Fredericksburg planners tried to explain to some downtown business owners last week that a proposal to allow developers to pay a fee instead of providing required parking spots would not be a mandatory program, and would apply only to new development.
At a Wednesday public hearing on the latest proposal to change downtown parking rules, the owners of Crismond's shoe store and Ulman's jewelry shop both said they were confused about the proposed parking rules.
The most basic aim of these proposed new rules is to make it easier for new businesses to open downtown. Right now, downtown businesses have to abide by the same parking requirements in the zoning ordinance as businesses elsewhere in the city.
But downtown, it's a lot harder to find land to dedicate to parking than it is at Central Park or in more suburban areas.
The new rules would approach that problem from two directions.
First, they would relax the rules on how many spaces are required within a specific downtown area and would allow businesses to count on-street spaces that abut their property toward those requirements.
At the same time, if any new development can't meet even the relaxed new parking requirements, the city would allow that developer to pay a fee of $5,500 for every parking space not provided.
That is far less than the per-space cost that a new parking garage, or even a new surface lot would carry, said Planning Director Ray Ocel, who emphasized that paying the fee instead of providing the parking "is not mandatory in any way."
The city would place the fees into a fund to go toward future downtown parking infrastructure, although it's not clear what specific projects the money would pay for.
The commission will have to decide later this month whether to recommend the new slate of rules to the City Council for approval.
On Wednesday, Commissioner Paul Ware wondered whether the proposal went too far in relaxing parking rules.
Under the proposed new ordinance, the number of spaces required in the downtown district would be cut in half. On top of that, the city would have the authority to waive up to five required parking spots for specific types of businesses it wants to encourage downtown.
Ware wondered whether that additional five spaces was too much to give up.
"People do drive into town and park, and they do want to be able to find parking," he said. "The additional five spaces seems just a little over the top for me."
Commissioner Roy Gratz said the whole reason behind the new rules--which the City Council asked the commission to craft--was to make sure lack of parking didn't cause businesses to scrap plans to open downtown.
"What we're trying to do with these regulations is encourage some new vitality in the downtown area," he said. "Yeah, it's going to be a little more crowded down there, maybe a little harder to find a parking space, but hopefully we'll get some more activity down there."
Emily Battle: 540/374-5413
Email: ebattle@freelancestar.com