WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – A downtown Watertown property owner wants parking spaces in front of his building restored – and he doesn’t expect to pay for it.
Parking in front of the Key Bank building was eliminated during this year’s streetscape work downtown. The parking was replaced with concrete planters.
One council member – Lisa Ruggiero – told 7 News Wednesday she had no idea the project would take away parking, and she agrees the spaces should come back, with the city paying for it.
“I can only speak for myself but the plans that I saw did not show that the parking would be eliminated. In the presentations that we sat on, nothing was said that all of that parking would go away,” she said.
Property owner Bobby Ferris agrees the parking should be restored.
“We want it back the way it was before – period,” he said. “So we can keep all four parking spots.”
But undoing what’s been done will cost close to $40,000, and a majority of the city council has favored the property owners paying for it.
“They want us to pay for their mistakes twice and that’s just not going to happen,” Ferris said.
Another option would cost much less, $1,000, by adding parking spots next to the clock tower in front of the bank and on Stone Street.
For his part, Ferris is frustrated by what’s happened.
“They’re going to be here for 15, 20 minutes, half-hour at the most and leave. When you start taking away that convenient parking, they’re going to stop coming downtown,” Ferris said.
The issue will be the topic of a city council meeting Thursday at 2 PM.
Says Ruggiero: “If we’re going to make a decision tomorrow, I certainly would be in favor of restoring parking at the city’s expense and moving on.”
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