FENWICK ISLAND – Concerns over commercial parking ratios highlighted a public hearing this week in Fenwick Island.
On Wednesday, the Fenwick Island Town Council held a public hearing on an ordinance amendment pertaining to off-street parking in the commercial district.
While town officials spent the better part of last year working through the details of new parking ratios and parking requirements, concerns from Fenwick’s business owners prompted three significant changes to the legislation, which was brought back as a first reading last month.
“I think this represents a good compromise,” Mayor Natalie Magdeburger said at the time.
This week, several business owners and those representing commercial properties in Fenwick Island, came before the town council opposing the proposed parking ratios. As written, the proposed ordinance amendment would change, among other things, restaurant parking ratios from one parking space per 100 square feet of patron area to one per 50 square feet of patron area, and retail parking ratios from one per 300 square feet of floor area to one per 250 square feet of floor area.
“I truly do not believe one formula fits all,” said Southern Exposure owner Tim Collins.
During Wednesday’s public hearing, Collins told council members the proposed parking ratios not only disregarded the different types of restaurant operations but hampered redevelopment. He highlighted a real estate company’s effort to redevelop the former Dairy Queen property to drive home his point.
“It’s a building that is sitting on three commercial lots that’s been there for what I would say 75 years …,” he said. “When you can’t take three commercial properties and a building of that size and do what little they want to do with it, there’s something wrong with this ordinance.”
Joe Balsamo Jr., representative of Balsamo Real Estate, said the company purchased the commercial property with plans to construct a second story and bring a new business to town. He told officials this week the proposed legislation would make it harder for redeveloped properties to meet the new parking ratios.
“Any successful small town or city has a balance between its commercial and residential districts …,” he said. “I feel that if this draconian ordinance passes, it will destroy the commercial district of Fenwick Island.”
Balsamo encouraged the town council to vote against the ordinance and to conduct a parking study, which would determine parking needs in Fenwick Island.
“What do we have to lose to get a parking study done?” he said.
Eric Wahl, landscape architect hired by the Balsamo family, also shared his concerns regarding the parking ratios. Like Collins, he argued the same restaurant ratio could not be applied to every carryout establishment and sit-down eatery.
“By indirectly restricting what restaurants and dining establishments can be developed, they are devaluing property within the town limits and discouraging business opportunities,” he said.
Attorney Richard Abbott, representing Balsamo Real Estate, agreed.
“This parking ordinance is effectively a ban on new full-service, sit-down restaurants,” he said. “There will never be another one to locate in the town of Fenwick Island again.”
For his part, Villages of Fenwick co-owner Chuck Shorley said he was most concerned that the proposed ordinance did not address parking ratios for multi-use facilities such as his.
“I still feel there’s an oversimplification of this ordinance …,” he said. “In my opinion that’s where this ordinance is lacking strength at the moment, There is no differentiation of properties.”
Several business owners told council members this week the proposed ordinance did nothing to solve current parking problems, as the parking ratios would only apply to new or redeveloped businesses. Commercial property owner Jim Parker said the construction of sidewalks, the development of a shared commercial parking plan and a study of side street parking could address the town’s existing issues.
“Everything you are wanting to do today with this ratio is not going to solve the problem,” he said.
From the outset, town officials have argued the new parking ratios would address a growing parking problem in Fenwick. Magdeburger noted that changes made in 2013 had eroded the town’s parking space requirements to the point they no longer met the needs of the business community. The proposed ordinance, she said, was meant to restore some of those parking requirements.
As originally written, the proposed ordinance would not only change parking ratios, but would require designated delivery zones for commercial buildings and prohibit parking in setbacks. Citing business concerns, however, the town council last month introduced new legislation featuring significant changes.
The ordinance would no longer restrict parking in the commercial setbacks or require designated delivery zones, and would include accommodations for shared parking.
With a public hearing now concluding, the ordinance amendment is expected to advance to a second reading at a future town council meeting.
