metro

Parking changes planned

New city parking measures call for restaurants and bars to ensure adequate parking space for customers.

Land and business owners that offer surplus space for parking lots will be exempted from some taxes.

NORIEL GUTIERREZ/LA PRENSA

parking jam: Competition for parking space in the city is getting tighter as 3,000-plus cars are registered in the Municipio de Panamá every month. 1068890

More than 3,000 new cars are registered in the Municipio de Panamá every month, making the competition for a parking space in the city increasingly fierce.

Every day, some 250,000 vehicles circulate on downtown streets, creating a kind of urban musical chairs every time a parking space becomes available.

In light of the crunch, city treasurer Mario Miranda says parking zoning and etiquette has changed.

“Where there is a municipal parking lot, you can use it. Before, merchants monopolized the parking lot space in front of their shops, and even paid for the use of municipal spaces nearby,” he said. “That’s no longer allowed.”

Most of the criticism received by the city council concerns the paucity of parking on Vía España, Vía Argentina and the downtown banking centers.

In these and other busy areas, self-appointed parking attendants make a job out of guiding cars into available parking spots, for which they expect a tip. These attendants are known as “bien cuidados.”

One bien cuidado, who asked to be called Rogelio, said he has been in the business 20 years. He denied criticism that the unofficial parking attendants cause disorder on the streets. On the contrary, he said, parking is more orderly because of their work ensuring that vehicles are in designated areas and safe.

Rogelio explained that the work brings in between $10 and $20 a day, money that goes to keep his child fed and clothed.

Meanwhile, Treasurer Miranda announced that a new municipal agreement stipulating that anyone with an empty lot wiling tol make it available for parking would be exempt from paying taxes on the property and obtaining a building permit.

Another city measure calls for restaurants and bars to make available adequate parking for their customers. And a system will soon go into effect allowing residents to park in designated pay-parking lots with the purchase of a special decal. The decal will cost $100 and will be need to be renewed each year at the time of the vehicle’s registration.