SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) – A Sorrento Valley resident said the city’s bike lanes are taking away parking spots.
Shweta Shah said the lack of parking space is frustrating and affecting her small business. Shah’s nine-foot-van is her dog groomer’s office – a grooming salon on wheels for pets.
Since starting her dog grooming business last year, Shah has been hounded by the constant battle with bike lanes. “For miles and miles, there is zero street parking. They are all bike lanes.”
Her Sorrento Valley home is a community with an HOA that does not allow commercial vehicles to be parked out in the open. Her garage is not an option, she said. Shah said she tried to park just outside the development on Calle Cristobal, and that is when she noticed the no parking zones.
Shah took her concerns to the city, but quickly realized she was barking up the wrong tree. City officials directed her to private lots where she found a spot – 20 minutes from her home for $200 a month. “Everything that I see around me, for small business people are getting frustrated and packing up and leaving and it’s the truth. It is not just me.”
Shah was hoping for a compromise from the city by maybe allowing her to park on Calle Cristobal for limited overnight hours or create parking zones every so often on the street.
Judi Tentor with Bike San Diego said, “small businesses need breaks but not at the expense of safety. When a car is parked and a bicyclist has to come around into fast moving traffic – it is a great safety concern.”
Judi, who is the executive director of Bike San Diego, said safety cannot be negotiated. Further, Judi said it is important to encourage people to bike to help improve the environment. Taking away bike lanes defeats that purpose.
Judi said she believes the answer to Shah’s problem has to come from her HOA.
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