COMMENTARY: How to Kill a Street

By Catherine Johnson

Why building a parking garage along Washington Street is a Bad Idea

I fully support the idea of investing in a garage on the Mellili block instead of rebuilding the Arcade. I believe Tom Hartley’s logic is sound regarding the Arcade: repair it but otherwise leave it as is and reserve it for a deserving future project. It will not help a developer or the city encumbering the site with a recently built but possibly inappropriately designed parking garage on this site. However, the location of where it goes on that block and how it relates to existing surroundings must be done with great care.

In my opinion, it would be a bad idea to use it to build a 4- or 5-story garage along Washington Street.

Washington Street is one of the most important streets in the city and some of its most valuable real estate. A parking garage is a piece of infrastructure, a utility, a storage area. You do not front your most important street with a storage space. If you’re wise, you never front any street with a garage or a lot because parking along a sidewalk is detrimental to retail- and commercial-viability. No one wants to walk next to a garage or a parking lot. No one wants to look at a parking garage. No one wants to live or work next to a parking garage. Even if you put retail on the first floor, no one is going to be fooled into forgetting the 4 upper stories looming above. If you face the front of the building with a façade that looks like a commercial building, people will still know it’s a garage. People can perceive the building as lifeless: it’s level upon level of car. No seemingly clever design can replace the power and energy of human presence. People make a 4- or 5- story building an active place day and night, and in turn create an inviting street where people stop, stay and enjoy the experience.

Many of you may not remember what Court, Broad and College Streets looked like before the office building (now Middle Oak) and parking garage were constructed in the late 1980’s. There was a whole range of buildings 2-4 stories tall, some ornate, others plain, with a mix of styles, uses and occupants. Parking was behind buildings in the center of the block. I would look for any excuse to take a little walk around that block when I went downtown or to the library. These 3 streets had an appealing urban character. I especially liked Court Street with its pair of brownstone buildings: the First Church of Christ and the building across from it, a Victorian with storefronts at street level and an athletic club on the third floor. While different, one secular and dolled up, the other sedate and stolid, they felt like kindred spirits. Together the two buildings framed a great street.

Later, when I studied architecture and urban design, I learned that the qualities that made that street so inviting were the same qualities which make all great streets: human presence, many different buildings, many different activities at all times of day, detailed facades, the play of light, definition, boundaries, variety. But most importantly, the car and its storage do not dominate.

Today College and Court Streets feel very different. All the buildings that gave the street its charm and character were demolished. Beautiful First Church lost its mate across the street. The 11-story office building and 6-level parking garage lurk over the street, creating a permanently oppressive quality. Now across from the church’s Gothic-arched doors and stained glass window is the gaping hole of the parking garage entrance and loading dock. It’s the dumpiest 100 feet downtown. I no longer look forward to walking down this portion of the street, and attempt all other variations of route to avoid the banality. They killed my street.

If you have never thought about this relationship of building and parking before, you may not realize how making a poor choice affects perception and ultimately, real estate values and wealth. Pretty counts. Ugly costs, and often more than just money lost from buildings and businesses. Lifeless, unoccupied buildings ultimately steal people from the street, significantly reducing its safety, its attractiveness and its value. When adjacent streets are affected, aggregate lifelessness can deaden a community.

When the time comes to plan the parking, whatever the location, let’s not make another blunder and kill the street by putting a garage or parking lot next to a sidewalk. Let’s plan for new buildings along the sidewalk and set the parking back about 80 feet. The Washington/Court block is a huge block, about 700 x 720’, so large it can accommodate 750-900 parking spaces and about 350,000 sq ft of development (40 rowhouses, 5 commercial buildings, and can double city hall). There are plenty of options for locating a garage or garages, and for planning in phases.

So I encourage us to use planning this parking garage as the first opportunity to mend and improve the quality of the streets downtown in order to restore and rebuild the place we call home. People aren’t attracted to come downtown because there’s a parking spot waiting for them. They come here because downtown Middletown is a place, a real place with a genuine history and a complexity that comes from generations of building and honoring civic character.

Finance committee approves parking department

Wednesday evening the Finance and Government Operations Committee took action on several budgetary items. They approved several routine requests for fund transfers, approved the acceptance of Rockfall Foundation grants to support a walking trail and a farmers market study, and forwarded their unanimous approval of a new City Department of Parking to the Common Council.

The Finance and Government Operations Committee consists of five members of Common Council: Joe Bibisi, Gerald Daley, Hope Kasper, Ron Klattenberg, and Phil Pessina. Ron Klattenberg chairs the committee, which meets on the Wednesday prior to the monthly Common Council meetings. They are responsible for the initial approval of budgetary matters, their approval sends an issue to the full Common Council for final approval.

