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Once upon a time, the late Doug Caldart insisted the only parking problem in La Conner was when there were no cars here to fill spaces in front of closed and boarded up storefronts.

Those days are long gone.

For decades the issue has instead been there are too few parking spaces available to handle increased traffic downtown.

Shortage of parking is now a major topic residents gave voice to at the La Conner Town Council hybrid meeting at Maple Hall Oct. 11.

Center and Morris Street residents do not believe there is enough parking for the 21-unit condominium building behind The Slider Café and the Firehall brewery planned next to Pioneer Market.

They contend the housing project will take half the 31 parking spaces required of the café in 1989 when the Town approved an application for a restaurant. The result, they noted, will be more parking shifting onto neighborhood streets.

Longtime resident Linda Talman said the situation has become so dire that at least one business short on parking has attempted to lease spaces from a nearby business.

“We need to know a whole lot more,” Talman said. “Why are they borrowing spaces from almost across the street?”

Provisions allowing businesses to pay the Town fees in lieu of providing required parking spaces “doesn’t help the neighborhood,” she said.

Lifelong resident Gary Nelson said his home at Fourth and Morris streets will be directly impacted by the two projects.

“What I see coming,” Nelson said, “is serious conflict (over parking) between the grocery store and the brewery. People aren’t willing to walk far. It will impact my house and block my driveway. 306 (Center Street) and the brewery will have a direct impact on me and my neighbors and I think that’s an egregious error.”

The Council, as is its policy, did not respond.

Ironically, the tourist industry – which brings cars to town – has helped generate increased sales tax revenues that could fund pressing budget priorities.

The Town, said Councilmember MaryLee Chamberlain, needs to set aside funds for capital improvement projects, such as replacement of the Skagit Beach water line and mandated upgrades to the wastewater treatment plant.

“It feels good,” Chamberlain said, “to have a little extra money coming in.”

Mayor Ramon Hayes confirmed that assessment, saying “We have some large infrastructure needs and challenges ahead.”

Speeding traffic remains a challenge. Digital speed signs installed in heavy traffic volume areas on Maple Avenue and North Third Street are not enough. More remedies are needed, residents say.

Sgt. Beau Montgomery, of the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office La Conner detachment, said more traffic patrols have been assigned to Maple Avenue, calling it “an emphasis area.”

Another option is stretching the Town public works budget next year to purchase “speed cushions” for use on non-arterial streets.

Resident Marilyn Thostenson, earlier praised for having donated the Roger Small sculpture “The Visionary,” now installed at the foot of the Benton Street stairway, shared her experiences with wayward motorists in front of her Whatcom Street home next to Snapdragon Hill.

“I’ve had three trucks in my yard,” she said. “They’ve never left messages, just (vehicle) body parts.”

Thostenson said a deterrent, such as speed cushions, would be more effective than signage.

In other Council business:

*Members unanimously approved a new noise ordinance reducing construction hours in residential areas.

* Council approved paving work by C. Johnson Construction at the wastewater treatment plant.

*Public Works Director Brian Lease, answering Councilmember Annie Taylor’s question, said that the salmon slide at Conner Waterfront Park faces either demolition and replacement or a $30,000 rebuild.

*Town Administrator Scott Thomas said the Jenson property is expected to close at the end of the month.

*Hayes said that he has sold his downtown jewelry store. “Tomorrow my business officially transfers,” he said, “and I will be gainfully unemployed.”