In the Nov. 5 Times/News and at highlinetimes.com we reported that some merchants have complained about Burien's two-hour parking limit along Southwest 152nd Street during business hours.

The merchants say that sometimes a party or group meeting goes a little bit over the limit and customers receive $50 parking citations from the city. Parking meters or temporary party permits were suggested as possible alternatives.

We asked our readers for their comments on the situation and promised we would publish the comments.
Here is a letter we received form a Burien businessperson:

I am a local business owner. I own a stained glass studio. I have been in business in Burien since 1974.
We moved from Olde Burien in 1989 and have been at 648 S.W. 152nd since then.
We hold classes on Wednesdays at our studio. When the parking enforcement was enacted I contacted the city to see if we could get some sort of extension for our loyal students. We hold classes for 3 hours at a time. We were told no. So we put up a sign to help students to not receive tickets. That does not always work. We have had several students receive tickets and have at least two that have refused to return and have said they would no longer support the restaurants in town.

I had a similar ticket happen to me in another town and have not frequented that neighborhood again. It is really sad to me to be an unfriendly town when we need all the business we can get.

Kathy Johnson
Glass Expressions

Here are comments from our website:

2 hours means 2 hours . . . if you are late you pay. If I am late paying my bill, I pay more, too. Because you're a business, you are special? I don't think so.

R. Dulaney

One of the roles of government is to create a climate where businesses can be successful. Over taxing and over regulating is a discouragement to those that create businesses and those that patronize businesses. Think about the sales tax lost for the city and merchandise purchases lost from the businesses because customers choose to shop where parking is free. Parking meters are just another way to tax the public.

Doris

Thank you for responding.