Parking Department
Business owners and shoppers alike, frustrated with the parking situation in downtown Middletown, have urged the city to create a coherent parking plan. A major study, completed in August, 2008 (and available HERE), proposed:

Another important immediate action item is to pursue the creation of an autonomous, financially self-sustaining Parking Department, which will provide consistency in parking strategies, enforcement, and facility maintenance. Any surplus revenue collected by the Parking Department should be directed to downtown parking infrastructure maintenance and improvement.

The Parking Study further recommended that the Parking Department implement detailed monitoring of parking demand, to optimise the parking available for businesses and shoppers in the downtown areas.

The two major initial costs for this Department, which the F&G committee spent some time considering, are the salary of the director and the cost of office space. The F&G felt that if space was available, the Parking Department should be in the Police Department, to synergize with the functions there. However, all of the F&G members present agreed that the creation of a Parking Department was so important that it should not be delayed over a decision on office space. The proposal for a Parking Department was sent to the Common Council with unanimous approval.

Grants to plan for a Middletown Farmers Market, and to prepare a Middletown Walking Guide
The Rockfall Foundation awarded the city $2500 to initiate and sponsor a series of four planning sessions (charrettes) to bring farmers, land-use commissioners, city officials and members of the public together to establish a successful and sustainable farmers market. They also granted $1900 for a Middletown Walking Guide which would be published on-line. The F&G unanimously approved the acceptance of those funds.

Funds to attend fair housing conference denied.
Faith Jackson, director of Human Relations, submitted a request for $60 to attend a one-day conference in Cromwell, entitled "The Future of Fair Housing in America", sponsored by the Fair Housing Association of CT. This request was denied, with Hope Kasper and Phil Pessina voting 'naye', and Joe Bibisi and Ron Klattenberg voting 'yes'. Kasper and Pessina both emphasized that the denial was strictly a matter of fairness--the F&G Committee had this year denied numerous similar requests from city employees for conference fees, and they did not want to set a precedent for a new policy. Jackson indicated that the conference was of such importance to her job that she would be attending it even without reimbursement from the City.

Westfield Fire Station Roof
Russ Andrews, of the Westfield Fire Department, requested that the city request $80,00o from the state through the Local Capital Improvement Plan (LOCIP), to pay for half of the cost of a roofing replacement and improvement. This replacement roof will have a PVC white cover, and will be considered a "green-style roof" according to Andrews. Only municipalities are eligible to apply for LOCIP funds, hence the request through the F&G committee for the city to apply for the funds on behalf of the Westfield Fire Department. The committee unanimously approved the request, which now goes to the Common Council.

Other requests
The directors of Public Works and the Water and Sewer Departments came to request funds to cover replacement parts, and new equipment. Those requests were all approved.

Common Council - November 3

Monday evening’s Common Council meeting did not have a marquee bout or momentous decisions with which to draw the public downtown on the eve before election day. Nevertheless, two dozen high school students and a dozen other interested members of the public observed amicable council members conduct several important items of business.

Riverview Parking Garage replacement
Funds for design of a new 3-story parking garage and a deck behind the Police Station were approved. $480,000 were set aside from the general fund as a loan for the engineering design and development of plans. This loan is to be repaid upon receipt of Federal grant funds, part of $17M in the 2005 Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU, do the Feds have an acronym czar?). Virtually all of the council members supported this expenditure, noting that downtown needed more parking, and that the existing garage was old enough to begin to be a hazard. Councilman Pessina urged the city to look at transportation creatively, including alternative forms of transporation. Bill Warner, Director of Planning, said that after the garage, most of the Federal money would be available for transit improvements. He indicated that once the parking garage issue is settled, the city would look at light rail viability, at increasing the number of bicycle routes, and at forging connections between bicycles and buses. The sole dissenting vote on setting aside money for the parking garage design was from David Bauer, who expressed his concern that high gasoline prices and a changing economy will make parking a problem of the past.

The grant money from the Federal Government is contingent upon 20% matching funds from the city and state. Warner indicated that if the engineering and design went well, the city would be in a position to put a bond referendum before the voters in 2010, to fund part of the non-federal portion.

