WATERTOWN, New York (WWNY) – Watertown will foot the bill and pay nearly $40,000 to bring two parking spots back in front of the Key Bank building downtown.
The Watertown city council made the decision Thursday afternoon; the vote came after Key Bank building owners Bobby Ferris and Jake Johnson expressed concern about the removal of four parking spaces.
The spots were taken out during the downtown streetscape project. Two concrete planters replaced them.
At Monday’s council meeting, a majority of the city council was in favor of removing the unfinished planters but wanted the owners to foot the bill. The owners responded, saying it wasn’t their responsibility.
Thursday afternoon, council voted to pay $38,000 to bring back two angled parking spots for people with disabilities, and remove the planters.
There are also plans to add two parallel parking spaces along Stone Street.
Ferris and Johnson thanked council for the decision, but Ferris said he still wishes it would go back to having all four.
“I still want the parking to go back to the way it was. I’m willing to make somewhat of a compromise. Just a couple more spots on Stone Street, that’s just the start of getting what we lost. We still need more parking. I don’t mean just around our building, I mean around the buildings around the city,” he said.
Council member Patrick Hickey was not at Thursday’s meeting.
Watertown Planning & Community Development Director Mike Lumbis said work on the parking spots could begin in mid-August.
Copyright 2023 WWNY. All rights reserved.
