CITY OF WATERTOWN, NEW YORK mY HALL 249 WASHINGTON STREET Pre en oon nt Fax (915) 7629014 OFFICE OF THE CITY COUNCIL, November 14, 2017 Downtown Revitalization Committee City of Watertown, Room 304 Watertown, NY 13601 Mayor Butler, President Peck & DRI Committee: write in support of utilizing DRI funding to spum economic growth in our downtown by establishing a permanent, stable, consistent parking solution that will benefit all businesses in our City’s downtown, The momentum of the last two years in the beating-heart of our City - Public Square - is encouraging, With a tremendous amount of recent private investment, there’s positive proof that community stakeholders have faith in the direction we're headed. Anticipating growth and preparing for it is the Committee's biggest challenge in making decisions on using the $10 million in DRI funding. ‘The current parking experience for employees and patrons alike requires hunting for a space downtown. Street parking at peak hours isa real challenge and while surface-lot spaces are available, I would like to point out the deterrent caused by lack of consistency in availability. Moreover, the lack of growth potential is quickly approaching - there are more vacant storefronts than our surface lots can accommodate. As the county scat in an area with sprawling growth, the center of the City of Watertown competes with ‘open space in the outskirts, where it’s easy for expanding businesses to build newer buildings and ‘convenient horizontal parking at their door. Smart growth communities across America recognize that parking matters if businesses are going to occupy downtown spaces. In order to attract those businesses to cour downtown, itis in our best interest to offer something better. There are no silver bullet solutions in smart development or tactical urbanism plans. However, vertical parking structures in condensed downtowns have confirmed benefits to all surrounding businesses and the community. Designing, operating, and financing structured parking in a way that promotes smart growth can be a challenge for communities trying to get projects off the ground. You have the unique opportunity to utilize a portion of the DRI funding to build a parking garage through Public-Private Partnership in order to meet the needs of the community in a cost-efficient manner. Thighly encourage the Committee to critically analyze parking influences in downtown and make a decision that prepares Watertown's downtown for the growth we're all looking forward to. Thank you for the attention, for the work you do, and for believing in our City — that’s what’s right with Watertown. With warm regards, am sincerely yours, Le Mark C, Walezyk Watertown City Councilman