Anyone driving through downtown Rockport in the past few weeks will have no doubt noticed the distinct absence of downtown parking spaces, even during “off peak” hours. Why is this? Well, the developers and their entourage have effectively usurped virtually every available parking space within blocks of the hotel.
For example, the developers have dedicated the entire parking lot on Sandy’s Way (behind the nascent hotel) to construction. That is despite all of those spaces being pledged to tenants in the existing buildings…18 Central Oyster Bar and Grill, Bay Chamber Concerts & Music School, Nina June, and so on. Too bad for you, tenants! To paraphrase a line from “Seinfeld”….No Parking for YOU!
In addition, since the hotel construction site encroaches on the street between 18 and 22 Central, the sidewalk and the parking that went with it are gone – and the developers regularly block off most of the downtown parking extending up the street for various staging activities. To make matters worse, the developers and their workmen have taken over all of the parking spaces overlooking the harbor, most of the parking between 18 Central and the Opera House, and a good chunk of the parking on the north side of the street.
The photo shows Central Street in Rockport on a recent Saturday evening (yes, construction continues on Saturdays and Sundays). This is without anything happening at Bay Chamber, by the way. Note the cars lined up all the way up to the Opera House.
Did you, a resident or visitor, have an urge to come to downtown Rockport to patronize a restaurant, or the music school? Well, too bad for you, buddy. Unless you’re a developer or work for one, don’t plan on parking anywhere downtown.
It hardly needs saying that this is going on BEFORE the hotel opens. Which highlights the fallacy perpetrated by the town that there is plenty of parking and the developer need not provide any more. Well, perhaps there is enough parking for the hotel…if nobody else wants to park in Rockport! Which is, apparently, how the town wants it.
To be fair, the town has now proposed an expensive new parking lot overlooking the harbor…naturally taxpayers foot the bill. Largely because the Planning Board misinterpreted the historic record on Union Hall parking and the Code Enforcement Officer failed to require site plan reviews (and parking) for the 18 Central Street and 22 Central Street renovations. That is at least 62 required spaces never addressed by the town.
So, the town is not requiring developers to provide sufficient parking for their enterprises (as required by the LUO). Then allowing them to monopolize all of the public downtown parking for their own purposes. Then suggesting the rest of us pony up to build a lot that will only partially replace the parking the developer has appropriated. And, they want to meter the new lot … so you can pay to use it, too! If it seems a bit off to you that a private developer should take over all the downtown parking, leaving nothing for anybody else, then we encourage you to contact your Select Board and let them know how you feel.