Workers seek parking perk
Employees in Spa City want free spaces set aside in new garage
While the City Center parking garage is aimed at alleviating the cit y ’s parking woes, its constr uction and the anticipated fees it will charge is the source of another parking headache — this one for downtown employees.
In a petition that carries more than 100 signatures, downtown employees are asking that the City Council reser ve a number of parking spots in which they may park for free in the yetto-be constr ucted $16 million, 610-space garage. Employees are also concerned about where to park now as the once free, allday lot where the garage will go up has been closed for construction.
“I felt like employees who worked downtown were not represented and didn’t have a voice concerning the new parking ( garage),” said Renee Rohan, who star ted the petition. “That ’s the place where I usually parked.”
Rohan, who gathered the sig natures, said some employees who used to park for free all day in the closed sur face lot now find themselves needing to lock up their shops to move their cars from short-term lots.
“I heard that stor y over and over,” Rohan said.
Other workers, she said, who have been unable to leave their shops because customers were browsing have ended up with parking tickets.
Rohan, who lives in Malta and works at Saratoga Olive Oil Company, said that she usually parks on the street on Lake Avenue now. But when the Farmers Market is open or there are any events going on downtown it ’s dif ficult to f ind a spot.
Ask ing t he cit y for help is probably not t he best approach as the new pa rk ing ga rage will be owned by the Cit y Center on la nd leased from t he cit y. Cit y Center Executive Director Ryan McMahon sa id that he has no intention of exempting a rea employees from pa rk ing fees, which he sa id mig ht be capped at $15 a day.
However, he said he will likely ask businesses to lease parking spots for their employees on an annual contractual basis. He does not yet know what that will cost.
“We are several months away,” Mcmahon said.
“We won’t be operational until track season. We have a lot to do now until then, including fig uring out what it will cost to operate the garage.”
While constr uction is under way, Commissioner of Public Sa fet y Peter Martin sa id t here severa l lot s t hat of fer a ll-day pa rk ing , t wo on Woodlaw n Avenue, as well as those on Putnam, Spr ing a nd Henr y streets. He a lso sa id t hat most on-street park ing spots located east of Henr y Street a nd west of Clinton Street have f ull-day or multi-day ava i labi lit y. Mcmahon said workers should consider pa rk ing t here.
“There are a number of spots that are equi