Council asks for shuttle parking enforcement

KEMAH — City council members agreed it was impractical to amend Kemah’s parking ordinance to make entertainment district businesses provide spaces for employees.

Council members encouraged business owners to enforce employee parking under the state Highway 146 bridge and take a shuttle to the entertainment district.

The city could not account for the number of employees at every business, Mayor Matt Wiggins said.

Kemah’s parking ordinance requires businesses to have a parking space for every 100 square feet in the building. Hotels and motels are required to have a space for each guest room.

A business in the entertainment district can buy parking spots anywhere in the district.

Boardwalk employees who park in free spaces in the Lighthouse District take away spaces for paying customers, Mike Edwards, owner of hot-dog restaurant Central Park USA, 609 Bradford Ave., said.

Edwards said he timed Boardwalk employees who have parked in front of his Toucan Alley business for as long as 14 hours.

Lighthouse District business owners have not consistently notified the Boardwalk when employees park there, Keith Beitler, a senior vice president with Landry’s Restaurants, said.

Boardwalk employees could have their cars towed if they don’t park under the state Highway 146 bridge, Beitler said.

A two-hour free parking limit in the entertainment district would prevent employees from occupying prime spaces, Councilman Brenton Spry said.

The council postponed a decision on ending a $40,000 parking agreement with Landry’s Restaurants Inc. that allows the Kemah Boardwalk to charge for parking in a city lot at Harris Avenue and Sixth Street.

Ending a parking lease with the Boardwalk will not alleviate parking troubles but might bring in more money for the city, Kerber said.

The council will pursue the meters only if the machines generate more money for the city than leasing the lot to the Boardwalk, Wiggins said.

Associated Time and Parking Controls will make a presentation about the company’s parking meter services at the Aug. 2 city council meeting.

Installing meters would come with substantial overhead costs, and the city would not make a profit, Spry said.

“We’re a victim of our own success,” Councilman Wayne Rast said. “There’s no easy way to solve the problem, but parking meters should be a last resort.”