In their letter published in the Nov. 16 Chestnut Hill Local, the Chestnut Hill Parking Foundation Board of Directors announced to the community their intention  to raise the fees for those who  park in their network of lots.  They also briefly summarize the history of the Parking Foundation since its founding in the 1950s to combat the flight of car-driving shoppers to suburban locations which offered expansive, free parking. 

Unmentioned in this telling is the role the business people of Chestnut Hill played in the program.  Although there was a fee charged to those parking in the lots, a shopper could avoid any cost by requesting validation on their parking ticket at the time of their purchase from a participating business.

I became aware of how this system worked when I opened my own  business ( a dental practice) on Germantown Avenue in 1976.  I purchased validation stickers by the roll at the Community Association office, and affixed them on the tickets my patients had received from the lot attendant.  Thus, I, as a business person, was sharing in the cost of these lots as well as the benefits of their existence.

While the technology of the ticket/sticker system is certainly behind us, why isn't the Parking Foundation looking for ways that the business community, which benefits mightily from these lots, can share these costs?

John P. Grigger

Lower Gwynedd