Council OKs Railyard parking plan

Critics say the high fees will disenfranchise the poor

Julie Ann Grimm | The New Mexican

4/30/2008 - 5/1/08

Parking on the city-owned Santa Fe Railyard will cost the same as parking in metered spots or garages in other parts of the downtown area except for weekends and other special circumstances.

The City Council decided Wednesday to slightly change a paid parking plan that had been approved by its Finance Committee last week. Still, many who will use the Railyard or work there say parking will be cost-prohibitive.

The rates to use about 500 spaces on the Railyard's surface lots will be $1 per hour between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. while rates to use about 400 spaces in the new underground parking garage will be $1.80 per hour. Monthly parking passes also will be available for $60. However, Saturday parking will cost $1 from 7 a.m. to noon and $2 for the rest of the day, with a $2 all-day rate for Sundays.

Some Railyard tenants were not pleased with the early plans and expressed confusion and outrage after Wednesday's decision.

Santa Fe resident Tim Origer was among those who gathered in a City Hall hallway during the council meeting to talk about the plan after a unanimous vote to put it in place.

"What they have just done is disenfranchised the poor so the only people that can access it are those who have money," said Origer, who has volunteered with El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe, one of the nonprofits that has long called the Railyard home and that provides low-cost and free programs and exhibits.

Councilor Patti Bushee left the council meeting to address the crowd in the hallway, noting she realized the solution was not perfect.

The city requires the Parking Division to operate as an enterprise fund, she explained, which means its revenues have to cover operating costs as well as debt service on loans for the construction of the garage.

"It's a total compromise, and not everyone is happy," she said before returning to the session.

Even with the parking fees, Parking Division Director Bill Hon said, the plan approved Wednesday will require him to dip into reserves to meet costs and repay debt.

The store manager for the national chain that will anchor the largest retail building on the land lambasted the high parking cost in a recent interview.

Bob Ward, manager for the REI outdoor gear store slated to open late this summer, said he didn't mind some kind of paid-parking scheme, but thought the plan that came to the council was too expensive. "I think it's wrong what they are trying to do, to make this a revenue generator," Ward said. "It's wrong on so many levels. As a business person who is going to have a store in the Railyard, that is not going to be conducive to business."

Ward also said paid parking will inhibit visitors to a city park also under development on the site.

David Lescht, who runs the nonprofit Outside In and provides programs for youth at El Museo, said even the reduced fees that were approved Wednesday are too high for the at-risk teenagers he's trying to attract and for those who will likely patronize Warehouse 21, also on the Railyard.

"It's not welcoming," Lescht said. "It's going to turn the Railyard into a place that is not welcoming to the community. It will be another downtown tourist zone."

Construction is ongoing at the Railyard, purchased by the city in 1995 and turned over to a nonprofit development manager. A community-approved master plan declared the property would be an asset for city residents that balanced public space for recreational, social, artistic and commercial activities. The plan also delineated that parking on the project would be metered.

Nonprofits as well as businesses have long-term leases for the spaces they occupy. The underground parking garage is slated to open in August, and the City Council ordered a six-month review of the plans after it opens.

Contact Julie Ann Grimm at 986-3017 or jgrimm@sfnewmexican.com.