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Parking demand to increase, supply decline
(by Barbara Christian - January 21, 2010)
Parking demand to increase, supply decline
By BARBARA CHRISTIAN
The parking situation at West and River streets is likely to get worse with the addition of new retail and office tenants and the loss of parking spaces when a building is demolished, according to the chairman of the Chagrin Falls Village parking commission.
Richard Brown said the addition of retail and office tenants in the former Realty One buildings in the area will put an immediate pinch on parking.
Also, developer Robert Vitt's condominium project on nearby West Orange Street will add to the problem when a building there is taken down and 20 public parking spaces will go with it.
"Those condos are going to change the parking dynamic in that part of town," Mr. Brown said.
Commission member Henry Piper said the pending leases for the two Realty One buildings will remove 11 on-site spaces from the public use, for a total loss of 31 spaces.
He said that, statistically, the neighborhood must maintain a 10 percent vacancy rate to accomplish a reasonable level of public parking. "That will be gone with the additional load coming in," Mr. Piper said.
Village Councilman Dwight Milko, representative to the parking commission, said there always have been opposing opinions about parking in the downtown area.
"Depending on who you talk to, we either have a parking problem or we don't have a parking problem," he said. "Both are right," he said. "It depends on the time of day and the place."
The River and West streets neighborhood is one of those places, Mr. Milko said.
Just two blocks square, it is home to offices, retail, five restaurants and eateries, as well as the Chagrin Valley Little Theatre's main playhouse and alternative stage.
The parking commission came up with some recommendations to help in the area. It recommended new signage and handicapped parking spaces that would help theater patrons, many of whom are senior citizens.
However, that has not happened yet, Mr. Milko.
It recommended that a police officer be assigned to the neighborhood at 5 p.m. to direct restaurant employees away from parking in public spaces. Employee parking arrangements have been made in other areas of town.
The commission recommended that parking meters across the street from the theater be "bagged" for use as handicapped spots on weekends when theater productions are under way.
Village Administrator Benjamin Himes said two handicapped spaces have been identified just west of the theater building on River Street. He said he did not know say whether they are on public or private property.
Mr. Milko said he would meet with Mayor Thomas Brick and Police Chief James Brosius regarding the recommendations.
Also, there still is no new signage at Jekyll's Kitchen that indicates valet parking is available to theater patrons, Mr. Milko said.
Thomas Lutz, owner of Gamekeepers Tavern on West Street, said more visible and better signage is needed throughout the village to direct visitors to municipal parking lots.
Mr. Lutz said the on-street parking spaces Jekyll's leases in front of its River Street restaurant also cause confusion because of inconsistent enforcement, which seems to change, depending on business.
Commission member Susan Harris White said other problems exist outside the River and West streets neighborhood. Employees working in the Triangle Park area continue to park in front of the stores and offices there, including tenants of the buildings she owns, she said. She would like to see a return to enforcing the no-employee parking, she said.
Mr. Milko said past parking studies showed that there are 1,000 people who work in the downtown area and only 1,000 parking spaces to accommodate everyone, including shoppers, clients and restaurant and theater patrons.
The parking commission is to meet at 9 a.m. Feb. 17 in Village Hall.
In the meantime, Mr. Milko said he would approach private parking lot owners about the possibility of the village leasing spaces.
Those potential parking lots are: at Stepnorth on North Main Street, the former Ski Haus building on West Orange Street; Phillips Automotive's rear lot off North Main Street; the Merrill Lynch Building and Griffiths Woodward law office parking lots off East Washington Street; and the Hergenroeder Orthopedic Clinic lot on West Washington Street.
Also briefly discussed was the idea of initiating a River and West streets area taxing district with revenues going toward building a parking deck or garage in that neighborhood.
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