BIDDEFORD — In 2006, city officials were working on how to encourage growth in the downtown and mill district. A lack of parking was identified as one of the hindrances, but a decision was made to utilize all the parking until the city was forced into a position where something must be done.
“We’re there now,” said City Manager John Bubier Thursday.
So last year, the city council approved spending $100,000 on a parking feasibility study for the downtown and mill district.
On Thursday, two to three dozen people gathered in the City Hall Council Chambers and listened attentively as Winton Scott, the principle of Winton Scott Architects in Portland, presented information culled from data collected in the two areas regarding parking. He also presented a parking management plan that included conceptual plans for two parking garages, one in the downtown and one in the mill district.
Those in attendance included business owners from the study areas, city representatives and other interested stakeholders and residents.
Scott’s company is part of a team of firms hired by the city to conduct the study. Scott presented data and plans for parking in the downtown and mill district separately, although he noted that there would likely be crossover of usage.
Ӣ In the downtown, Scott shared the surprising finding that there is currently more than enough parking. According to the data collected, between public and private parking in the downtown, there are 1,427 parking spots. Based on existing land use, said Scott, only 1,227 spots are currently needed in the area, leaving a surplus of 200 spaces.
Even with projected growth over the next five years, it is expected that there will still be a surplus of parking, he said.
However, said Scott, to get past the public perception that there isn’t enough parking, the city could make changes to better use the current parking. For instance, he recommended that there should be signs and a wayfinding system to show where existing, under-utilized lots are located; better enforcement of two-hour parking to allow for greater turnover; and a plan developed to allow for greater public usage of private parking lots.
Scott also showed renderings of a parking structure that could be developed in the downtown, at a city-owned lot located at Washington and Federal streets, that could provide 300 to 500 additional spots.
Ӣ While the consultants found there was more than enough parking in the downtown, that was not the case for the mill district.
In five years, Scott said, projections show 1,200 total spaces will be needed in the mill district; that’s 750 more than the 456 spots currently located in that area.
Further down the line, for a total build-out of the mill district, a total of nearly 2,600 spaces will be needed, which is 2,100 more spots than exist today.
Scott showed the audience several conceptual plans of a parking structure in the mill district. As presented, a parking structure there could be built in three phases, as need and funding allowed. The first phase would add about 500 spaces, phase two would provide more than 740 more, and the final phase would include about 475 spots.
In additional to the parking structure, Scott also discussed areas of pedestrian access to and from the structures, and the possibilities for public space for activities like skating in the winter and concerts in the summer on some of the structures.
The presentation was followed by questions and public discussion.
Some of the owners of downtown businesses took issue with findings that there was enough parking in that area.
One of the non-believers was Dan Ducharme, who owns Dad’s Cigar Parlor on Alfred Street and the recently opened Downtown Dollar Store on lower Main Street. He said since he opened his new store a frequent comment he gets is, “I hope you last because it’s hard to find a parking spot.” He said that is a comment that worries him as a business owner.
Mill district business owners said there definitely isn’t enough parking for growth.
Lack of parking is the biggest deterrent to increased occupancy throughout the mill district, said Greg Bennett, one of the owners of the Lincoln Mill. At a recent meeting with a potential tenant, he said he was told the company wouldn’t considering moving to the his building unless the parking problem was solved.
Both Bennett and mill district property owner Doug Sanford said they would do whatever it takes, such as gifts of land, to assist the city in building a parking garage in that area.
As the owner of the Pepperell Mill Campus, the former WestPoint Home, Sanford owns the largest amount of property in the mill district.
Most preliminary discussions about building a parking structure in the mill district include talks of a private/public partnership with the private sector putting up the land and the public putting up a significant amount of the funding.
While some believe the mill district building owners should fund these structures, Heart of Biddeford Executive Director Delilah Poupore noted that growth in the mill district would benefit businesses in the downtown.
Bubier said growth in both sectors that would occur as a result of increased parking would increase the city’s tax base. That increase could not only pay for the parking structures, it could reduce the residential portion of property taxes used to fund city services.
By way of example, Lewiston built three parking structures in its downtown and mill district from 2000-10, according to former City Administrator James Bennett. During that time in the downtown, there was about 900,000 square feet of increased new and redeveloped space, more than 1,100 new jobs, the retention of nearly 900 jobs, nearly $224 million in new investment and more than $1.3 million in new annual property taxes. Combined with additional growth citywide, Bennett said in a March 13 letter to Biddeford resident Mark Robinson shared with the Journal Tribune, “The actual tax rate in the city went down, so the increase in property taxes was directly related to the value created.”
Mayor Alan Casavant said he was intrigued with the plans presented and a believer that the redevelopment of the mills was tied to increased parking. The big issue, he said, will be how to fund such a project.
There is still a significant amount of work for his team left to do before a final recommendation is made, said Scott. Some of the information still being gathered includes construction, maintenance and financing options as well as an overall plan about how to best utilize existing parking spaces.
— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.
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