See thats the problem. People are getting bent out of shape that they are trying to stop divers.
The reality of it is, this is a small area at the end of a service road. My understanding was it was for emergency vehicles back in the day. Pretty much just a road way leading to a dock in the middle of a huge residential area, a place that rescue boats could drop off there victims to awaiting transportation.
this area is not a kept up parking lot, it at the best of times tends to be a muddy opening, If correct parked you can slot in 8-10 cars. Which is where the issues are coming.
Any given weekend in the summer you will have 20+ cars parked here some are locals using the area but 90% of them are divers whom do not live within the town... Blocking access to the dock, blocking resident drive ways and causing general traffic head aches.
The local councilors has been pleading to the divers to back off, come back during the less attractive times for the locals, car pool do something.. he has gotten pretty much no assistance and has been forced to where he is. Its been an on going issue for years!
This pas saturday alone, as i have said My dive buddy and I showed up at just about 9am.. to find the last parking spot to find cars parked in wired angles and to find that of the 20+ divers there we had never seen one of them before... Which is hard to believe when we dive there 3-4 times a week and know the local shops and instructors.
Paying for parking there - was something they thought up last year to put in wireless units that you would park buy a ticket and display it in your window.. However s Steve said above people will pay it. The 20+ cars are going to be willing to pay the few bucks to park there cars there for that time frame, which again they are there before locals are even out of bed and we still have the issue at hand, The local's are not able to use the resources they are paying for.
I really hate to say it, but the divers using the area for personal use don't always seem to be the issue i mean they are the same guys/ girls who come out just about every night/ weekend.. we are the same ones who do the cleanups, run the lines, maintain the lines and pick up after the others.
The odd shop that is there from time to time is not always the issue at hand.
Its when you get that really nice weekend, 9am and you have 3 dive shops and 2 dive clubs jocking for space... You have the entire parking area full of cars double parked, You have trucks parked on the beach, you have a line of cars going up a already single lane road and the local who live there can't get into there homes!
And what happens.
Out of town shops ( Non with in this cities limits ) come into this city, use there facilities - limit the use of the area to the people who are paying good money to live there for that reason and then they take off at the end of there day and dump all there money into another cities income only because they are located better.
And one thing that drives me up a wall is!
10 Divers for from one class all show up spend an hour talking as friends, get in and do a 30 min dive and then spend 2 hours talking about it... MOVE Your butts out of the parking area.. Take it to the local restaurant and discuss the dive over some food and drinks! It's a very limited area and out of the 6 hours the area is taken up diving is only occourying for an hour of it.
