Mayoral Candidates Discuss Parking

Patch asked the candidates for the May 3 election to share their opinions on more than a dozen topics relating to the city.

In this installment, the candidates for Havre de Grace mayor—incumbent Wayne Dougherty and challenger City Councilman Mitch Shank—discuss parking in downtown Havre de Grace:

Wayne Dougherty

Dougherty hears the argument that there is no problem with parking, but he’s not so sure about that side of the coin.

“I’ve never been a firm believer that there’s been no problem,” he said.

Dougherty is a supporter of using more—and clearer—signage to get visitors to the downtown area and to direct them where to park.

“Signage has always been a problem,” he said. “If you ride through downtown or coming into town, you’ll see a sign that says public parking. Then all of the sudden, you’re lost.”

He said the line between public parking and private property often becomes blurred, and signage could be a solution.

As for the parking study by the Chesapeake Group, Dougherty feels like the city was presented with enough information to work with.

“It’s a vision to the future for exactly what we’re going to have to deal with,” Dougherty said. “I feel very positive about the study that came out. I feel very positive about the recommendations that came out. Some of those recommendations also included picking up additional spaces, which we’re working on now.”

Mitch Shank

Shank took issue with the timing of the parking study.

“I was disappointed that they didn’t do a study at night. It is the busiest time,” Shank said.

Shank feels there is no major parking issue downtown at the present, but there could be one in the near future.

“The biggest thing that will revitalize downtown, and it will bring in new businesses and really help the restaurants out, is the rehab and the reopening of the old theater [on St. John Street],” Shank said. “If that would work, then we would have a serious parking problem.”

He voiced concern about opening up parking at the Masonic Lodge for its older members, and the potential of adding a few handicapped spots downtown. He also said consistent enforcement would bring about better understanding from the community.

“I don’t really believe there’s a real daytime parking issue. I think it’s enforcement,” Shank said. “The biggest violators are the owners of the businesses and the employees.”

His solution for a lack of spaces is to speak with owners of prime locations—Shank said he has a list of such locations, including the corner of Union Avenue and Warren Street, and the corner of Union Avenue and Green Street—about leasing the property by giving the owners a tax credit on the property itself.

Rather than spending the money to buy property, Shank said the city could maintain, plow and line the lots in a "win-win" for both the city and the property owner.

"What Wayne wanted to do, and I supported him, he wanted to buy the Health Department building [on Pennington Avenue] and all the space back there," Shank said, explaining that he and Councilman Jim Miller then reviewed some financials on the matter. Those financials gave him a different perspective. 

"It’s about $50,000 a parking space, plus you take the building off the tax roll," Shank said. "I think we need to identify potential sites and go back and work out some type of a lease option."

———

Other issues the candidates for Mayor have addressed:

—April 20