Sale of the former Remington Rand property
The Mayor was authorized to execute the sale of the Remington Rand building and associated property to TWB properties, LLC (for $1.2M). Several council members expressed their admiration for the developer and his plans. John Hall, of the Jonah Center for Earth and Art, expressed his support for the sale, noting that the Jonah Center is interested in the highest possible use of that building, and the developer is committed to using the building well. Bill Warner tried to allay concerns over one of the financial aspects of selling the property. The city technically will be obligated to reimburse the state for money that it invested in the building, and with the current state budgetary shortfall, there is concern that the state may not waive this reimbursement requirement. Warner assured the council members that the State Department of Economic and Community Development would view this sale extremely favorably, and he anticipated that the waiver of the reimbursement requirement would be forthcoming. The Council crossed its collective fingers, knowing that this reimbursement has already been allocated in this year’s budget. The sole dissenting vote on authorizing the mayor to execute the sale was from David Bauer.

LEED certification tax credit.
The Council unanimously approved amending the Code of Ordinances to offer Tax Abatements for construction which achieves Leadership in Energy and Environment (LEED) certification. LEED is a voluntary program which evaluates the environmental impact of new construction for residential, commercial, and industrial uses. Jennifer Weymouth, who worked as a volunteer intern in the Planning Department, helped develop a tax abatement program for Middletown to promote sustainable building practices. This program will provide a 10% exemption from real estate tax to all buildings with an assessed value of over $5M that are certified as Gold or Platinum, and the same exemption to buildings certified as Silver but valued at less than $5M. Ms. Weymouth, who did this work while pursuing her masters from Antioch University of New England, was profusely thanked by Warner and by Council Members, for her effort on this initiative. Middletown is the first city in Connecticut to provide an incentive for LEEDS certification, and there is hope that companies seeking to construct sustainable buildings will use this incentive to come to Middletown.

In other business, Ryan Kennedy (Republican) was appointed to the Board of Education. He will be filling the seat of Barbara Weiss, who served as a distinguished member of the Board of Ed for many years, but who has now moved to Cromwell. The council also approved a change in the ordinance regarding the delivery of notice and agenda for regular meetings of the Council. Individual council members will now have the right to waive the delivery of Council information by the police. For special meetings, Council members will have the right to use electronic mail instead of telegram to waive the special police delivery.

Learn Something New Every Day

As a 20-year veteran of the local political scene, I thought I'd seen everything. But that's because I'd never been to a meeting of the Finance and Government Operations Committee, where a select group of Common Council members and the Mayor go over all the upcoming City expenditures with Finance Director Carl Erlacher.



C'mon now, Middletown Eye readers, wake up!
This is your government in action!




Okay, so I admit it's not exactly visionary stuff. The meeting started with a review of whether the Police Department should lease or buy a new copy machine, which can also serve as a printer and fax. Then it moved to a discussion on the necessity of spending Public Works and Health Department funds in cleaning up a blighted property on River Road which has become an illegal dump and habitat for rodents -- even though those funds would have to be formally approved at a later date (and then charged back to the land-owner). That part was kind of exciting because there were photos of the garbage from different angles, which had me humming Alice's Restaurant until the next topic came up.

Should Middletown follow Bloomfield's lead and set up a program where retired seniors could be part of a workfare program in the City? Or should it be like Torrington, and extend a state Senior Tax Freeze to local households, as long as they make less than $36,500 per couple and don't have assets of more than $125,000 other than their primary residence? Alas, those questions will have to wait until next month since they were tabled pending further analysis. The Westfield Fire Department will have to wait for an answer too, since their request for funds to fix their roof was delayed until more data is produced.

At one point, it looked as though a surge of decisiveness would result in the recommendation to hire new staff in Information Technology -- several Council members noted that we are dependent on just a few staff people who actually understand how all those computers work. The Mayor spoke eloquently about the pitfalls of treating your I.T. staff as maintenance workers. He even quoted David Bauer as saying that every City employee is a content provider for the City's internet...and maybe it was inTRAnet too...okay, okay, so I'm not sure I totally followed that part. But the point is that we have to stop treating technology like something that breaks and start thinking of it as the way that we do our job. Unfortunately, in spite of the shared sense of purpose, the action was dashed on the rocks of realization: the item had been postponed until a "date certain" at the Common Council and could not be addressed until January. But when that time comes, the I.T. department can be sure that this committee is on their side!

Now, it's unusual enough that I was spending my Wednesday evening at this meeting, when I could have been out shopping and supporting the local economy. But more unusual was the presence of about a dozen Middletown High upperclassmen, who were attentive throughout the proceedings. As it happens, they were all students in the MHS American Politics class, taught by a Ms. Adams. She requires each student to spend 7 hours in the civic realm, typically 4 hours volunteering for a political campaign of their choice, and 3 hours attending City meetings. Their presence lent an atmosphere of festivity to the meeting, as extra chairs had to be brought in. As Chair Ron Klattenberg noted: in terms of public attendance, it was a record turn-out for the Finance and Government Operations Committee!

