More parking and a well-paid czar to oversee it. Those are just two of the recommendations found in a $94,000 study commissioned by the Buffalo Parking Board. The 104 page report says downtown faces a shortage of parking, particularly in the ‘government district’ near Niagara Square. It suggests up to four new parking ramps be constructed to provide an additional 2,600 spaces, including the City Tower lot at S. Elmwood and W. Mohawk. Pointing out disjointed oversight of the City’s parking operations, it also calls for consolidating parking functions and paying a “parking czar” $140,000/year to lead the effort.
The Buffalo News has the details:
“The fragmentation of oversight, reliance on the private sector and abrogation of traditional responsibilities has created an overly competitive, shortsighted and dysfunctional parking system,” said Desman Associates, a nationally recognized consulting firm that was hired by the city to perform the study.
“When businesses look at downtown office space, one of the first things they ask is, ‘Where do we park?’ and, ‘How much is it going to cost?’ ” Schmand said.
He said projected parking shortages for office and government workers over the next decade require immediate planning.
“Downtown can’t begin to compete with suburban office parks without convenient and affordable parking,” said Schmand, whose nonprofit agency represents the interests of downtown stakeholders and residents.
The study urges the city to consider building several new downtown ramps, warning there will be a shortage of 1,650 spaces in a government-office district bounded by Delaware Avenue, South Elmwood Avenue, Chippewa Street and Church Street.
The dominant theme in the report is that too many entities are involved in city parking, creating “shortsighted” and disjointed management.
The study targets four downtown sites currently used as surface parking lots as potential locations for new parking garages, creating space for some 2,600 more vehicles. That list includes sites at or near the intersections of West Mohawk Street and South Elmwood; Delaware and West Chippewa; West Huron and Franklin streets; and Ellicott and Oak streets.
The surface lot at West Mohawk and South Elmwood, directly behind the new federal courthouse, is at the top of the study’s list. Once owned by British developer Bashar Issa, who proposed to construct the city’s tallest building on it, it is now controlled by Buffalo businessman Mark Croce.
“I’m not going to be closed-minded. There might be some possibilities to explore,” Croce said. “But that’s a prime development site, and its highest, best use isn’t as a parking ramp.”
One of downtown’s biggest property owners isn’t convinced:
“This is insanity. Anybody who thinks we need a $140,000-a-year commissioner to oversee parking needs their head examined,” Paladino said.
He confirmed that Desman representatives met with him last fall to discuss the state of parking in Buffalo but said he wasn’t queried on many key aspects of the analysis.
“I’m the biggest big mouth in town about parking, and they didn’t bother to ask me much of anything. I think they got their marching orders from City Hall, and that was that,” Paladino said.