Desenzano Launches Paid Parking Amid Complaints and Traffic Disruptions
It was inevitable: on the first day of the “car spot hunt” for business owners and workers in the center of Desenzano, there were service disruptions and some grumbling. “The municipal offices responsible for distributing the payment slip notices were overwhelmed by quite agitated citizens — recounts the Lega councilor Rino Polloni, an eyewitness to the events — due to the payment methods applied and the lack of alternative parking options available, as paying itself does not guarantee a parking spot.”
As is remembered, the Anelli Executive decided last month to impose a parking fee in the historic city center. With the introduction of discounts for business owners and employees and exemption for residents: 60,000 lire per month for the former, 25,000 for the latter. The minimal subscription, non-divisible, was also set at six months.
Results and criticisms of the new tariffing
What happened, then? Many residents turned to request a parking space in the “Vallone” parking lot, where a monthly subscription costs only 20,000 lire, effectively displacing those — teachers, students, workers — who had used it forever. It can therefore be inferred that these latter will be forced to pay 60,000 lire to secure the necessary parking.
According to Polloni, the greater problems also concern the staff working in the high schools in the center (Itc “Bazoli,” “Bagatta” High School, and Ipc “Polo”), nearly 300 people who do not qualify for the discounts.
The parking lots where tickets are now required since yesterday include: piazza Feltrinelli, piazza Cappelletti (existing), via Anelli, Maratona – Navigarda side, and Maratona – Fraglia Vela side. The obligation to pay at these central parking lots was decided to increase municipal revenues.
The administration’s position and official explanations
In fact, Desenzano was the only town along the riviera where the entire center (except for the parking lot at piazza Cappelletti) had free parking spaces. Nonetheless, Achille Benedetti, the councilor tasked with the parking plan, dismisses the event quickly. “I don’t see where the problems are! The truth is, only the 90,000-lire spots remain at “Vallone,” and I also don’t understand where the issues are for Councilor Polloni when, at the Maratona, we haven’t even started charging yet.”
We have offered discounts to both shopkeepers and employees: what more could we have done? Things are working well,” he states.
Mario Marchioni, the Budget assessor, adds: “We are careful not to create instrumentalizations because this is an experiment: in April, we will evaluate the results.”