Finally, as business came to a close, I went to the table accompanied by Rick Kearney, the City's Economic Development Specialist. We presented our petition that the City implement one of the recommendations of the Parking Study, namely the formation of a parking department. Neither defeat nor victory was ours, as the issue was forwarded to the Ordinance Committee. The Ordinance Committee?! Wonder when they meet?

I left the meeting with a feeling of gratitude for the Common Council members who spend their evenings at the F&GO. It's a thankless job, but one of the many necessary tasks which make things run in this little slice of participatory democracy that we call Middletown.

Sewers, site remediation and sister cities

There was a touch of melancholy at tonight's Common Council meeting with the return of Councilman Tom Serra who has been at the beside of his son for several weeks after his son was severely injured in an auto accident. Serra thanked fellow Councilors, municipal officials and the support he received from Middletown residents.

In another warm and emotional ceremony, the city welcomed visitors from sister city Melilli, I
Sicily.

Then it was down to the business of debating expenditures for sewer and water line improvements, and for the approval of a resolution providing the Army with preliminary site plans for a new fire station, and regional fire training center on the former Nike base site on Mile Lane. In addition, the Council debated the proposed Parking Study, which includes expenditure on a improved Melilli Plaza parking lot, an expanded municipal parkade.

The sewer and water resolution passed with the expenditure to appear on a town referendum in November.

The parking study funding also passed, with a robust objection by Councilman David Bauer who explained that building a parking garage, considering the problems with fossil fuel that we face, is solving a problem of the past.

Finally, the Council passed a resolution to deliver a proposal to the Federal Government, the Army and the Department of Homeland Security to build a fire station, fire training center, dispatch center and animal shelter on the site. This resolution, of course, is evidence that city leaders would oppose the use of the former Nike site as a location for an Army Reserve Training Center.

Parking study news

From the office of Bill Warner, Middletown Director of Planning.

The Downtown Parking Study (posted at www.middletownplanning.com ) was presented at a Common Council Workshop on August 4, 2008. At that workshop Councilman David Bauer made a great suggestion. He suggested a parking map be placed on the City of Middletown website.

Rick Kearney from my office did a great job creating a Downtown Middletown Parking Map. To access the Parking Map, go to www.cityofmiddletown.com <http://www.cityofmiddletown.com>. Click on the Services tab and the Downtown Parking Map tab to access the Google Map.

As a service to the residents and visitors, the Parking Map was created online for easy Internet access. Mobile device users and people using the free WIFI on Main Street will be able to find parking lots on their mobile devices and computers. The Downtown Middletown Parking Map gives users the option of obtaining directions to the public parking lots.

Downtown Middletown is attracting many first time visitors to the Main Street dining and entertainment venues who need to know where they can park their vehicles. We are encouraging businesses to suggest to their customers that they use the Downtown Middletown Parking Map to get directions to their business.

This is just the first of many new ways the Downtown Middletown Parking Study will make parking and transit easier and more efficient.

Park the Car

The Parking Study has come to an end. It makes me sort of misty-eyed, after 17 months of meeting with my fellow downtown and transit geeks. And it's a bit of a challenge to my usual cynicism about political progress, but I really like the recommendations that we finally adopted. I hope they happen!

So why did Middletown have to do a Parking Study? Because we received Federal earmarks for $21.1 Million in parking and transit improvements to downtown (though Middletown has to come up with 20% of that from other sources, such as a referendum or state grants.) Also, the Study was an opportunity to look at how downtown fits into a wider transit network, and how to support the growing number of bicycle commuters and enthusiasts. I sat on the committee as a representative of the downtown merchant community.


At the Monday night council meeting, the committee members gave the report, including short, mid and long-range recommendations. (Vinnie Amato is pictured here giving us all a history lesson on parking management.)

As I can't resist some commentary, I'll post my opinions in Italics so that you can skip those parts if you prefer!

Short-range Recommendations: Work to improve the way we manage the parking spaces that we already have, and add to the supply of parking spaces in the coming year.

1. Form a new city department on Parking, with a professional manager and a citizen advisory board. Create a special revenue account so that parking fees, fines and income would only be used for parking needs.

Why do we need professional parking management? Broken meters, old technology, unclear signage, parking rates that aren't always linked to the demand for those spaces, choosing where to put long-term/employee parking, customer service....lots of reasons. Parking is currently run by the Police Department (which has better things to do with its time.)

2. Expand the Melilli Plaza lot (behind Main Street Market) by connecting to the "employee only" lot of 87 spaces next to City Hall, so that all of these spaces could be used on evenings and weekends.

