Concerns circle St. Armands valet changes

The city is having a difficult time finding a place to park the St. Armands Circle valet stand.

Through Tuesday, residents can offer their input on a proposal to relocate the valet service to Fillmore Drive from its previous location on the Circle. A new vendor, Hospitality Parking of America, is set to take over the complimentary service.

Already, the city is aware of concerns surrounding the new location. Mark Lyons, the city’s parking manager, said two lines of criticism have arisen. Merchants near the proposed site are worried the valet stand will take up parking spaces in front of their stores.

Others believe the distance between the stand and the St. Armands Key Lutheran Church parking lot on Adams Drive, which the valet service uses, will lead to traffic congestion. Lyons suggested that argument might have some credence, but he will review the comments with city engineering staff before making any definitive statements.

“I think the only saving grace from my viewpoint is that I don’t think the same volume of valet traffic will happen on Fillmore as it did on the Circle,” Lyons said.

Fillmore Drive was not the first choice for St. Armands leaders. The valet stand will eventually relocate to a forthcoming parking garage on Adams Drive. Construction on that garage will eventually impede the ability to place the stand on Adams or Madison drives, so the St. Armands Business Improvement District ultimately landed on Fillmore as a stopgap solution.

Now that some controversy has arisen, those at Tuesday’s Business Improvement District meeting feared a lack of  options.

“If there’s pushback on that, we have no place for the valet to be,” said Diana Corrigan, executive director of the St. Armands Circle Association. “So we’ll have to go without a valet for two years.”

As city staff evaluates the proposed valet site, BID board members indicated a desire to find a solution for all parties involved. Still, BID Chairman Gavin Meshad also advocated for a trial period to see whether the fears were valid.

“We can try it,” he said. “If it doesn’t work, if there are unforeseen problems, nothing’s set in stone, right?”

Potty Talk

The city is just beginning the process of designing the St. Armands parking garage, but Circle businesses are hoping to speed up one aspect of the timeline: the construction of public restrooms.

On Tuesday, Corrigan pushed staff to keep moving forward with a proposal to build freestanding restrooms on the Circle.

“The one thing we get a negative response about (from visitors) is public restrooms,” Corrigan said. “If we don’t get the public restrooms there, they’re not going to come back.”

Lyons said the original scope of the garage project included public facilities inside the garage. Staff is working with a consultant on the design and pricing of freestanding restrooms, but Lyons cautioned the cost would exceed the original garage project estimates.

“If we don’t get the public restrooms there, they’re not going to come back.” — Diana Corrigan

He said more information would be available within the next couple of months. Still, Corrigan pushed hard for the prioritization of the restroom project. For years, she said, St. Armands businesses have been subject to restroom questions from customers and noncustomers.

Both Corrigan and former BID Chairman Marty Rappaport said the restrooms were a necessary condition to get merchants to agree to the special assessment that will help fund the $17.5 million garage project.

“The reality of this situation is that our businesses have absorbed this 20-year tax,” Corrigan said. “We need this ASAP.”