GRAND HAVEN, Mich — Even on a normal day, finding accessible parking for Sarah Dahl's wheelchair van can be a task in Grand Haven. Her 16-year-old daughter requires the modified van to get around.
"Sometimes it's hard to get down here," said Dahl. "We find a problem with parking in general because it draws such a crowd, it's kind of a touristy town."
However, on summer days with downtown events, especially at the Grand Haven marina's parking lot, Dahl says you can forget about it.
"Sometimes the events have blocked off areas where they're kind of reserved, tow-a-way zones," said Dahl.
On Sunday afternoon, Dahl says she came to the Marina parking lot, next to the city's Amphitheatre, to find blocked off handicap-accessible parking spots, and said she couldn't find parking for her van.
Accessible spots will usually close down in parking lots for vendors or event staff for a limited amount of time, usually from noon to 9:00 p.m.
13 ON YOUR SIDE reached out to City Manager Ashely Latsch about the issue. Latsch said over the phone that when spots are blocked off for events, an equal amount of spots are designated in a different spot of the lot.
However, Dahl says those spots don't give enough space for van-accessible spots.
"We'll get down here and there's nothing open and we'll rove around until there's another spot," said Dahl.
Kristin Favreau and her husband Dean own the store Peace Frogs right next to the Marina Parking Lot. They said they've seen first hand the troubles those who need accessibility parking have.
"With that shift, we have forgotten to mark van-accessible parking," said Kristin. "So we no longer have you can get a van in to get a ramp out. We no longer have that option."