Videos: Downtown Parking Deck Pubic Comment Meeting 2016-03-15

LAKE video taken by Gretchen at the 15 March 2016 Valdosta Parking Deck Public Comment Meeting.


Video: Downtown Parking Deck Pubic Comment Meeting 2016-03-15
Video by Gretchen Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia.

See also Jennifer Dandrum, VDT, 17 March 2016 City unveils parking deck designs,

Approximately 60 people attended a public parking forum to provide feedback on a proposed downtown parking deck. …

CVDA chairman Howard Dasher unveiled two conceptual designs for the parking deck. The parking deck would provide 290 additional spaces. The net increase of 290 spaces would bring the total parking spaces downtown to 1,374.

“We see the parking deck as a certain need for the foreseeable future,” said Dasher. “This isn’t to address the parking needs today. It’s also for the next 20 years as downtown Valdosta continues to grow.”

The first design released is a traditional style brick deck. The second option is a contemporary style, plexiglass deck with a changeable light display.

Both designs would include 95 spaces on the street level, 110 spaces on the second level and 85 spaces on the third level.

The Toombs Street parking lot is the primary contender for the location.

On Valdosta’s website, 9 March 2016, CVDA Hosts Public Forum for Proposed Downtown Parking Deck, Mar. 15

The City of Valdosta and Central Valdosta Development Authority will host a public forum on Tuesday, March 15 to discuss a proposed new parking deck for Downtown Valdosta. The forum will take place at 5 p.m. in the City Hall Annex Multi-Purpose Room, located at 300 N. Lee Street.

The parking deck is being suggested as one option to create additional parking opportunities in Downtown Valdosta. At the forum, conceptual plans for the parking deck will be presented. Key staff members will be present at the meeting, and the public will have the opportunity to ask questions, provide feedback and voice concerns related to the proposed project.

For more information, contact the Main Street office at 229-259-3577.

Noelani Mathews, WCTV, 14 March 2016, Local Shops React to Parking Deck in Downtown Valdosta.

Parking on the streets of downtown Valdosta can be a challenge.

“It’s hard for the merchants to deal with people not coming downtown because they say there’s no place to park,” says Owner of 109 Central, Jamie Pitts.

Another local shop says, “It needs to happen now, rather than waiting until we have no parking.”

Now, the City wants to change that.

Leaders are considering where to build a downtown parking deck. One possible location is off of Toombs Street and the other off of McKey.

-jsq