Melilli Plaza Parking Lot Back on Front Burner at Public Works

The Melilli Plaza Parking Lot is back on the agenda of the Public Works Commission this Wednesday, Jan 13, at 5:30 p.m. in Room 208 of the Municipal Building. At its December meeting, the Commission voted unanimously to postpone the project until the arrival of the Director of the newly created Parking Department and take a fresh look at the plan. No new Parking Director is in place at this time.

Mature Trees at Risk

Director Bill Russo brought the matter before the Chamber of Commerce’s Central Business Bureau last week, eliciting strong support from that group to convince Commissioners Streeto, Klattenberg, and Bauer to move the project forward this spring. The Chamber's Central Business Bureau promised its support. Russo said that the Urban Forestry Commission supports the plan and that he agreed to the addition of an oil separator to treat run-off, since Planning Department Bill Warner had said that this would be required if the project were a private one. According to Russo, the plan calls for the removal of 11 trees and the addition of 45 new trees around the perimeter. He also said that trees in the interior of the lot would interfere with surveillance cameras to be installed for public safety. Mayor Giuliano said that even if the existing trees were spared, the removal of pavement and extensive re-grading required to join the lots would very likely result in the trees dying a few years later anyway.

Cost of Plan Doubles

The plan was originally budgeted at $400,000 with that amount of funding available from federal dollars. The Cost for the plan has escalated to a range of between $800,000 to $1 million. Public works commissioners David Bauer and Ron Klattenberg are already on record as saying that the increase in cost is enough to scuttle the plan. Simply repairing and repaving the present lot would cost $400,000.

No Net Parking Gain; Environmental Damage Suggested

Last month, about a dozen citizens and representatives of local environmental groups spoke at the Public Works Commission in favor of saving as many of the existing trees as possible, treating storm water run-off, incorporating some low-impact design features such as some pervious pavement, and including into the design the possibility of improving access to Harbor Park through the existing, adjacent tunnel under route 9. Planning and Zoning Commissioner Catherine Johnson argued that there is no need to join the lots and pointed out that no additional spaces will be gained by doing so. Others protested that the plan is too expensive at a time when the city is facing serious budget pressure.