OSWEGO, NY – At its meeting Monday night, the Common Council authorized the purchasing agent to prepare a request for proposal for the Riverwalk West-Water Street Parking Connector Feasibility Study.
“Councilor Mike Todd, who chairs the downtown parking committee, and the rest of the committee requested that we have a feasibility study done for the parking lot on Water Street, which is to the east of the Jefferson Block, Canal Commons and Browne-Davis,” said Mary Vanouse, community development director.
The idea is to see what the cost estimate would be and what the design could be for that parking lot which could possibly be on two levels and bring retail kiosks and perhaps even mixed use development down to the River Walk, she explained at the committee level.
According to a developer who looked at the area in 2005, the cost would be around $10,000.
The city’s purchasing agent would have to request proposals for the study, so that the city could update the cost, Vanouse explained.
The downtown parking committee is made up of about 10 people, including city officials as well as business people, Todd said.
“There have been some new businesses that have come in. But there is not a lot of places to park,” he said. “We are trying to find places to make more parking.”
“This is just the beginning steps,” he continued. “It’s been going on for about seven months. I encourage anyone who wants to come to our meetings to come and put their two cents in.”
In other business:
The council approved three requests for use of city property:
Michael Harter, owner of a single-family dwelling at 37 W. Fifth St., in the First Ward, wants to construct a new covered porch, sixteen foot by eighteen foot between the sidewalk and right-of-way fronting West VanBuren Street.
Ryan McManus, owner of a single-family dwelling at 1 E. Fifth St., in the Second Ward, wants to place a new four foot high wood fence nine foot by nineteen foot between the sidewalk and right-of-way fronting East Fifth Street.
Derek Harrington, owner of a single-family dwelling at 96 E. 11th St., in the Second Ward, wants to construct a new seventeen foot by twenty-five foot driveway between the sidewalk and property line, as well as a twelve foot by fourteen foot cement apron, between the curb and sidewalk fronting East Eleventh Street.
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Some of the current business owners are the cause of the parking problem downtown. I worked downtown for almost 25 years in the last 10 years since I left some of the newbies park in spots that their customers should be in. (can you say big ugly cube van) Business owners and their employess along with City Hall employess should be parking in the lot behind Brown -Davis or down by Old City Hall . They didn’t take out the parking meters so that owners and employess could park free in front of the stores all day. Maybe it’s time to put the meters back in.