Gallup’s downtown parking problem
par for the course

Traffic filters through downtown Gallup with many cars parked in front of businesses. [photo by Daniel Zollinger / Independent]

By Kevin Killough
Staff writer

GALLUP — Some downtown business owners are fed up with other business owners and their employees parking on the streets and depriving customers of easy access to parking.

Albert Ortega, owner of High Mesa Bikes and Gear on Coal Avenue, puts it this way: “The parking situation down here sucks.”

Ortega stands out side his shop and points to the cars on the street. He is able to say where each of the drivers work.

”See that red car? Coffee shop,” he says. “We could walk up and down this street and I could tell you whose car is whose. It’s ridiculous.”

Ortega says that because owners and employees take up the limited parking spaces, his customers have the burden of carrying bikes and parts all the way from the city lots. He says the problem is hurting all downtown businesses.

“A lot of these people are killing their own businesses,” he remarks.

The problem is nothing new. When asked if parking is a problem downtown, co-owner of City Electric Shoe Shop, Tony Bonaguidi, says, “For like a hundred years now.”
His grandfather founded the business in 1924, so he’s not entirely exaggerating. He adds that having a lot of cars parked on the street is also a sign that business is good downtown.

“If there’s too many spots, there’s not any business. So, we like it full,” Bonaguidi said.

According to City Attorney Dave Pederson, the city’s parking codes follow uniform laws set by the state. Under these ordinances, signs display the parking restrictions on any street, which is limited to two hours over most of downtown. The penalty assessment for a parking violation downtown is $5.

The fine would only act as a small deterrent, but police currently have their hands full with bigger problems. Deputy Chief of Police John Allen says he’s aware of the problem, but he explains that resources are limited.

“It’s been a problem since I’ve been here, for 15 years now. What we do is priorities ... Do we want to put our officers on drunk drivers or writing parking tickets?” Allen said.

He says that the department has hired uncertified officers who are now doing in-house training. In the next few weeks they will begin foot patrols in the downtown area. Among other duties, they will be attempting to enforce parking restrictions.

Frank Sanchez, who works at Deluxe Hair Stylists, says that many of his customers come from the reservations and carry a lot of expensive items in the back of their pickups, like bumper jacks for when they get stuck in the mud.

“Those are expensive,” he said.

So, they aren’t about to park where they can’t keep an eye on their belongings. Many of them, he says, just avoid the downtown area. Sanchez says that it’s not just enforcing the parking codes, but the problem is also bumper to bumper parking. That requires the difficult task of parallel parking that has been the death of many bumpers and headlights.

Sanchez says the city needs to make Coal Avenue a one-way street like it was in the past. And if they put in angled parking that people can pull straight into, then his customers wouldn’t have to parallel park, either.
“That would be the perfect parking,” he says.

Ortega of High Mesa Bikes points out that angled parking would create more parking spaces. He shows that the city could more than double the spaces, add spaces between them for bike racks and patio dining, and really improve the look of the downtown area — all while helping to alleviate parking problems.

In the end, downtowns are known for this. Bonaguidi points out that this is nothing unique to Gallup.
“What other downtown do you know that doesn’t have a parking problem?” he said.