City Council Votes to Keep Free Parking in the Loop
The council agreed, via a 5-2 vote, to keep the current free parking and to begin a dialogue with the Loop Special Business District about how to keep free parking in the future.
The Parkview Gardens plan is still winding through the University City Plan Commission but the city council clarified its position Monday on one possible aspect of the plan. The council voted 5-2 to keep the existing free parking in the Loop while the city begins a dialogue with Delmar Loop businesses about maintaining the parking in the future.
The parking in question is Municipal Lot #4, otherwise known as the lot behind Cicero's and Market Pub House. The lot has approximately 400 free spaces for Loop visitors.
Mayor Shelley Welsch and Councilman Michael Glickert voted against the measure. Welsch said she objected to voting on anything related to the plan before it was approved by the plan commission and came before the council for a vote.
"This plan is still before the plan commission," Welsch said. "It will come before us later this month or next. I strongly believe that we shouldn't vote on it until it comes through the plan commission. The commission should be allowed to do its work without any undue pressure from us and a vote would be undue pressure."
Councilman Byron Price, who proposed the vote, said the decision was not dictating action but was stating the philosophical beliefs of the council.
"This has nothing to do with the planning commission," he said. "This is a philosophical question—we need to state what our position on this is."
Price said the free parking helped to make the Delmar Loop "one of the 10 best streets in America," and he didn't want to tamper with that.
Councilman Arthur Sharpe, who voted for the measure, said early in the debate that his conversations with City Manager Lehman Walker led him to believe the city was not eliminating free parking.
"I'm satisfied with what he has told me and I'll leave it at that," he said.
Councilwoman Paulette Carr said she believed the city and the Loop Special Business District could come up with a creative way to make both parties happy.
"I do not want to see the viability of our premiere street threatened in any way," she said.
Part of the Parkview Gardens draft proposal mentions the possibility of developing the property for condos. Carr told the council that within the City of Clayton there are two large condo buildings, sitting unrented. "Just because you build it, doesn’t mean they will come," she said.
Former Councilwoman Lynn Ricci, who left the council in April after choosing not to run for reelection, spoke to the council for the first time since leaving as a private citizen. She urged the city to do a traffic study and really evaluate the costs and benefits of the city-owned lot.
"I certainly hope you will reconsider free parking in the Loop," she said. "Make an informed, educated decision. Get the information to determine the financial and liability costs of this lot."
The Plan Commission meets at 7 p.m. tonight.
In This article
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Cicero's Restaurant
6691 Delmar Blvd, Saint Louis, MO -
Market Pub House
6655 Delmar Blvd, University City, MO
Jan Adams
7:39 am on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Free parking on this City lot is a taxpayer subsidy of business. This issue was not on the Council's agenda for a vote, so the taxpayers had no notice that there would be a vote on this "major issue" of policy for the City. Such a policy is consistent with the trickle-down theory of economics and I am tired of being trickled-down on. What do we pay to maintain this lot for the benefit of the local businesses and why do we pay it?
Kim
8:47 am on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
According to this Patch article from yesterday, titled "City Council to Discuss Free Loop Parking," the discussion was on the agenda. http://universitycity.patch.com/articles/city-council-to-discuss-free-loop-parking
And, as I recall, when this topic came up a year or so ago, there was much discussion and citizen comment, the vast majority of it in favor of retaining free parking.
Beverly Brandt
9:23 am on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
And why are some UCity residents so anti-Loop-business? Don't the businesses who benefit from the free lot pay local sales taxes? Don't those taxes in some way benefit University City? Isn't the Loop part of what makes UCity, UCity? The businesses on the Loop are a huge benefit to our community and I wish that we had the same sort of forward thinking going on down Olive (there are bits and pieces and pockets, so there is progress.) I am always surprised at the apparent anti-Loop sentiment expressed by some UCitians - especially from those who run or who have run for office.
Jeff Hales
2:14 pm on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
The subject was on the discussion agenda and furthermore, Mr. Price was quite clear that his motion sought to express the views of council, not to create policy. He stated "I think the public has a right to know what people's positions are."
