Laurel Park residents push for parking lot purchase

Following pushback from merchants, the city’s lease on the parking lot at Orange Avenue and Laurel Street was renewed in October 2013 after lapsing that summer.

Now, with that lease still in place, Laurel Park residents hope to see the city take steps to avoid repeating history.

At Tuesday’s Laurel Park Neighborhood Association meeting, residents voted to send a letter encouraging the city to consider purchasing the parking lot, securing it as a long-term parking option for the Burns Square area.

Resident Jolie McInnis, an advocate of the purchase, explained that if someone else buys the lot, it could have negative ramifications on the neighborhood. If people patronizing Burns Square businesses — such as Burns Court Cinema — do not have access to a municipal lot, cars could end up parking in the residential streets of nearby Laurel Park.

“If that parking lot doesn’t exist, people will be parking in our neighborhood,” McInnis said.

In addition, McInnis and other residents were concerned about the prospect of any potential development were someone to purchase the lot, which Saunders Family Limited Partnership owns. The area is zoned to allow for the development of a 10-story building on the site. A previous site plan, approved in 2006, would have allowed for the construction of a 15-story residential building on the land, though that plan expired Monday.

“There are very few protections for the neighborhood,” resident Kate Lowman said. “It does kind of appeal to me — if the city actually owns the property, I think they would have a responsibility to the neighborhood to try to work with us.”

Although the association ultimately voted to send a message to the city regarding the parking lot, some questions arose about whether area merchants should be responsible for funding the purchase and whether the extra parking was necessary. Resident Bob Wernick was hesitant to recommend that taxpayers should shoulder the potential expense of buying a parking lot.

“If the merchants in Burns Court need that parking, maybe they should be buying it or renting it,” Wernick said.

Wernick, who said he wasn’t necessarily opposed to a city purchase of the land, was echoing an argument Vice Mayor Susan Chapman made last year. During the period when the city lease on the lot had expired, Chapman responded to merchant outcry by suggesting they should secure parking for private use.

Chapman, who was present for the meeting, said the site — and the city’s finances — complicated the process of potentially purchasing the parking lot land. The city currently pays $1,800 per month to lease the lot, and both the owner and the city have the option to renew the lease on an annual basis.

“What we can lease it for is different than what we can buy it for,” Chapman said. “What we can lease it for is a lot less than what we can buy it for.”

McInnis referred to the city’s 2005 Downtown Parking Master Plan as evidence the Burns Square lot should be a priority for the city. In that document, a parking garage at Laurel Street and Orange Avenue was the No. 3 priority behind garages on Palm Avenue and State Street — the latter of which have already moved forward.

“Merchants aren’t buying the State Street and Palm Avenue garages,” McInnis said. “There’s really no more space in the Burns Square area for a parking lot. There’s nowhere else large enough to put some sort of parking.”

Payne Park Auditorium
One of the most significant things about the Laurel Park Neighborhood Association meeting was its venue, for the organization returned to the Payne Park Auditorium following a long hiatus.

The group had enjoyed the building but found itself unable to schedule meetings when the city stopped guaranteeing spots at the auditorium for neighborhood associations, which paid reduced rates, several years ago. The city considered demolishing the auditorium, but one of the loudest voices opposing that proposal were residents who wished to use the space for civic meetings again.

The city ultimately reconsidered its plans to knock down the auditorium, and the Laurel Park residents were able to secure a spot following the feedback provided to staff. At Tuesday’s meeting, the residents took a moment to appreciate the significance of their surroundings.

“I think we’re the first neighborhood to be back in the building,” resident Jude Levy said. “We’re very happy to be here.”