Jef Nickerson
Tuesday, March 17, 2015 • 8:00am
Joseph A. Doorley, Jr. Municipal Building
444 Westminster Street, 1st Floor Conference Room Providence, RI 02903[/alert]
Agenda
- Roll Call
- Minutes
Meetings of November 18, 2014, December 2, 2014 and January 20, 2015 - Parcel 15: Francis Street Parcels
Presentation of revised plans for a temporary parking lot on the site. - Adjournment
State House Parking Lot – Posted without commentary
A Google tour of State House surface parking
Guest post: Parking reform should start at the State House
State defiantly moves ahead with surface parking
State to pay $3.1 million to buy land for prohibited parking[/alert]
Note the ridiculous 8am start time for this meeting, which is actually before this building is officially open.
Greater City Providence
Can someone please clarify the meaning of the word “temporary” with regard to the parking lot?
When the State bought this land, there was lots of talk about historically low interest rates and this being a good time to buy, which is true. There was less talk about the land being owned by a former State Senator. The State said they wanted to build something there in the future, but were taking advantage of this opportunity to buy. The only temporary use that anyone could conceive of was parking.
Someday, the State may find a permanent use so the parking lot is being called “temporary.”
Thanks for your reply. Is this akin to all the “temporary” surface lots downtown?
Sure, except the lots downtown are actually temporary in the sense that they sit in a high-value area, which means that further development pressure could someday — in theory, at least — compel their owners to make them something more. Do you see that happening on the Hill? One look at the aerial view of the site will answer that question for you.
Without some form of outside intervention to compel the CCC to respect its own rules, nothing will ever happen here. For the convenience of the bureaucrats, this will be a “temporary” parking lot for all time.
As Shakespeare asked, what’s in a name? Well, the name makes all the difference, apparently. Call the lot “temporary” to fulfill the letter of the law, then do whatever you like thereafter.
Parking tax! Implement it, Mayor Elorza!
http://www.providencejournal.com/article/20150124/Opinion/301249950
Puzzling to say the least that they are assessing the design merit of an illegal use.