By Kerri Williams
WESTPORT – A plan for redevelopment of Parker Harding Plaza, along with implementation of a parking management strategy downtown, got a mostly chilly response from Planning and Zoning commissioners Monday when brought in a pre-application.
Members said they liked portions of the plan, which include more public walkways and riverfront access, but disliked a proposed loss of parking in the downtown area.
Downtown loses 20 spots
The plan would call for a net loss of 20 parking spaces downtown, said Peter Ratkiewich, public works director, during his presentation. Several members said they could not support it. Forty spots would be lost in Parker Harding Plaza, which is in the downtown business district, while 20 would be added to a nearby lot at 20 Jesup Road.
Reconsider the condition
In April 2024, the commission had given a positive 8-24 report for transformation of the parking lot layouts at both Parker Harding and Jesup Road, which also added public waterfront access to the Saugatuck River and other amenities. But a condition of that decision was that there could be no net loss of parking or green space. Now that a traffic study and parking plan has been completed, Ratkiewich said he would like to ask commissioners to change that condition so the town could go ahead with the Parker Harding project.
The town has started a Downtown Parking Management Plan, according to Ratkiewich, and has already reduced the time for on-street parking in the core of downtown from three to two hours, a move that has some downtown retailers concerned. But Ratkiewich said the plan could make parking in the area easier.
Commissioners not in favor
“I am not in favor of lifting the conditions,” said commissioner Amy Wistreich, although she did praise aspects of the plan, such as making areas more walkable and shutting down Taylor Lane to traffic. “I am still stuck on the specifics of the parking.”
Wistreich is running for Board of Selectmen with running mate Kevin Christie.
Fellow Commissioner Patrizia Zucaro echoed her concerns about “the loss of 40 parking spots in the core.”
“I don’t know how that serves the businesses there,” she said.
Ratkiewich said the loss of the spots at Parker Harding is inevitable because 70 percent of the spots there are too small and non-compliant. The lot also does not have the required number of handicapped spaces, he added. He said he would like to move forward with fixing that lot first because it is the “most derelict.”
Ratkiewich added that a parking study showed that the issue occurred mostly during a certain time of year, in the fall, and for two hours during the middle of the day. Encouraging more parking outside of the core of downtown could alleviate that problem, he said. “If you are going to be there all day, you could park a little further away,” he said.
“Let’s keep talking”
Another solution that has been contemplated is adding a parking deck, which a study determined would need to go on top of the Baldwin lot. Placing one deck there would gain an additional 100 parking spaces, but 40 spots would be lost underneath, Ratkiewich said. The two-level structure would cost about $5 million, he said. For twice that amount, a three-level structure would accommodate 160 spaces, he said.
But Ratkiewich pointed out that since parking is only an issue at certain times, a parking deck could be “highly underutilized.”
Commissioner Michael Calise praised Ratkiwich for a “well thought out plan,” but said he still has concerns about parking.
“It’s hard to get past the loss of 40 parking spaces at Parker Harding,” he said.
Michael Cammeyer agreed with that statement. “I don’t want to be in a place where we have a controversial application,” he said. “Let’s keep talking and figure this out together.”
Westport Journal’s recent stories on downtown parking
- Downtown businesses struggling with 2-hour parking limit
- Downtown parking plan criticized–again–by merchants
- Two-hour parking signs going up downtown Monday
- What kind of downtown does Westport want?
Kerri Williams
Kerri Williams is an award-winning writer and journalist. She has worked as a reporter at the Norwalk Hour, as Living editor at the Darien News-Review, and managing editor for the Norwalk Citizen-News. For Westport Journal, she is a reporter as well as a gardening columnist, writing “Cultivating with Kerri.” She recently published her first children’s book – “Mabel’s Big Move,” based on her daughter with special needs.
I don’t understand how converting angled parking to perpendicular spaces is an improvement to traffic flow in Parker Harding Plaza.
This relentless effort is ill founded, because it only benefits the landlords on the other side of town.
Any effort to take primo parking away from Main Street proper is unjust.
Parker Harding made Wetspot what it is, let’s not forget that, before all the arguing and bogus tactics begin.
It really is a money game. If one can pass something through pnz millions are to be made, which I have no problem with with, as long as it doesn’t destroy the vibe of the downtown I love so much and have loved for almost 60 years when I moved here in 68. I’ve seen it all downtown, every stupid idea some ….. from out of town stumbles upon.
Everyday, or a few times per week, my mother brought me to see Sigrid Schultz. And Sigrid told me, as a little child, about all the games and how they are played — as her house sat in the middle of the parking lot as the town had been built up around her. But that is another story.