Newly hired city planner Ellen Shadle gave a presentation on downtown parking to the city council, explaining the city is missing out on revenue due to the free parking.  Shadle said that the city loses revenue by not having meters in the current Downtown Free Parking Zone and is also resulting in an under-utilization of the city’s public parking garages and lots.

According to Shadle, the city is losing as much as $117,400 each year by not charging in the free parking zone, under the current rate of 50 cents an hour. That number jumps to over $230,000 if the city were to increase hourly parking rates to $1.

She also told the council that there is no such thing as “Free Parking” because parking spaces can all be attributed to having a cost and value.

“Free parking is never really free. Ultimately, in terms of the cost to own and operate an automobile, we are passing that off to the city or our fellow taxpayers to provide a parking space for the vehicles. So, thank you for paying for my parking spot when I come downtown and park in the free zone. Likewise, I’m also paying for you to park for free as well. So free parking is really never free.”

Shadle also argued that by not charging for the spaces, the city is not getting a fair market return on the actual value of the spaces, pointing to studies out of larger metropolitan areas that put a premium price on parking spaces, stating their real estate value is higher than the actual value of most of the vehicles that park on them. However, there is a difference between the value of on-street parking spaces and the value of multiple parking spaces within a parking lot that can be developed for another purpose. Shadle didn’t clarify if she was referring to the real estate value of an on-street parking space, or of a parking space found within a lot.

City Councilwoman Tamu Graham-Reinhardt asked Shadle if she had any comparative data or information comparing Jamestown to other cities of similar size and socioeconomic challenges, and she admitted that she had taken a “silo” approach to evaluating Jamestown’s downtown parking situation.

When city council woman Marie Carrubba mentioned that downtown business owners would be opposed to removing the free parking, Shadle countered by saying a city parking enforcement employee claimed business owners are the ones who mostly use the free parking.

“It confuses her that a business owner would express fears that they would lose patronage due to a lack of free parking in front of their business, when the business owner is the one who is parking there,” Shadle said.

A map highlighting the free 2-hour “courtesy” parking spaces in downtown Jamestown.

Prior to Shadle’s presentation, the city clerk read a correspondence from city resident and downtown property owners Peter Miraglia, who voiced some concern about removing the free parking zone from downtown.

“I believe the high rate of utilization in the free zone is partially created because the spaces are surrounded by pay parking, and not necessarily by demand created by businesses in the zone. I believe utilization there will drop significantly if it becomes metered, and that overall visits to downtown will decrease,” Miraglia stated in his letter to the council.

“In the almost 20 years, that I have been actively involved downtown, I have felt that the ‘parking system’ has been downtown’s greatest impediment to growth. When I visit very active and successful downtowns like Saratoga Springs, and Owego, who offer free on and off street parking, I wonder why Jamestown continues to make coming to downtown so challenging,” Miraglia concluded.

Council president Tony Dolce said the issue will likely be discussed by the council in the future and no action is expected during this month’s voting session on Oct. 26.

Three years ago the council also considered eliminating the free parking zone, but the idea was eventually tabled.

Meanwhile, the council also discussed a plan to increase downtown metered parking by 50 cents an hour and also increase fines by $5. The increase is built into the mayor’s 2021 city budget.

That was also met with some concern and additional discussion will likely take place prior to any action by the council.

One application will be sponsored by the city and involves a request of $100,000 in funding for the proposed new skate park that will be located across the Jones and Gifford Avenue, from the McCrea Point Boat Landing.

The skateboard park is a project that was announced earlier this year when the city said the Tony Hawk Foundation would offer a matching grant of up to $250,000 for the new skate park.

In addition to the CFA, other funding sources for the skate park will come from the Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Foundation and a local fundraising effort spear-headed by Jamestown Skate Products in collaboration with the Chautauqua Regional Community Foundation.

ENCHANTED MOUNTAIN SPIRITS SEEKING FUNDING FOR RELOCATION

The former HSBC Bank location in downtown Jamestown, future home of Enchanted Mountain Spirits

In addition to the skate park, city officials also heard from Mick O’Neill from Enchanted Mountain Spirits and Peter Miraglia from the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation (JRC).

The JRC is sponsoring a $200,000 CFA for Enchanted Mountain Spirits to help pay for its $500,000 relocation effort from its previous location on Water St. to its new location at the former HSBC Bank building (previously occupied by Galactic Systems Headquarters) on the northwest corner of Second and North Main Streets.

O’Neill said if all funding for the relocation is secure, his operation will begin producing spirits out of the new location by March of next year, with a goal of employing 40+ within three years.

