By Pacific Coast Business Times Staff Monday, July 26th, 2010

At Andria’s Seafood Restaurant and Market in the Ventura Harbor, there’s been an odd quirk in the business this summer: Sales are down by about 10 percent, but not all the time.

Manager Frederico Castro said it’s only happening on weekends, and only during the daytime — in other words, only during hours that customers now have to pay to park.

The parking problem is literally textbook economics: When you have shortages of something and people waiting in long lines for it, raise the price and people will consume less. Shortage problem solved.

But at the Ventura Harbor Village shopping center, some business owners say the harbor management’s recent move to start charging for parking has been driving their customers away, instead of opening up more spaces for them.

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