Your injection of national politics into our non-partisan municipal government is bizarre, but perhaps not unexpected from the "progressive candidate" in the last council race. To suggest that by supporting Mr. Price's motion, Mr. Kraft, Mr. Sharpe, Mr. Price, Ms. Carr, and Mr. Crow are somehow supporting the Republican theory of trickle-down economics is nonsense and reminds me of the Mayor's alarmist "censorship" rhetoric from her blog yesterday.
gena ellis
7:42 am on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
They should study other cities. Make the loop and that part of Delmar pedestrian. Would get more people. Be more pleasant. Prettier. Reroute traffic.
Samuel
8:25 am on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
My wife and I are regular customers at several loop businesses, especially Cicero's, Blueberry Hill, and Componere. It is a simple fact that if there were no free parking, we would become much less regular.
Kim
8:35 am on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
I am a tax-paying resident and I park on that lot once or twice a week, while visiting the Market in the Loop, the Library, and patronizing the many fine businesses on the Loop. It is convenient and I really appreciate not having to go through the hassle of figuring out the payment kiosk (like the one istalled behind Bread Co., which has resulted in our family heading to Clayton during busy Loop hours.) I applaud the council for keeping this lot free - it will be good for business, and good for residents. That said, the lot is in terrible shape, so let's get get it repaired, repaved, and restriped so that it can be a pleasant welcome to our Loop visitors. As it stands, it's a bit of an eyesore.
Gena Ellis - I totally agree with you. Would LOVE to see the Loop pedestrian-only, a la Nicolette Mall in Mpls. I'd even be willing to pay to park :) Many have suggested that - hopefully the council will start to think about it.
Beverly Brandt
9:36 am on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
You know, the more I read about this discussion, the more I get a sense of deja vu. Wasn't this an issue a couple of years ago and didn't Loop businesses and citizens already come out against paid parking in that lot? Didn't someone realize that almost any sort of paid system would take more money to install and maintain than it would make? These are not rhetorical questions. I may be mis-remembering.
George Lenard
9:50 am on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
As I understood the issue from the Mayor's blog, it was not about possibly eliminating free parking but about possibly transforming it from a surface lot to garage parking as part of residential.commercial buildings that would bring more people and taxes to the Loop. Aesthetically, we are very fortunate that the present parking is behind the shops, unlike typical postwar American ugly sprawl commercial development, in which parked cars on oceans of asphalt are a key visual detracting from whatever architectural beauty there may be. If the funding becomes available as part of a large project, hiding the same cars in multi-level garages while keeping the parking free would, in my opinion, be a win-win.
Joe
4:20 pm on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
I think the Good Works / parking garage building was a great development for the Loop. Similar structures could potentially benefit the area behind Cicero's. But, if you build a building, you have to pay for it, and free parking won't pay for building a parking structure. So, unless there was someway to get someone other than the visiting public to pay the cost of building the structure, I'd be against it.
Caryn St.Clair
10:21 am on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
A big chunk of downtown Memphis where its trolley runs is predestrians only. It would certainly make the trolley more appealling. However, I would hope then that Vernon would stay open to vehicles all the way through to Skinker instead of the current plan.
A parking garage would be good. Finding a spot on the surface lot can be challenging at best during busy times. Condos however, would not.
I'm actually not opposed to paid parking there, but I'd like to see it not be meters but rather by ticket so that you could browse the shops, dine, see a movie and get ice cream w/o having to run back to feed the meter. Or maybe parking could be free after 7 or whatever. I really don't see this as an all one way or all the other issue. There surely is a middle ground somewhere.
Kim, the parking kiosk sends you all to Clayton??? Clayton has the same kiosk system all over the place. It took some getting the hang of using, but really they aren't that big of a deal.
Kim
11:35 am on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Caryn - if I don't think we can find a spot in the Loop Bread Co. lot, we just turn down Big Bend and go to the Bread Co. on Clayton Rd, where the parking is free. Sometimes with a car full of hungry kids it's just the easier thing to do, but I miss having the option of parking hassle-free in the alley behind our own Bread Co.
Joe
4:16 pm on Tuesday, July 10, 2012
As someone who lived near the Loop for 16 years, owning three different homes, I can say that the free parking is very important to the success of the Loop. Many people won't go to places unless they can park there, and park for free. It is a small subsidy to support one of the main engines of our local economy. I think that downtown St. Louis's reliance on paid parking helped kill the retail economy there. When people had the choice between going downtown (and pay for parking) or going out to one of the suburban malls (and have free parking), they chose free parking. And much of downtown died. I love U. City and the Loop. I think eliminating free parking could be very very bad for both.