 
|
|||||||||
              
|
Udin calls for moratorium on new lots from Downtown to Oakland
Wednesday, July 12, 2000 By Tom Barnes, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
One day last year, City Councilman Sala Udin came home to find that something big was missing in his Uptown neighborhood.
A building.
It was a vacant former athletic club on Fifth Avenue, not far from Udin's house on Colwell Street. To the councilman's surprise, it had been demolished to make way for a parking lot to serve the growing need for parking on the fringe of Downtown.
Udin, alarmed at what he says is the spread of parking lots in his neighborhood, has introduced legislation calling for a five-year moratorium on new surface parking in the area along Fifth and Forbes avenues from Downtown to Oakland.
"We are trying to keep Uptown from being saturated with parking lots," he said.
Parking lots that already exist wouldn't be affected by the measure, which came before the city Planning Commission yesterday for initial consideration.
The commission postponed a recommendation on the proposal until September, at Udin's request, to give residents and property owners a chance to comment. The final decision will be made by council.
Similar actions to control parking have already been taken for Downtown and parts of the North Side, where residents don't want their neighborhood turned into parking lots serving the new stadiums.
Udin said "there is increased pressure for parking in Uptown and the Hill District" because of Downtown development.
He said he's not opposed to growth but wants it "to benefit the community without imposing surface parking lots all over the place."
Some Uptown property owners and parking operators, such as Hal Waldman, Alan Gochner and Sal Williams, questioned Udin's move yesterday, saying government shouldn't interfere with their property rights.
"Let market forces dictate" what happens to Uptown, said Waldman, a property owner.
He said it takes time to acquire enough smaller lots for a parcel sufficient for development, and during that period an owner needs the income that parking can generate. He said Udin's proposal "would keep us from a significant source of income from our property."
Williams said that sometimes buildings become vacant and turn into crack dens or eyesores, and tearing them down for parking lots is better than letting them sit.
|
||||||||