The city council must review all local CFA applications before they are sent to the state for review. That action will likely take place during its June voting session. All CFAs must be submitted/finalized online by 4 p.m. on July 26. The applicants will find out if they’ve received the money and just how much they will be getting by the end of the year.

A map highlighting the focus areas of the Urban Design Plan 2.0, approved by the Jamestown City Council during its May 2019 meeting.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council has approved a plan that will help chart the course for future development in the downtown area of the city, but it wasn’t unanimous.

During Monday’s city council meeting, lawmakers voted 8 to 1 in favor of adopting the city’s Urban Design Plan 2.0 – put together by the consulting firm Goody Clancy with oversight from the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation (JRC).

Funding for the new plan came from City of Jamestown, New York State Downtown Revitalization Initiative and the Gebbie Foundation.

The guiding themes of our new plan focusing on four areas:

• Continue the renewal of the Chadakoin Riverfront;
• Make downtown more walkable and better connected;
• Expand on the programs and events that draw people downtown, and;
• Recognizing the potential of a growing a Health and Wellness medical corridor in the areas of Foote Avenue and Harrison and Institute Street.

The plan was more than a year in the making with community input sessions taking place in 2018, along with a roll-out and approval by the City Planning Commission earlier this year. The plan was also presented to the city council’s Public Safety Committee and full council in March and two public hearings on it were held in April to allow for final input before being adopted this month by the council.

However, despite the numerous opportunities offer input and also learn details about the plan, city councilman Andrew Liuzzo (R-At Large) voiced his concern about the plan, saying prior to the vote that he didn’t feel enough was done to seek input from the residents and businesses that might be impacted by any future development, specifically in the medical corridor, that stems from recommendations with the plan. As a result, he voted against adopting the document.

Following the meeting Liuzzo reiterated his thoughts to WRFA.

“I’m pretty sure that people on Maple Street and Arnold Street and Institute Street – that whole area – I’m pretty sure that they didn’t have any input on this,” Liuzzo explained. “I think that if you are going to plan Urban Planning, yeah, you can have your meeting and you can call for a public hearing but you see how well they [are attended]… You really have to walk the neighborhoods and ask, ‘This is what our plan is. How do you feel about that?’ That’s why in good conscious I voted ‘no.'”

JRC Executive director Peter Miraglia was in attendance during Monday’s meeting and afterward he spoke with us in response to Liuzzo’s concerns about a lack of effort in reaching out to residents and businesses.

“We did have two public hearings after the planning commission and the Public Safety Committee reviewed it. Yes, I would love to have the time to go door-to-door to talk with everyone about it. I don’t want to make excuses but it would have been impracticable at that time. We did get a pretty good input at the start of the process and we did have smaller groups during the public hearing but they did provide input. And my office is always open for anyone who has questions,” Miraglia said.

Both Miraglia and Mayor Sam Teresi also remind the public that the Urban Design Plan is designed to be a general vision and recommendation on the focus of future development efforts in the city, including making recommendations, but it is not intended to be a specific action plan.  Any recommended projects that do move forward will still have to be discussed by the council and other stakeholders and will likely have opportunities for the public to weigh in on them prior to any permitting or funding applications that may take place.

The plan can be viewed at the JRC’s website.

Jamestown Public Market Manager Linnea Carlson discusses parking concerns with the city public safety committee during its May 6, 2019 meeting.

JAMESTOWN – Organizers with the Jamestown Public Market are hoping motorists who park in an area of downtown Jamestown will be more cooperative this year once the market opens in June.

On Monday night Public Market Manager Linnea Carlson and Jamestown Renaissance Corporation executive director Peter Miraglia appeared before the Jamestown City Council’s public safety committee to voice their concerns about vehicles being parked on Cherry Street the day the market is held.

Jamestown Public Market Manager Linnea Carlson shows signage the market uses to help raise awareness about its weekly event for downtown motorists.

The Jamestown Public Market takes place every Saturday from June through October, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and a special event permit allows the market to close Cherry Street between Second and Third Streets from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. that same day.  That event permit also includes blocking off the street to ensure no parking during that time period.

However, Carlson noted that last year there were recurring problems with vehicles that would park on the street the night before and still be parked on the street that morning at 8 a.m.

“What we have done in the past is on Fridays we put up our own signage, but it really doesn’t do much. People still park there,” Carlson explained. “We want to find an easier solution because when I get there we have to find a way to get these cars off the street. We have resorted to contacting the police department to see if they can run the license plate and find out who owns the car. Sometimes that works, but sometimes it doesn’t.”

Carlson added that when vehicles are in the area, they create a safety problem for those who work at and also visit the market once it is in session.

