During the last city council meeting, Patrick Allemand and the group Un autre avenir pour Nice put forward a proposal to extend the free parking time in paid zones to 1 hour instead of the current 30 minutes.
This proposal was not approved by the municipal majority, and the councilor in charge of the dossier, Gael Nofri, highlighted the concept of improving parking flow to justify it, along with the good results obtained after the implementation of this regulation.
Patrick Allemand, who does not lack tenacity, revisits this issue by interpreting a general sense of unease among shopkeepers regarding an alleged crisis in the sector. He acts as a spokesperson for their discomfort, backed by a personal field survey—he claims to have knocked on the doors of 500 businesses—that strengthens his convictions, despite tax administration figures indicating a growth of 3.4% in the metropolis and 6% in Nice.
Of course, the socialist official wants to address the local commerce, which primarily suffers from the competition of shopping centers—an alternative destination for customers who previously frequented downtown or neighborhood shops—that offer “their” parking lots… for free.
In his analysis, there are no shortages of other causes for this regression—real according to him, even if not confirmed by official data—particularly the decrease in purchasing power among retirees, which significantly impacts a population older than the national average. And, at least temporarily, the tramway construction works, especially the sites of future underground stations… a topic always significant for Patrick Allemand!
Finally, while it is true that 1 hour of free parking is more favorable than 1/2 hour, how can the “crisis,” if there is one, of local commerce be mainly attributed to this single measure?
This initiative and those that will follow—(re)proposal of the vote?, gathering signatures?—seem to be a pretext to mount an attack against the Mayor of Nice, who could be accused of being deaf to a request from a category—shopkeepers—that carries weight in the life of the city and… at the ballot box.
We’re not there yet, but it’s a card worth playing!
