Here are the highlights:
• There's some talk of adding meters to side streets on the South End of downtown (i.e. Main Street Extension and Old Church Street along the South Green).
•Parking Director Geen Thazhampallath has been meeting with the North End Action Team to discuss parking management strategies that would ease parking problems for residents in the North End.
•Later this Spring, the "Pay by Space" meters in Lot A will be relocated to other city parking areas, and individual meters will be installed in that lot (Lot A is at the corner of Broad and Washington, behind Kidcity & Holy Trinity Church).
•The good news is that the malfunctions which have plagued the gate at Melilli Plaza are getting better....but the bad news is that some problems have sprung up with the in-ground sensors which are supposed to provide 10 minutes free in Main Street spaces - something to do with a software upgrade. If you see a meter that's not working properly, note the meter number and give the Parking Department a call (or flag down one of the attendants walking the beat.) That will protect you from getting a ticket, and will help the department track where repairs are needed.
•Gradually, the department is making some long-needed investments. It's a small thing, but covers were purchased for the Main Street meters. They've got a slot for a sign, so that the department can let drivers know - for example - that parking is free for the holidays, or that the street will be blocked for an event that afternoon.
After the updates, we heard from URS, the firm that's in charge of the design for the proposed parking garage. As they make the rounds to various stakeholder groups, URS is soliciting input on how to take the concept of a multi-level garage to replace the Riverview Arcade to the next phase of design. Then, if the project goes to referendum and passes, construction could potentially begin late in 2013, taking a year or so to build. That's a big if, because it also has to meet the approval of DOT and various other agencies, since a large chunk of the funding would come from the federal earmark that was set aside for downtown parking a LONG time ago (it's been about a decade).
Personally, the Riverview site is not my first choice for new downtown parking. Having said that, my first impression is that this planning is heading in the right direction, and I'm glad for the chance to comment on how I think a garage on that site could best suit our future.
The concepts on the table at this point take the parking from about 300 spaces currently to 500 or 600, depending on the layout (there would be an additional layer to the current garage size, plus a potential for a fourth partial level.) The concept sketches carried the brick-and-arches design of the police station down Dingwall Drive, and didn't seem out of scale with the Main Street neighborhood. If it moves forward, I'm advocating for a Dingwall Drive primary entrance to the garage, just behind First and Last Tavern, and significant retail space along the street, heading down to DeKoven Drive. In addition to the other unanswered questions on this project, the inevitable construction displacement of 300 or so parking spaces is not a small puzzle to solve.
Keep an eye out for future opportunities to comment on the garage design - this is where an active community can make the difference between a project that works and one that just doesn't!
Keep an eye out for future opportunities to comment on the garage design - this is where an active community can make the difference between a project that works and one that just doesn't!
13 comments:
If we get ride of the Parking department and all its employees, then we do not need to charge for parking. Parking costs can be a surtax on the downtown businesses. After all, isn't that why people pay for the parking spaces. Overall this is a less expensive solution.
I hope the parking department, other city departments and planners, together with us, the public and the voters, will consider any green possibilities for parking space and give us good green parking downtown (see below).
I hope city and state governments will continue to plan for additional, attractive mass transit options for Middletown and the surrounding area. With open minds and a little planning, we all would benefit from using mass transit and getting away from dependence on motor vehicles.
See some ideas for green parking at http://depts.washington.edu/open2100/pdf/2_OpenSpaceTypes/Open_Space_Types/parking_lot_parks.pdf. (Many other interesting sources online, as well.)
I have stopped going onto Main St. a long time ago because of the expense of just parking the car. Now I go to the mall....free parking!
I just saw on the Middletown Patch and The Hartford Courant websites that Mayor Drew has announced that he will appoint Acting Chief William McKenna as the new permanent Chief of Police. Here are the links below for the story.
http://middletown-ct.patch.com/articles/drew-picks-mckenna-as-police-chief
http://www.courant.com/community/middletown/hc-middletown-police-chief-0322-20120321,0,4734468.story
I just read in the article that the proposed parking garage will go to a public referendum. What is wrong with the current parking garage? Why does the city need to upgrade the Riverview Parking Arcade Garage? There is plenty of parking on Main Street. There is the Melilli Plaza, Washington Street Lot, Metro Square and street parking. If the former Parking Director & fomer Mayor left the parking rates & structure alone there would not be a need for a new parking garage. "If it ain't broke don't fix it" but these 2 city officials had to tamper with it. When this proposed parking garage goes to referendum I will vote no. Politicians just like to spend people's money that is not theirs to begin with.
I agree with the 7:38 p.m. Anonymous poster. The city does not need a new Parking Garage. The poster forgot to mention the Middlesex Mutual Assurance Company's parking garage that was completed in 1987. Why is there a new need for a parking garage? What the city should do is first concentrate in getting a retail anchor like a major department store like a Target or Wal-Mart to locate their business on Main Street? Main Street needs a department store not more restaurants. If the business community wants a parking garage they should build it themselves and not rely on the government to do it for them. The business community are the same people who always say that government should not interfere with people's lives and that the govt. should not have their hands in people's wallets. If the Main Street businesses want a new parking garage they should build it & pay for it themselves. They should learn to keep their hands out of the taxpayers' wallets.
