You might not know it from this agenda item but the issue of Wallingford paying for the private parking lot at the rear of the businesses at Simpson Court uptown is going to be discussed.
8. Discussion regarding:
Report from the Town Attorney on the Simpson Parking Lot Wall
Possible options for the Town to pursue
The “Possible options for the Town to pursue” regarding the “Report from the Town Attorney on the Simpson Parking Lot Wall” is to apply for a state grant in the amount of $500,000.00 to “improve the Simpson parking area.”
Before I continue let me define this.
Parking in that lot to patronize a business is business parking and would always be allowed. It is no different there than going to CVS as an example and parking in their lot.
Public parking is to park there and go elsewhere. If you go to CVS and park your car and then get into a friend’s car and go to Hartford they could feasibly tow you because you are not using the parking as it is intended which is the patronization of that business. There is no PUBLIC parking permitted there.
Right now for 80% of that rear lot uptown you can park if you wish and walk all over uptown and downtown without being towed.
You could also park at Town Hall and do the same.
You can park at the Credit Union and do the same.
You can parking behind the divider at the rear of Bank of America and do the same.
You can park in the lot behind the train station where Brother’s Restaurant used to be and do the same.
All those lots allow for public parking as those lots are owned by the Town of Wallingford
So with that better defined, on to the details:
So the bottom line?
The business put up $20,000.00 and get reimbursed 50% so their skin in this game is really $10,000.00. The original lease discussion was 30 years so we are asking them to invest into their own property $334.00 a year for their share of $500,000.00 worth of improvements. They would also get 30 years of operational support and maintenance.
If I were a business owner you couldn’t get me signed up for this deal fast enough.
I am a Town Councilor charged with making sure your tax dollars are spent in the wisest and most prudent fashion and this is far from it.
You as a taxpayer (in this case taxes to the state and then via grant support) are putting in $500,000.00 for the use of these lots for public parking.
I think the residents were loud and clear at the referendum – do not spend tax dollars for the benefit of the private parking lot owners (mainly) and for public parking there.
I won’t support this but I will be in the minority I am sure. I will never support the spending of tax dollars in this manner. I could consider it if someone is providing a case study that shows public parking there is needed (number one) and where the owners of the property are putting in 50% of the costs at least (number two). Without that there is no justification.
You’d need to start with a case study of demand and need and there isn’t one; this is a desire to simply do this and I do not understand the directive to do so.
The private property owners there already get the benefit of some maintenance and snow removal provided on the taxpayer dime as they do not have to take out of pocket money from their rents to pay for this themselves like every other business owner that is responsible for their own parking areas.
It is a mystery to me how a supposedly fiscally responsible and conservative administration continues to champion an effort towards this when it is something that the tax payers have already spoke out against at referendum.
What IS their motivation for this? There is no demand for PUBLIC parking like this at this level at THAT location.
If this passes the Town Council, these same fiscally responsible and conservative individuals will be crying over the $30,000.00 that will need to be spent, AGAIN, on a referendum vote because the residents will most likely petition for the right to vote this down. If the past results are indicative to future events they will get enough signatures and it will happen.
If we are eligible for this state grant money it can be spent on the $200,000.00 price tag over on the Wooding-Caplan property where we are creating short tem (supposedly) parking to alleviate the out of pocket tax burden to the residents. Additionally, we could take the remaining $300,000.00 and spend it on the other downtown lots that the town already owns and fix them up with repaving and better lighting.
We wont spend the money on all the lots we already own (mentioned above) but we keep bring this effort back before the Council to try to ram it through when the people do not want it
Why?
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