Dormont Officials to Discuss Sale of Public Parking Spaces

plans to re-evaluate an ordinance passed last year that allows the borough to sell 75 percent of the parking spaces in borough-owned public lots to businesses.

Council President Bill McCartney said Tuesday afternoon he is aware that he several Dormont business owners are concerned about the sale of public parking spaces for a number of reasons. The issue is an agenda item for both the Jan. 30 and Feb. 6 meetings, he said.

“Apparently last year sometime, council in its wisdom decided to allow parking passes to be sold in the borough,” he said Tuesday afternoon. “We need to put a hold on doing any further sales of those.”

Sergio Pampena of on West Liberty Avenue said he was glad to hear council was considering the matter, but he still worried about the immediacy of something being done.

Four of the 12 parking spaces in the lot behind his businesses were sold to . Pampena said that when he questioned why the spaces were sold, borough manager Gino Rizza told Pampena that he could buy spots for his business, too. But Pampena said he doesn’t think it’s fair for businesses to have that option.

“On so many different levels, it’s crazy,” Pampena said. “The intention of metered parking is to bring patrons to the area and patronize local businesses. It’s not for a business to purchase spots for their own business.”

Not every business can afford to buy spaces, and the policy strangles those businesses in a neighborhood where parking already is tight, he said.

Even worse, Pampena said, the ordinance seemed to have gone into effect without the business owners knowing about it. Although he heard a letter was sent to local business owners explaining the ordinance, he said he never received one.

Councilwoman Joan Hodson said she thought the letters went out, but that she has heard from other local business owners that they didn’t receive letters, either. Her eye doctor’s office is in Dormont, she said, and employees there told her they were concerned about parking spaces being sold and hadn’t been told about the policy.

McCartney said he plans to have council and the Traffic and Parking Planning Commission take a second look at the ordinance. He said he doesn't think the borough could reverse sales that already were made, but he wants to put a hold on sales until the policy is reviewed.

“We need to take a look at what the policy really is,” McCartney said. “We’ve got to look at all the lots and determine if it makes sense to sell passes or permits at all.”

The ordinance was passed in February 2011 and Hodson said initially, she voted in favor of it. However, Mayor Tom Lloyd then vetoed the ordinance. When it came up for vote again, Hodson said, she agreed with the mayor and voted against it. When the fee schedule was passed in early December, she voted against that, too.

Hodson said the ordinance allows the borough to sell 75 percent of the spaces in borough-owned parking lots. She said she doesn’t see how the policy can work, and she doesn’t want to drive businesses out of Dormont by enforcing it.

“I had wanted the parking policy to be reviewed several months ago. There’s quite a few things that I think need to be reviewed,” Hodson said. “As far as the parking policy, it sounds like a good idea on paper, but when it’s in place—boy, it’s not right. It’s really not a good policy.”

Borough manager Gino Rizza did not take a phone call from Patch regarding the issue. The item will be on Monday’s council meeting agenda.

Check back with Dormont-Brookline Patch for updates on this issue.