May 3, 2013
Social media went all quivery this week over a parking dispute.
From the south side of State Street in Fondren, Laurie Bertram Roberts from the Jackson Area National Organization for Women and an advocate for the Jackson Women's Health Organization—the state's last abortion clinic—called for a boycott of Fondren Guitars.
On the north side, Patrick Harkins, owner of the music store (which is located across State Street from JWHO), put up at least one handmade sign that said: "Absolutely No Clinic Parking. You Will Be Towed." Roberts says Harkins was true to his word, having one clinic patient's car towed from the property.
Parking in Fondren is at a premium, especially in the block between Fondren Place and Duling Avenue—home to a number of stores and restaurants with few readily available parking options beyond the head-in parking spaces on State Street. On busy days, parkers might circle the block a few times before settling on a spot some distance away.
Roberts claims that "everyone" parks in the unmarked spaces shared by Lenny's Subs, Fondren Guitars and the U.S. Post Office on the corner of Fondren Place and State Street, including customers of Rooster's, Basil's and other establishments in the Fondren Corner Building. Caf-fiends headed for Sneaky Beans coffee shop and even diners at Walker's Drive In sometimes park in the lot, she said. Some of the spaces are clearly marked as reserved for the three tenants of the property, but several of them are unmarked.
Harkins is targeting clinic patients, Roberts said, which she calls "unfair." She called on Harkins to do the right thing and complain to police about anti-abortion protesters following patients to their cars with their signs instead of barring patients from the lot.
For his part, Harkins says he just wants to ensure that his customers and guitar students can find a convenient place to park when they come to his store.
"My customers can't park there because the spots are being filled up," Harkins said. "I've even had customers call me and say, 'Hey, we'd like to come, but the parking is so bad we're going to go somewhere else.'"
A full lot, in other words, costs him business.
The property is privately owned, which means the owners and tenants presumably have every right to restrict parking, but Harkins seemed to realize that he may not used the best means to reach a resolution. By Thursday morning, he had removed the offending signs. Harkins replaced them Friday, however, with generic versions that warn space seekers that the lot is private and all spaces are reserved for the lot's three tenants.
Wayward parkers will still be towed.
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