The second reading of the Downtown Parking and Zoning Amendment will be Tuesday, February 18. Public hearing is at 7:15PM in Contois Auditorium .

Planning and Zoning recommends the elimination of all off-street parking requirements throughout the Downtown Parking District because "it will increase affordability of development and reduce the creation of unnecessary parking". Downtown housing demands are high but we can not absorb more parked cars on our city streets. City officials say there are 3,100 underutilized downtown parking spaces but I have yet to see a map showing where these are located. There is a plan for a parking study but the results will not be available for a year.

Please advise City Council to hold off on this amendment until we have the results of the study. We are not there yet with ways to find these secret parking spaces nor do we have a population ready to turn in their car keys. I love the idea of a more walkable and biking friendly Burlington but all the parked cars on our streets go against this notion.

City Council will vote on this next Tuesday.

Respectfully,
Caryn Long
http://www.burlingtonvt.gov/PZ/CDO/Proposed-Amendments-Before-the-City-Council/