Master Parking Plan is a Priority

Date last updated 12:17 pm Mar 21st, 2007

Denise Kowal participated as a stakeholder in all of the workshops for the development of the Downtown Parking Master Plan. She has been a vocal advocate for its proper implementation.

The current incumbent has not followed the intent of our Downtown Master Plan 2020 or the suggestions in the Downtown Parking Master Plan.

"Nothing pollutes more than driving around," said Andres Duany recently while in town. The intent of the Plan is for the city to provide civic parking facilities that are easily accessible for the public on public land, not to incorporate them into large complicated developments that benefit the developer instead of the citizens. Our city cannot mature if we do not build proper parking - and we have spent too much money studying and defining what proper parking is to ignore those recommendations.

Compact, walkable communities is the most important step a community can take to maintain water quality and by reducing vehicle miles traved we will reduce toxic auto by-products that are washed off roads and into waterways during heavy rains. According to the U.S. EPA, more compact, walkable, mixed-use and transit-oriented land-use patterns can reduce the number of miles traveled by car 15% to 52% and reduce the association toxic by-products.

The City of Sarasota Parking Master Plan has 8 priorities with the first 3 to be built by 2008. Those 3 locations are Palm Avenue, State Street and Burns Square.

Palm Avenue:
The city owns land on Palm Avenue so there is no excuse that will justify why this historically significant shopping district is without a civic parking facility. The commission needs to stop complicating the land with difficult RFP's that do not provide for the urgent need for parking.

State Street:
The story of the city's State Street parking lot is a tragic one - a massive giveaway of city owned land orchestrated by the incumbent during her time as Mayor against all warnings from City Staff, City Management, City Attorney, City Consultants, CRA Advisory Board members, Neighborhood Groups, Private Citizens and Lou Ann Palmer. In fact, the Sarasota Herald Tribune broke the story that every person and organization that spoke in favor of the deal to the developer had financial ties to the developer.
The incumbent did not dispute the deficit this deal has created in our civic parking inventory downtown and has even considered building a parking structure at City Hall to make up this deficit.

Burns Square:
The incumbent voted enthusiastically in favor of entering into a contract to purchase the Orange Dolphin building for parking and then voted against it when the political heat rose. Yet this deal was almost half the cost of the State Street deal creating the same number of spaces (350).
The property owners in Burns Square conducted their own charrette in 2005 and located only three possible locations for a civic parking facility; they are the Orange Dolphin property, Michael Saunders lot and the Women's Exchange property. As a result of the property owners’ findings, Burns Square is pleased to have worked with city staff and they have started conversations with the Women's Exchange for civic parking facility. The Woman's Exchange location was the Property Owners third choice. The Orange Dolphin was centrally located in the middle of the district and was our first choice.