Parking worries for the YMCA
From public discussions at this week's borough council worksession and meeting, it seems as though only the YMCA is worried about whether they will get enough parking in the new Mosteller Garage.
The business community lobbied for a bigger garage, but after the borough's Parking Committee endorsed a 75-foot tall new Mosteller, there was little comment at subsequent meetings from the business community.
But at Tuesday's Borough Council meeting prior to the vote on the height issue, the YMCA tried to pin the borough down.
The Y is trying to sell its building across the street from the Mosteller. In a week or so, the move will probably be complete to its new facility in East Goshen and the current building will be empty.
Marketing the building without any provision for parking could be a problem. Rumor is the Y originally wanted $3.25 million for the property and now the price is up to nearly double that amount.
Pat McKenna, counsel for the Y, said that the current zoning would require 200 parking spaces for a building of that size. The building never had any parking on-site which is grandfathered in.
Questioned whether the borough had provision for any spots for the Y in their alternative parking plan, Council Chairwoman Sue Bayne said the borough would do all it could to accommodate all the current monthlies. But in August, in a discussion of how many monthly customers the borough would need to find alternative spots for either in the Agway Lot or the Bicentennial or Lot No#10, no mention of the Y was made. In fact, the figure of 280 spots needed in alternative lots specifically excluded the county and the Y. The county's parking for jurors and courthouse employees was theoretically moving to the new Justice Center parking lot. The YMCA's customers were moving to East Goshen.
So now the Y is scrambling. Councilwoman Holly Brown says, no one should worry, she doesn't think all the spots will be taken. She also sugests a lottery.
The next step is to see who signs committment letters and puts up whatever money the borough wants as a down payment. If everybody has deep pockets, it could be a problem.
The business community lobbied for a bigger garage, but after the borough's Parking Committee endorsed a 75-foot tall new Mosteller, there was little comment at subsequent meetings from the business community.
But at Tuesday's Borough Council meeting prior to the vote on the height issue, the YMCA tried to pin the borough down.
The Y is trying to sell its building across the street from the Mosteller. In a week or so, the move will probably be complete to its new facility in East Goshen and the current building will be empty.
Marketing the building without any provision for parking could be a problem. Rumor is the Y originally wanted $3.25 million for the property and now the price is up to nearly double that amount.
Pat McKenna, counsel for the Y, said that the current zoning would require 200 parking spaces for a building of that size. The building never had any parking on-site which is grandfathered in.
Questioned whether the borough had provision for any spots for the Y in their alternative parking plan, Council Chairwoman Sue Bayne said the borough would do all it could to accommodate all the current monthlies. But in August, in a discussion of how many monthly customers the borough would need to find alternative spots for either in the Agway Lot or the Bicentennial or Lot No#10, no mention of the Y was made. In fact, the figure of 280 spots needed in alternative lots specifically excluded the county and the Y. The county's parking for jurors and courthouse employees was theoretically moving to the new Justice Center parking lot. The YMCA's customers were moving to East Goshen.
So now the Y is scrambling. Councilwoman Holly Brown says, no one should worry, she doesn't think all the spots will be taken. She also sugests a lottery.
The next step is to see who signs committment letters and puts up whatever money the borough wants as a down payment. If everybody has deep pockets, it could be a problem.
posted by Anne Pickering at
7:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home