Opinion: Salisbury parking lot decisions don't benefit taxpayers

The city of Salisbury is in the process of approving a deal with Salisbury Town Center Apartments LLC. The basic outline of this deal is that the city will convey to this entity the majority of the existing Downtown parking lot, behind the former Downtown Plaza, known as Parking Lot 1.

The eastern portion of this lot will be redeveloped by the city into what is called Unity Square, at a cost to the city of $3.46 million.

Parking Lot 15 will also be transferred to the new owners. This developer is proposing to construct three four-story apartment buildings and a one-story retail building, adjacent to Unity Square. A total of 222 residential rental units are planned, in addition to an unspecified number of retail units.

As part of this deal, the city will build a new, 425-space parking garage on Parking Lot 11, which is located on Circle Avenue across from the Market Street Inn, to be used by the residents of these structures. No parking will be provided by the developers.

The sale price of this land is not clear, but will most likely be for a nominal amount.

Parking Lot 1 contains 3.51 acres and is assessed for $1.6 million. Parking Lot 15 is .46-acre and is assessed for $198,300 – for a total assessed value of $1.82 million.

Both are improved parking lots with both metered and permit parking, which generates a fair amount of revenue, which will cease when these lots are sold.

According to information provided by Inrix Park Me, Parking Lot 1 contains 195 spaces, Parking Lot 11 contains 130 spaces and Parking Lot 15 contains 49 spaces.  The current total number of parking spaces is 374.

Assuming each new residential unit needs a minimum of 1 parking space, that means 222 additional parking spaces will be needed, plus whatever would be required for the employees and customers of the new retail businesses.

As part of this deal, the city is obligated to build a 425-space parking garage on what is now called Lot 11. The average cost of newly constructed parking garages ranges from $25,000 to $50,000 per parking space.  425 x $25,000 = $10,625,000.

The net number of new spaces for this $10 million expenditure is 51.

With 222 new rental units needing parking, plus all the current users, there is likely to be a shortage of parking.

Considering the occupants of The Ross will be utilizing the majority of the spaces in the existing parking garage and the 268 spaces in Lot 10 (recently sold to Mentis for $75,000) will no longer be available to the public, there is sure to be an insufficient parking Downtown for the new residents, as well as for existing businesses and government workers.

This project most likely qualifies for the Horizons tax abatement program, so zero property tax receipts to the city for the first five years and abated property taxes for the next 15 years.

It should also be eligible for the “Here Is Home” incentive program, meaning the city will waive all development fees and sewer and water connection fees, but still incur the cost of providing those services.

It is not clear how the citizens of Salisbury are benefiting from this transaction.

Michael C. Weisner operates Weisner Real Estate Inc., a real estate brokerage firm in Salisbury.