Wednesday, January 23, 2008 Six month pay parking test up at old auditorium site By Rimaliza Opiña
JEEPS, vans and other vehicles, which previously parked for free at the lot formerly occupied by the old city auditorium, would now be made to pay for use of the site, for six months.
The City Council approved on final reading Tuesday, the proposed ordinance that mandates payment for use of the site.
The experiment takes effect, once Mayor Reinaldo Bautista Jr. signs the ordinance.
Pay parking rates for buses is pegged at P40 for the first hour and the P10 for succeeding hours, for tourist vans, pick-up and jeeps is at P20 for the first hour and P10 for the succeeding hours; for motorcycles, P10 for the first hour and P5 for the succeeding hours, while overnight parking is for P200.
Cargo or delivery trucks and public utility vehicles are barred from using the area to unload products, as a terminal, repair or car wash area.
Councilor Elaine Sembrano voted against the proposal after learning that while the Council is studying how to utilize the lot, the mayor wrote Philippine Tourism Authority chair Robert Dean Barbers and requested for the allocation P4 million for the improvement of the lot and for the construction of stalls for Burnham vendors.
During the previous deliberations of the City Council, Councilors Nicasio Palaganas and Erdolfo Balajadia proposed the restoration of old auditorium.
Their proposal was referred to the City Planning and Development Office for study.
Sembrano later told reporters that having permanent stalls there might result to the further sprouting of vendors in Burnham. She said the park might become another Mines View Park, because of the excessive number of souvenir stalls. The Department of Tourism re-classified the area, from a park to a shopping center.
Meanwhile, 17 vendors who sell refreshments at the Abad Santos drive were transferred yesterday to the old city auditorium site, in preparation for the market encounter, which starts on February 1.
