Unkind to motorists
City needs to consider parking with development
Mayor Bill Peduto has been prodding the Steelers to develop two North Shore parcels, saying the team is dragging its feet because it makes so much money using the properties near Heinz Field as commuter parking lots.
Mr. Peduto’s comments underscore one of the city’s biggest failures. Officials should consider parking a priority, yet they treat it as an afterthought.
Daily parking on the North Shore already is tough to find, especially on days the Pirates or Steelers play. The building of two parking garages hasn’t eased the crunch; the neighborhood can’t afford to lose any more spaces.
Development has steadily eaten away at the supply of parking spaces
Motorists cruising the section of Strip District near Downtown will see lot after lot reserved for leaseholders. Dailyparkers are out of luck.
In the Lower Hill, redevelopment of the Civic Arena site means ending the Penguins’ use of the property as a 2,500-space parking lot. The team intends to build a garage — with public assistance, of course, because sports teams try to spend as little of their own money as possible — but the proposed structure would have only 900 to 1,000 spaces.
The Central Business District can’t afford to lose a few hundred spots, however, so the Pens a few months ago proposed a “parking district” that better leverages spaces in other lots and garages while incorporating pedestrian upgrades and public transportation. That sounds like a big shell game.
Stretching across 28 acres, the redevelopment site is supposed to include office, retail, restaurants, entertainment and residential units. It’s difficult to see how a 900- or 1,000space garage, plus unused spots in nearby garages, will come close to meeting parking demand.
The city has a habit of allowing developers — even prodding them — to put up buildings without making provisions for the people who drive to do business in them. Couple the lack of parking spaces with the rapacity of lot owners, and the problem comes into sharp focus.
Not everyone is going to use Mayor Bill Peduto’s bike lanes, and the city shouldn’t want it to be otherwise. The city parking tax is expected to bring in nearly $62 million this year, about 11 percent of operating revenue. That’s real money that the city should be working hard to sustain. It’s certainly a lot more than the bike lanes are bringing in.
Property owners have an incentive to provide ample parking, even if the city isn’t requiring them to and even if it’s more lucrative to build offices and restaurants than parking spaces. The easier it is for people to get to their doors, the more attractive their properties become and the higher rents they can charge.
The city hasn’t had a serious discussion about parking since the aborted 2010 effort to privatize its lots, garages and meters.
The neglect now is showing. The city should retain all existing parking spaces while requiring all developers to incorporate parking facilities into future projects.