‘Unethical’ parking tickets hurting Visalia’s downtown, business owner says

VISALIA, Calif. ( KSEE/KGPE ) – A business owner in Visalia has taken it upon himself to warn those walking or driving through downtown that the city is making “unethical revenue” off its visitors.

Owner of Crawdaddy’s in Visalia Keith Korsgaden says he has taken it upon himself to put up warning signs near the restaurant after multiple “close calls” and parking tickets have impacted his customers.

“I literally had customers say ‘I am never coming downtown anymore’,” Korsgaden said. “Everybody gets upset when they get a parking violation and some of them are deserved – but there’s some tickets that have been issued that have been really uncool.”

Korsgaden says even delivery drivers have been cited after only a few minutes of being parked near the restaurant.

“The other day I had a friend of mine deliver a couple of cases of wine,” Korsgaden said. “He wasn’t there five minutes and he got it: $40 parking ticket.”

Korsgaden says the parking ticket issue is even more frustrating when people on skateboards and bicycles are not cited, even when they are a hazard.

“The elevator is right around the corner from the parking garage where they come racing down the parking garage and almost hurt one of my customers,” Korsgaden said. “I’ve seen not one skateboarder given a ticket violation.”

Downtown Visalia does feature signs that explicitly ban the use of skateboards and bicycles on the sidewalk, including the ones outside Korsgaden’s restaurant.

Korsgaden says he understands it’s easier to enforce parking, but he says the number of tickets handed out has not only impacted Downtown Visalia’s customers – but everyone who works there.

“Some of these little boys and girls are working part-time at the restaurants, in the movie theaters. You know, they’re depressed. They get a $40 ticket. Maybe they worked three hours. You know that, by the time they paid for gas, they worked for free.”

In response to Korsgaden’s issue and the signs he has put up near Crawdaddy’s, the City of Visalia issued the following statement:

The City of Visalia has a Parking Enforcement Unit, like most municipalities, that monitor for parking violations and issue citations as appropriate. We also have a HOPE Team and Downtown Policing Officer who work proactively to address all issues of public safety in downtown, as well as with those who are experiencing homelessness.

The City of Visalia

Korsgaden says he stands with the Visalia Police Department and Visalia City Council – but he wants to see something done about Downtown Visalia’s parking issues and people disrupting the businesses on skateboards and bicycles.

“I’m not heartless, but you can’t come down here and cause problems,” Korsgaden said. “You don’t have to have six city council meetings and a big powwow, just do it. We need to make downtown a friendly place.”

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