Lafayette Square Association

Please post any problems, complaints, questions, etc. you may have regarding the Bus Barn. Whole Foods is opening December 4, 2002 and ARNA has established a liaison committee to help solve problems as they arise. Please see our web page for the names of committee members. This discussion will be monitored regularly by committee members.

Why close other carparks

OK, so we all know that there is a problem with parking space. And there is a slight relief available in a parking lot off Joseph for Mimi, AllNatural foods, etc. Up till now, the carpark has been open, and available for use by anyone. Today, and yesterday it is locked. The spaces are empty and surely this is limiting business to all Magazine St. shops not just Wholefoods. Can this carpark be reopened. The average shopping time gives a good turnover or users, and often a space. Can it be re-opened?

Why did they fight the parking ?

I visited the Whole Foods last Saturday and found a place on the street along side the building and was wondering why the neighbors were fighting the parking lot? Why did they prefer a plot of land crammed with mediocre townhouses to a parking lot that would have relieved some of the traffic problems? The store is a great asset to the neighborhood. The development of the barn has brought additional merchants to the area and improved the look of the street...but I do not understand why anyone would have wanted to make it harder on eveyrone. It is not THAT hard to park...once around and a place is usually available. But it would have made the experience of visiting our neighborhood that much better if a parking lot was adjacent.

Reply

Virginia,

I believe the decision to place parking there was based on some urban vs. suburban development ''theories'' about the surrounding homes being better affected by higher priced comparable homes rather than a parking lot. While it is likely these homes could provide an increase in neighborhood cohesion and resale values, this development decision came at a price, as you correctly wrote.

To rehash old mistakes, any commercially viable development in our ''historic barn'' was going to need ample parking (perhaps a ''signal'' that was ignored). A parking lot would have eased the existing parking defecit while still improving the lot from its delapidated appearance during its 10 year commercial dormancy. The construction of 9 homes, when compounded with the exisiting deficit of parking waivers, doesn't appear to be a hollistic or community minded approach in this case.
The decision to place houses where parking was (and could have been) has its +'s and -'s. The upside is the immediate area getting a lift in value and appearance, and you can't fault them for wanting that. However, the downside is that the already chronic parking deficit in the immediate area of Joseph and Arabella has been worsened; as indicated by the recent stream of postings and e mails.

I am confident this group can provide useful assistance in developing a long term solution that minimizes erosion of our neighborhoods and maximizes the use of existing commercial space closest to businesses. I'll be controversial in supposing that that solution lies somewhere between Ed. Brauner Post 307 and the pocketbooks of our merchants on Magazine who draw the traffic and parking. Our proposed CZO is aimed at pushing the residential zoning toward Magazine to preserve residential character and prevent commercial creep/erosion. Hopefully, any long term parking solutions will be tailored accordingly.

To your latter comment - while shopping Tuesday, a register clerk and manager commented to me that is was their ''first slow day.'' Perhaps this is a harbinger of decreased activity, as your comments suggest. For the benefit of those closest to the grocery, and the other neighbors who have already endured employee and customer parking for many years, I hope that ''Opening Week'' during Magazine Merriment is the ''Red Line'' level of intensity for this area. This is generally the most intensive time of year for shoppers in this area, so reduced activity is hopefully in the cards come January. Time will tell.

George M.



By George M.