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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (April 3, 1980)
^ ^ be ^^ ^ o a Dout overcrowding and parking CO Cj ^ ~ ^. •>—■ .2 « %r£ 3 ~ v £ % Si gy 1 - 1 *p g- * ~ v High-rise parking, one sugges tion, is said not to be feasible be cause of the expense. The possibility of converting the Northgate area into a pedestrian district by closing off through traffic on Patricia Street, remodeling the front of businesses facing the Uni versity and building stores that back up to the rear of existing businesses has not been looked upon as a favorable solution because of its many complications. Paving the lot north of Patricia Street and behind the Northgate bars, having toll parking, or getting additional policing of parking time limits have been some other sug gestions. To pave the Patricia Street lot would cost the merchants about $10,000, Berry said. The lot now has a capacity of about 30 cars, he said, but if the holes and puddles did not have to be avoided, the capacity would be over 65. Ganter said the parking is the City Council’s fault. “They let all these beer joints line up with no parking provisions,” he said. “They let these places come in, then all of a sudden they start crying, ‘On no, what do we do now? There isn’t anywhere to park.’” “It’s not the landowners’ or the merchants’ fault, it’s the city’s, especially the planning and zoning commision,” Ganter said. “I went before them and warned them when the Thirsty Turtle was coming in. I told them there was no parking room and they acted like I was just scared of the competition. “If the council is as interested in parking as they claim, why don’t they do something with the old city hall across from One Potato, Two Potato, off Wellborn? The yard be hind has just got old cars junked in it. It’s just a trash yard. “If it belonged to an individual, they’d (the city) be all over them. If their hearts are in the right place, why don’t they do something with that four acres?” Ganter also said that “the city makes a tremendous amount of money off the Dixie Chicken.” College Station Tax Assessor and Collector Glenn Schroeder said there is no way to tell how much the city makes off the Northgate area. “There is no breakdown,” he said. “The money goes straight to the state comptroller. They collect 5 percent and return 1 percent to Col lege Station on a backlagging monthly basis.” Everywhere one looks there are people on night before spring break, overcrowding a weekend night at Northgate. On one par- violation citations were issued to every ticularly crowded night, the Thursday Northgate bar except Miranda’s. In spite of the ‘‘No Parking” signs in several lots around Said one Illegal parker, “So what, they couldn ’t get In to Northgate, on busy nights cars park in them anyway, get my car out.