Town officials said Wednesday that they could start construction on a widely anticipated parking deck at the Locust Avenue Lot next summer with a plan to have it finished and open by Thanksgiving 2016.
The new parking deck would add about 86 spaces to the now 150-space lot, and would be well-lit, with a pocket park up alongside it, good traffic flow and an aesthetically pleasing appearance, members of the New Canaan Department of Public Works told the Town Council at that group’s regular meeting.
A modified long-range plan rendering of the proposed Locust Avenue Parking Deck. Specs by Kent Turner, STV Incorporated
Conceptual plans have been drawn up for a structure that would cost about $3.75 million to build, a traffic study is in hand and the property presents no environmental issues, DPW Director Michael Pastore said at the meeting, held in the Sturgess Room at the New Canaan Nature Center.
The structure would have two independent levels, with an at-grade level accessible by Locust Avenue and a deck that is fed by a leg coming off of Heritage Hill Road, Pastore said.
“The big thing with structure is that it would be open, and the whole design is to keep with the P&Z Village District Guidelines for the aesthetics and appearance of this,” he said.
It also “is not a cookie-cutter design,” Pastore said, with its open space in the center and brick façade.
“I think it is the right structure for this location in New Canaan but it is not the cheapest structure,” he said.
Yet its cost would be offset in part by about $190,000 remaining in previously approved funds as well as funds from the Parking Bureau and fees collected through permits and meters, officials say.
Joseph Zagarenski, senior engineer in the DPW (and project manager for the newly renovated and expanded Town Hall), said that given P&Z special permit approvals, work on the new parking deck could start next summer with an eye on opening it by Thanksgiving.
Council members asked why plans call for a “donut” structure with an open space in the middle (to bring in air and light), whether the ceiling on the lower level would be high enough to admit a Chevy Suburban (yes), what would be done with the snow that falls into it (a section of the lower level likely will be cordoned off for snow collection), how late at night the structure would be lit (not sure yet), whether neighbors have been looped in (yes and that will continue), whether conversations have started with the hopeful Post Office developer next-door (not yet) and just how much revenue is projected to come in from the new decked lot (exact figure forthcoming).
Addressing the question of where people will park during construction, First Selectman Rob Mallozzi said the town “will have to talk to some of our neighbors,” noting that the New Canaan Historical Society was helpful by agreeing to allow some spaces in its lot during Town Hall construction, and that the Parking Commission allowed some swing space in the upper tier of the Park Street lot.
“This is a big one,” Mallozzi said. “Going pre-cast will help us so that’s where some of the design elements that will be key, but we will have shortage of parking there for a period of time, so it is contingent upon having great relationships with others.”
Councilman Roger Williams asked whether those exiting from the deck would be able to make a right-turn-only onto Heritage Hill Road.
“That’s a bottleneck of an intersection anyway, trying to approach 124 from Heritage Hill,” Williams said. “It’s an issue. How are you going to deal with that when traffic gets backed and people trying to get out and they can’t get out because that light is backed up anyway.”
Pastore responded that the peak hour for the intersection does not overlap with what is anticipated to the be the peak hour for the deck. Mallozzi added that by designated 20 spots on the deck for Town Hall employees who are not traveling in and out of the lot through the day, it will cut down on the traffic in and out at Heritage Hill Road.
Council Vice Chairman Steve Karl noted that the lot is designed to cater “to so many different folks that we will not get one mass exodus at one time or arrival at one time– you’ve got shoppers, commuters, employees, town employees—you’ve got a whole mix of folks that are coming in at different times of the week, so there will be those times where you will have a little back-up, but I would not see that as an issue at all.”
Karl, a former Parking Commissioner, turned to Parking Commission Chair Keith Richey, I the audience, and added: “I see it as a great answer up there, and I think we have discussed this, Keith, for three decades at least.”
Richey addressed the Town Council and noted that the Parking Commission for several years has recommended the tiering of the Locust Lot.
“This project would improve the immediate and long-term commercial and potentially commuter parking situation in New Canaan,” Richey said. “We foresee a continuing shortage of commercial parking spaces in the main Locust-Forest area, which is likely to become worse now that Town Hall is completed and employees and visitors are returning.”
He added that the opening of a new mixed-use building on nearby Forest Street and the likely opening of a new Post Office next door also would increase demand for parking in the area.
Though the Parking Commission feels the “donut” style of the proposed parking deck could be improved if a ramp between the first and second levels were there in its stead, the parking structure itself will be an aesthetic improvement over the Locust Lot—the “ugliest in town,” he said.
“It really is an ugly lot and I think it will look great after this project,” Richey said. “It really will look better than it does today. There are people who instinctively do not want to have any tiered parking in this town—and by the way, I am probably one of those people—but here, it is going to look better afterwards than before.”