Greene Street parking garage back on the table

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

A proposed new parking garage on Greene Street that Key West City Commissioners voted to reject last September is back on the table.

Commissioner Richard Payne had asked his colleagues in November to hold off resurfacing the existing public parking lot next to the Conch Republic Seafood House until city officials could take a second look at a 2011 traffic study that made nine recommendations to help reduce congestion in Old Town. One of those recommendations was to build two, four-story parking garages, one on top of the Greene Street lot and the other next to the new firehouse at the corner of Simonton and Angela streets. Both locations currently have paid, surface parking lots.

Key West Parking Director John Wilkins has put together new estimates for the revenue a 319-space garage would generate. Wilkins also has revenue projections for a smaller garage – 101 spaces – that would keep the existing surface parking lot currently rented out by the Conch Republic Seafood House, as well as the offices used by the non-profit Reef Relief and an area currently used by commercial fishermen to store lobster pots.

The cost to build a new garage on Greene Street ranges between $5 million and $8 million, depending on the size of the structure. Estimated annual revenue for a 319-space garage is just under $2.2 million, while the smaller garage could pull in $579,000 a year.

Wilkins said his department will not be making a recommendation either way because the final decision is up to commissioners. However, the issue has incited strong opinions on both sides. Critics have called parking garages “big and ugly” and “concrete dinosaurs.” But advocates, including Commissioner Payne, point to rising traffic congestion and the inability of residents to find a street parking spot near their homes.

“Based on feedback from the community so far, I’m going to present information to assist the commission to evaluate those issues for and against,” Wilkins said. Commissioners are slated to debate the issue at their March 16 meeting.

The idea of building two new parking garages brought multiple speakers to the podium at the Nov. 15 city commission meeting, when Payne’s resolution to revisit the 2011 traffic study was approved. Local resident Richard Talmadge urged commissioners to allow ride sharing services such as Uber and Lyft to help combat the parking shortage in Old Town. Kate Miano, owner of The Gardens Hotel on Angela Street across from the Simonton Street parking lot, said that lot is never full. She consulted with the city parking department and found that from October 2015 to the same month in 2016, parking revenues in the Simonton lot had fallen 18.7 percent.

“The reality is the lot is not used that much. It’s never at capacity, maybe two days a year,” Miano said.

One of the concerns about a Greene Street lot is that it will depress business in the area, leading to job losses. Wilkins said he doesn’t believe that is true. And as to concerns that the structure will be too large and unattractive for the neighborhood, Wilkins said there are other large buildings in the area, including a new development of 40-foot-tall townhouses next door.

“It’s hard to do pro and con but I’ll try to address the issue with facts I can isolate,” Wilkins said about his report to commissioners.

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