The Hartford City Council Monday night indefinitely postponed a measure that would have imposed major fee hikes on downtown parking-lot operators, including major center-city investors who fervently opposed the proposal.
Before the 6-2 vote — with councilors Wildaliz Bermudez and John Gale opposing — that put the fee increase on the backburner, some councilors acknowledged the municipal legislative body hadn’t done enough outreach to downtown business owners and residents.
“Going into this, the community voice was lost, and the community voice in this experience was the business [community]” said councilor Nick Lebron. “How can I, on one end, come to the table saying ‘we need all voices’… and yet neglect the very voices that this is going to have an impact on?”
The proposed measure — which updates a 2002 ordinance –would have increased the biennial permit fees the city charges downtown parking-lot operators from a maximum of $1,000 per parking lot to as much as $28,900 or more, depending on the number of spaces in a particular lot.
If passed, the updated ordinance would have created 13 different permit fee structures based on lot size. For example, under the updated ordinance a lot with 16 to 30 motor vehicles would have to pay a biennial permit fee of $2,000, up from $500 today. Lots with more than 250 vehicles would have to pay $28,900 plus an additional $2,500 for every additional 20 vehicles (under that scheme a lot with 305 vehicles would have to pay a $36,400 biennial fee).
Supporters of the measure, including Gale, have said parking-lot operator fees haven’t increased in about 18 years and should be higher. They also said the higher fees could spur ground-up development of the city’s overabundant parking lots.
Opponents said the measure won’t stimulate demand for new construction downtown and will only lead to higher prices for parking.
The measure had appeared to be on a glidepath to passing when it came before the council last month, but a collection of Hartford investors and business advocates attended several virtual council meetings since, and spoke out against the measure they said would set fees too high and would be bad for businesses. Opponents who spoke out against the measure in recent weeks include LAZ Parking CEO and major downtown investor Alan Lazowski, downtown landlord Shelbourne Global Solutions LLC and other downtown business owners.
Mayor Luke Bronin released a statement to HBJ early this month stating his opposition to the city council proposal.
Councilor John Gale, an advocate of reducing surface parking downtown by encouraging development, shot back at municipal legislators who said they wanted to meet with more downtown business owners and residents before passing any fee increases. He suggested his colleagues, who previously supported the proposal, were bowing to pressure.
“What changed? Certainly not the conditions downtown,” Gale said. “What changed is the full-court press imposed by the parking-lot owners and operators, and others who see only short-term harm to their pocketbook.”
Councilors said Monday night that they intend to keep the issue of parking fees font and center. But they said they will wait until councilors have had more in-depth discussions with stakeholders, and see the results of an ongoing parking study being conducted by the Hartford Parking Authority before making any decisions regarding fee hikes.
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