of complaints from customers," said Leigh Odum, owner of Leigh's Favorite Books.

Parking was rarely--if ever--enforced downtown,

Parking, however, has become a valuable commodity in the past year, due largely to the proposed changes to the parking lots around the Town Center Mall.

To make sure parking spaces are being used correctly, the Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety began regular parking enforcement at the end of September. Parking tickets for all spaces are $41 for overstaying a time limit.

Parking in structures and lots, such as those immediately behind the businesses on S. Murphy Avenue, is limited to three-hour stays, and parking on Murphy itself is for one-hour periods.

Parking permits were issued to downtown employees, allowing them to park all day in the underground parking lot below Plaza Del Sol, but Odum said that she doesn't like using the lot due to safety and cleanliness concerns.

"My employees--especially those who don't get off until after dark--feel uncomfortable parking there," Odum said.

Bean Scene manager Linda Lam said most of her employees still use the lot behind the café, between S. Murphy Avenue and Sunnyvale Avenue, and that they have not yet seen a change in enforcement practices.