The City Council introduced an ordinance Wednesday approving a 30-year tax abatement for an affordable housing project, hoping that the McGinley Square merchants and the Parking Authority would resolve the verbal feud that has erupted over the sale of the lot that is being developed.
Since February, McGinley Square merchants have protested the Parking Authority’s decision to sell a parking lot on 241 Fairmont Ave. Parking Authority officials said that the property in question was underused, poorly maintained, and better suited for a new development project. The autonomous agency said that it sold the property to plug its budget.
But the McGinley Square Partnership says it needs the lot for parking. In an effort to appease them, the Parking Authority must now spend money to acquire other lots to compensate for the loss of spaces.
In an 8-1 vote Wednesday, the City Council decided that ongoing discussions between the two parties warranted the initial approval for the 36-unit 4-story affordable housing project.
According to the developer, Eugene O’Connell, the tax abatement must be finalized at the next council meeting so that he can apply for tax credits from the Department of Community Affairs by the June 21 deadline.
“I can’t measure parking spaces the way I can measure people in need of affordable housing,” said Council President L. Harvey Smith before voting in favor of the abatement.
Beforehand, it appeared that progress in resolving the dispute had been made at the council caucus meeting Monday. Joe Damiano, assistant director of the Parking Authority, explained how the Parking Authority would acquire several lots on Duncan Avenue and create enough parking spots to counterbalance the number of spots lost through the affordable housing project in question. In addition, O’Connell promised to hold off on constructing the new building until the parking issue had been resolved.
To ensure that these promises were kept, Valerie Vlahakis, owner of Lee Sims Chocolates on Bergen Avenue, said that the McGinley Square Partnership hired an attorney to form a legal agreement with the Parking Authority. When the two parties met, Damiano agreed to include strong legal language in a Parking Authority resolution that included words like “commitment” and “best effort” to accommodate the Partnership with new parking spaces.
But conflict returned Tuesday night when merchants attending the Parking Authority discovered that the resolution contained none of the language the lawyer suggested, and fell short of the agreement, according to the merchants.
“Damiano read through the sites that had previously been decided on, but none of the language was included,” Vhalakis said. “Sometimes you get a pat on the head and told ‘Go on, now. Leave us alone.'”
Ward B Councilwoman Mary Donnelly voted against the abatement, citing the disagreement between the McGinley Square Partnership and the Parking Authority. “The Parking Authority did not make the merchants of McGinley Square happy with the way they ranted at their meeting last night,” Donnelly said.
Vlahakis said that the merchants have decided that they do not have a legitimate agreement with the Parking Authority, adding that the battle might be settled in court. “Our lawyer feels there is the potential to litigate and to stop the project,” Vhalakis said. “We’re not going to shut up and go away. That’s not what we want to do, but if necessary, we are prepared to litigate.”
Area parking problems
McGinley Square merchants said the sale of the parking lot on 241 Fairmount Ave. was the second time the rug has been pulled out beneath them. The parking lot on 711 Montgomery St. was sold two years ago to a developer wishing to build a 10-story apartment building.
The developer had agreed to hold off on his project until St. Peter’s College built its multi-deck parking garage on Fairmont. The college has agreed to let a portion of the spaces created be used for local businesses. According to merchants, the developer can not delay his project any further.
Planning to build this garage since 1998, the college has had trouble raising the $12 million to get started, however. As a result, the Partnership had hoped the Parking Authority would allow it to use the parking lot on 241 Fairmont Ave.
But without a warning from the Parking Authority, the sale was completed and the Partnership found itself in the present battle.