For original poster then:
Can you tell us why the new parking garage is proposed? There must be a reason... a study? personal or others' experience? Planned or perceived growth or expansion? Can you give more info on this?
um the current parking garage is a death trap with chunks falling down. you couldn't pay me to patk there. it needs to be condemed and torn down. I've heard this from engineers!
These are all good questions! Many have been addressed in previous Middletown Eye articles, but I'll take a stab at a few:
-why should Middletown charge for parking? The point of public parking is to create a viable business district. Parking fees are one way to ensure that there is enough turnover in parking spaces, and there is enough revenue to maintain and improve the parking resources without taxing the general fund.
-why do we need a viable business district? Hopefully this will be read by those who think it's in their own interest to avoid downtown shops and restaurants and just go to the mall....the real estate taxes paid by downtown buildings bring in a large chunk of city taxes - a healthy Main Street subsidizes schools, suburban streets and police protection throughout the town. In fact, my biggest problem with how parking is run in Middletown is that $450,000/year is taken from the parking income and is put in the general fund, and I think it's short-sighted to charge more for parking than you need to, since it makes it harder on customers, which makes it harder for businesses to thrive, which makes it harder for commercial property values to go up, which means more of the burden for paying for this town has to be absorbed by homeowners. But I lost that battle, because who wants to see the general fund dip $450,000 once you've gotten used to the money?
-why is there talk of building more parking downtown? There are two answers to this. If we want to grow the value of downtown (and therefore, our commercial real estate taxes) then we need to respond to the market. We have a problem in some areas of downtown with insufficient parking, and it makes it hard to get the best owners and tenants in some areas. We learned this during the 15-month parking study, which had broad community input. You can probably read that study at the planning office or Russell Library. The other reason is that in 2004, there were federal earmarks created to help funding parking and transit in downtown Middletown. We have been trying to develop a viable project to use that money ever since - and it's not easy to find a project that meets federal requirements and our own needs at the same time. Any project using those federal funds would require a 20% match from the city, and some of that would likely come through a referendum.
-What's wrong with the arcade? The same thing that's wrong with most of the parking facilities in town - it has not been maintained. The thinking is that since it will have to be replaced soon, why not use the federal earmark for 80% of those costs? As I said in my post, it's not my top choice, but it's not an entirely random concept either, since its been under study and debate for many years.
Thanks to Anon who sent the green parking ideas!
How about a 3 or 4 level parking garage staged in/above the parking area of the new Community Health Care building at the corner of Liberty and Main before the project is completed and they move in and occupy the building. Passes could be offered to a certain number of North End residents, perhaps in a lottery, and it would also provide needed additional parking for those of us who frequent the North End establishments making parking more available, easier and getting some of the traffic off of the congested North end of Main street (where it is increasingly difficult to even get out of a main street parking spot, especially in the late afternoon.
If people would just walk 2-3 blocks they can park for free. There's usually plenty of parking on side streets. If you want to walk 10 yards then no, you won't find parking. maybe if people walk more we won't need more parking spaces. Every Middletown resident should get 2 hours of free parking everywhere. We pay taxes yet have to double pay to park. 2 hours is enough time to get shopping done, eat dinner, etc. It's a disincentive for me to go downtown if I can take my business somewhere else for free...so I do.
This garage is much needed lubrication for our local powers, this is the only money flow going on right now.
More debt for Middletown, big design fees - over $1.1 Million! - for the usual suspects - play ball Geen, feed hungry Main Street.
What Middletown should do if they want a new Parking Arcade to replace the one on Court Street is to do the same thing that the city did in the early 1960's in which they redeveloped Main Street and demolished/eliminated the Center Street neighborhood where the Riverview Plaza currently exists. I propose that the city take some Main Street properties by eminent domain such as the properties on the eastern side of Main Street from the corner of Main & Washington Streets to the corner of Main & Court Streets. This will allow a new Parking Arcade and a new retail anchor like a department store such as Wal-Mart or Target to be located on Main Street. Main Street needs a new retail anchor to bring people downtown. The businesses that are displaced from the redevelopment like Mallove's Jewelers, Joe Riff's Music & Ramani's & the A & D Barber Shop could have a spot reserved for them in the new development. The other businesses on the eastern block are just restaurants and don't need a spot reserved for them because restaurants on Main Street & in Middletown are a dime a dozen. The center of Main Street lost it's vitality a long time ago and the business that occupies the former Woolworth's store is never open for business. This business uses the retail space for a warehouse. I never saw it opened once. It creates a void on Main Street. I suggest the city eliminate and demolish these properties to make way for a new parking garage & a new retail anchor.
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