One interesting statistic is that Melilli is the most heavily used lot in town, and is at 97% occupancy on weekend evenings, when the city hall employee lot,just a few feet away, is at 1%. Linking these lots (using remaining road bond funds from 2003) would immediately add supply where it is wanted most.

Mid-range Recommendation: Replace the Riverview Arcade parking deck and cover part of the police department parking with a deck. This project would take 3 to 5 years, and would replace the 350-space in the current Arcade with up to 560 spaces. Funding would come from $9 million of the Federal funds, and the remaining $4 million from local and state sources.

This is probably the most contentious piece of the study. Everyone knows that no one wants to park in parking garages. But it is the best way to create a walkable downtown -- otherwise we will be covered in asphalt. So the goal is to get all the long-term parkers with monthly permits into a garage, leaving more of the surface lots and metered spaces free for visitors. Some people prefered building a garage on the Melilli lot, some closer to the hospital and hotel in the South End. Ultimately, this plan won approval because otherwise the city would be spending money to repair and replace the arcade at some point in the coming years. The next step in building this garage is a design phase that would tell us exactly what it would look like. My personal hope is that the future design gives more attention to the pedestrian experience walking down Dingwall Drive/College Street -- right now it's a concrete and dumpster canyon. I'd rather lose some parking spaces if we could have businesses along the sidewalk. Catherine Johnson, our favorite New Urbanist, has long been a champion of putting "liner buildings" along the street, and burying parking in the interior of the block.

Long-range Recommendations: Support other methods of transportation within the downtown, such as bicycles and better public transit.

1. Study the possibility of a Streetcar on Main Street. The 3/4 mile length of Main Street once had a trolley that ran on tracks. The proposal is to study whether a new track system could be laid, running either with overhead electrical power, or running on an alternative fuel. A first glance estimates that this system would cost between $7 and $10 Million, which could be paid for with the Federal earmark funds (again, with a 20% match of local funds). The operations could be paid with a combination of state reimbursement, parking income, and fares.

I'm just OVER THE MOON about this idea. If you've travelled to other cities recently, you probably encountered a streetcar or tram system. The data shows that streetcars bring development, because of the permanence of the tracks vs. a bus system, and the fact that it attracts a higher demographic in ridership. I think it would help draw new investment to the North End, and would encourage visitors to shop at more than one Main Street business (if they didn't feel they had to move their car.) It would help downtown employees patronize Main Street -- currently there are 450 monthly parkers scattered around downtown who could park centrally in the new garage and take the streetcar to work, and that doesn't even count the 100+ employees that are being shuttled from the Court Street garage to the Hospital by private bus. It would be a tourism draw -- streetcars are fun. And if we ever develop the riverfront properly, it's a first step in linking Main Street with the new development. I think it's a great way to use the Federal funds to really boost the Middletown economy -- the first step is a feasibility study to see if it can be done. The downside is the timeline -- which is projected at 5 to 10 years.

2. Make downtown more bike-friendly. There are two parts to this plan - first, to connect five different regions of Middletown to downtown with either dedicated, off-road bike paths, or with bike lanes on the sides of roads. Next, within the downtown, improve bike amenities such as bike signage and lanes, and bike racks.

The city has already prepared maps of possible bike paths to the downtown. I think the most important of these is to create a bike path linking the new High School to downtown, and to extend the Westfield Bike Path which has already been constructed --- the question is funding, since using the Federal funds for these projects would take forever. The Planning Department was successful in getting grants for the Westfield path, and hopefully will try to find more. The second proposal, of improving downtown conditions for cyclists, is also important but not eligible for the Federal Funds. Really these items shouldn't be long-range goals -- we should ask city hall to form a task force to find funding to put these plans in effect soon.

And that's it for the Parking Study. I'll let everyone know when it comes back to the Council (via Economic Development) for a vote.

Monday Night Meetings

There's an important meeting tonight at City Hall -- yes, I know that most Middletown Eye readers are focused on the 7 pm Common Council meeting (which has the Army Base on the agenda) - and by all means, don't miss it! But there's also a meeting-before-the-meeting, at 6 pm, that will present the conclusions of the Parking Study that has been in process for the past 18 months or so.

In a series of 25 community meetings, the Parking Study Sub-Committee (I'm on that) came up with a plan to improve the long and short-term parking issues of downtown. Also in the mix were some attempts to address transit issues in town, particularly making Middletown more bike-friendly and the potential of using federal funds to put a trolley-on-tracks on Main Street.

If you are concerned about the health of our downtown and the transit issues that face our city, please join us in the Council Chambers.