Kemah parking plan just wasn’t practical

In Kemah, the city council rejected an idea that made a lot of sense. It did so for an unusual reason: The idea was impractical.

Parking spaces are hard to find in Kemah’s entertainment district. So why can’t the city force businesses to require their employees to park under the state Highway 146 bridge and shuttle them to and from the entertainment district?

The answer is, even if you agree it’s a good idea, it’s just not practical.

The city has the resources to encourage businesses to be good corporate citizens and to do that. It doesn’t, as a practical matter, have the resources to require that.

The city couldn’t possibly account for every employee of every company in the city’s entertainment district. It couldn’t, in other words, enforce such a requirement fairly.

It’s a good standing question to ask about any proposed ordinance: Can anyone enforce it fairly?