“There were two instances when we couldn’t get a car moved before the market opened at 10 a.m. I couldn’t put a vendor in that spot, I have to leave the car in the middle of the market, and I can’t watch that car the entire market because I’m the manager, I have to be all over the place. And then the person returned to their vehicle at noon while the market is in full session. I have a hundred people in the street and they get in their car then drive through the market,” Carlson said. “We have children, we have families, we have people that live at Covenant Manor and Hotel Jamestown so it’s been a consistent issue for us.”

Carlson added that the market does have the authority to call police and work to have vehicles towed from the street if they are there during the restricted time period, but would prefer not to if possible.  Jamestown Police Chief Harry Snellings also noted that the police did that once last year and the city is now being challenged on the legal authority to have a vehicle towed when there is no city  law or city issued sign, clearly stating that parking is restricted during the time period mentioned.

After explaining the problem, Carlson asked the city could post signs that clearly stated the hours parking isn’t allowed on the street during the designated hours.  Committee chair Maria Jones said the officials would look into the issue of posting signs with the city department of public works.

The Jamestown Public Market opens on Saturday, June 8.

The Jamestown City Council’s Public Safety Committee reviews the draft Urban Design Plan 2.0 with city Planner Cyrstal Surdyk and JRC executive director Peter Miraglia.

JAMESTOWN – The Jamestown City Council was given its first glimpse of a newly drafted Urban Design Plan on Monday night.

During the council’ Public Safety Committee meeting as well as the full council work session, city Planner Crystal Surdyk walked officials through the plan and highlighted some of the key components of the Jamestown Urban Design Plan 2.0. During the Public Safety meeting Surdyk was also joined by Jamestown Renaissance Corporation director Peter Miraglia. The JRC was the sponsor of the plan.

• READ DRAFT JAMESTOWN URBAN DESIGN PLAN 2.0

The Urban Design Plan 2.0 was once again drafted by Goody Clancy – who helped with the previous Urban Design Plan that was implemented in 2006 and which won both state and national awards.

Maraglia said the focus of the new UDP is similar to what the old one initiated a dozen years earlier.

“This new plan is an update to first plan and continues some of the themes, such as the Riverwalk development, making downtown more walkable, and expanding activities and events,” Maraglia said. “A major new focus in the new plan is including the Health and Wellness District were UPMC is, and with the Chautauqua Health Network Building that is being built, Western New York Urology, and that sort of thing.”

Maraglia said another new component of the plan is to work on creating another pedestrian access corridor from the Downtown to the Medical district, via Institute Street.

“One of the suggestions that may be of interest to the Public Safety Committee is they suggested opening up pedestrian access from downtown, near the High School down Institute Street through or above the railroad tracks to that new wellness district. That’s in this plan,” Maraglia noted.

And Maraglia added that the plan is useful for a number of reasons, primarily because it offers focus in what projects should be pursued in the coming years, while also helping to leverage money to make those projects a reality.

“These kinds of plans are really good for leveraging future grants and stuff. Because when you apply for things to try and help getting businesses get going, you can reference this and say, ‘Look. It’s in line with what we’ve planned’,” Maraglia said.

The plan was already reviewed and approved by the city planning commission but before it can be put in place it must also be acted on by the full city council. The council will likely have a public hearing on the plan before it votes on it later this spring.

Copies of the plan will be on the city’s website – jamestownny.net.

Peter Maraglia

JAMESTOWN – Peter Miraglia has been appointed interim executive director of the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation (JRC) following the resignation of Lisa Hatch, effective Oct. 9.

The JRC is a non-profit organization that supports the implementation of downtown, waterfront and neighborhood revitalization strategies in Jamestown.

Peter has been an active member of the JRC board of directors for the past 3 years and serves on the urban core and neighborhood revitalization subcommittees. He also serves on the Mayor’s ad-hoc downtown parking study.

In 2001 Peter purchased and began renovations of the former Nelson’s Department store building located on East 2nd Street in Jamestown. The building currently houses several prominent businesses including Chautauqua Music, Afloral.com and Studio D Catering.

Peter was born in Jamestown and grew up in the local area. He holds a B.S. degree in Criminal Justice from Buffalo State College and completed 30 hours of graduate studies at George Washington University. Peter gained extensive project management and supervisory experience throughout a career that spanned more than 30 years in federal government agencies, including five years as an active duty officer in the U.S. Coast Guard.

In 2012, Peter moved back to Jamestown with his wife Melissa. As native of the Jamestown area, Peter is excited to take an active role in the revitalization of his hometown.

At Jamestown Renaissance Corporation we make Jamestown better through inspiration, action, and celebration. For more information about JRC, please visit jamestownrenaissance.org.