Hartford Business Journal

22 Hartford Business Journal • December 14, 2020 • www.HartfordBusiness.com By Sean Teehan steehan@hartfordbusiness.com T he city of Hartford is considering signifi- cantly raising fees on downtown parking-lot operators, a move that will help raise new revenue, but also likely lead to higher parking rates for consumers. The city council is scheduled to vote on an ordinance change at its Dec. 14 meeting that would increase the biennial permit fees it charges downtown parking-lot operators from a maximum of $1,000 per parking lot to as much as $28,900 or more, depending on the number of spaces in a particular lot. The new higher fees, which appear to have widespread city-council support, would then double in 2025, and double again in 2030. The move, which doesn't apply to residential parking lots, aims to raise new revenue for a city that was on the brink of bankruptcy just a few years ago. But it also has a long-term goal of making it less financially appealing to operate parking lots downtown, hoping that spurs developers to turn some empty lots into new apartment, of- fice, retail or other types of build- ings that add to Hartford's vibrancy and grand list. The pending ordinance change is likely to draw the ire of two major Hartford-based parking operators: Propark and LAZ Parking, whose founder and CEO Alan Lazowski is also a major downtown investor and landlord. Lazowski, who has previously been outspoken against efforts to increase the cost of operating downtown parking lots, declined to comment on the higher permit fees. Propark did not respond to a request for comment. Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin also declined to offer his opinion on the proposed ordinance change, which was introduced by all nine city council members. "This might have the beneficial effect of causing parking-lot opera- tors to think a [little] more critically about how many parking spaces they actually need," said city coun- cilor John Gale, a main proponent of the higher parking fees. "I think everybody agrees … it is [past] time we try to reduce parking spaces downtown and increase develop- ment downtown." Gale has long championed finding ways to get Hartford's abundance of vacant downtown lots converted into new development. In fact, a few years ago he was the main backer of a controversial proposed land value tax that would have charged owners of undeveloped land near Bushnell Park higher taxes to spur new construction. That plan garnered opposition from Lazowski and other realty ex- perts who said it would do nothing to incentivize actual new ground- up development, which not only requires demand but also major city and state incentives in order to overcome Hartford's exorbitant property tax rate and the overall high costs of new construction. Gale said he ultimately dropped that plan because it could have the unintended effect of raising taxes on some buildings by hundreds of thousands of dollars. The new permit fee hikes, he said, specifically target parking lots. He added that the initial fee increase shouldn't burden parking-lot operators much, since they could pay it by raising customer prices by less than $3 per week, by his calculations. Missing out About 17% of downtown Hart- ford's 2 square miles is occupied by parking lots, according to Norman Gar- rick, a UConn civil engineer- ing professor whose research on Hartford was used by the city council to form the permit fee hike proposal. That's about 80% more land dedicated to parking than in cities with similar populations, like Cambridge, Mass., and Arlington, Va. In addition to wasting space that could be occupied by businesses or housing, Hartford is missing out on some $20 million a year it could collect in property taxes, if build- ings were constructed on the lots, Garrick's research found. "We've operated on the premise that parking is free, and it's de- stroyed the city of Hartford in some ways," said Garrick, who pointed out that neighboring West Hartford has much stricter parking regula- tions. "This land is in the middle of our city and it shouldn't be used in this way without revenues coming to the city." If the ordinance change is ap- proved, the annual revenue the city collects from parking-lot operators would rise from less than $30,000 to more than $100,000, Gale said. That will be much-needed tax revenue, following years of municipal auster- ity in the wake of Hartford's near bankruptcy in 2017, he said. Gale wrote the proposal, which updates a 2002 ordinance that sets fees and upkeep requirements on commercial non-residential sur- face lots downtown. The original ordinance charged $500 biennially for lots with a capacity of between 16 and 30 vehicles; $750 for lots with up to 50 vehicles; and $1,000 for lots with more than 50 spaces. The original ordinance also includes landscaping requirements and does not apply to closed parking garages. If passed, the updated ordinance would create 13 different permit fee structures based on lot size. For example, a lot with 16 to 30 motor vehicles would have to pay a bien- nial permit fee of $2,000, up from $500 today. Lots with more than 250 vehicles would have to pay $28,900 plus an additional $2,500 for every additional 20 vehicles (under that scheme a lot with 305 vehicles would have to pay a $36,400 biennial fee). The proposal also expands the ordinance so it applies to parking garages. The fees would double in five years, and double again in a decade. Commercial parking lots outside of downtown would also see more modest permit fee increases. "It's a small step, but it's a really, really important step," Garrick said. "It sends an important message that we're starting to take this stuff seri- ously." Anthony Cherolis, a longtime public transportation advocate in Hartford who urged city councilors to pass the updated ordinance, said he supports the measure, but would have hiked fees more than what's being proposed. But when fees are doubled in the years ahead, it could lead parking-lot operators to cut down the amount of space they use. "I think at that point the [financial] pressure is going to be more signifi- Empty Opportunity Hartford eyeing major downtown parking-lot operator fee hikes in hopes of spurring new development PHOTO BY HBJ STAFF | GREG BORDONARO Hartford lawyer and city council member John Gale is backing a plan to significantly increase permit fees on downtown Hartford parking-lot operators. Norman Garrick

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