Development of parking lot on hold

They do not have a private interest in that lot in any way shape or form. It is not legal.”

Howard Colton, Village attorney

A municipal parking lot at South Ocean Avenue and Hamilton Street, on the Nautical Mile in south Freeport, could be sold, Village of Freeport Mayor Robert Kennedy confirmed in a Herald interview this week. For the time being, however, there are no immediate plans to do so.

Since the village board rezoned the lot from marine industries to residential at its May 22 meeting, Nautical Mile merchants have expressed concern and anger about the potential sale of the property because, they said, they are worried about losing the parking.

A number of business owners said they have parking variances, that allow them to operate with fewer parking spaces than required, but Kennedy and village Attorney Howard Colton said a number of businesses do not.

Kennedy added that some businesses have used their parking spaces for other purposes. For example, Kennedy and Colton said, that a property owned by Al Grover, of Grover Realty, near Hamilton Street and South Ocean Avenue, is storing impounded cars, even though his business is not zoned for such an operation.

In response, Grover said that the lease on the repossession business will expire in November, and once the lease is up, the cars will be removed, which will create space for additional parking.

“We will take half of that property, which faces South Ocean Avenue and Hamilton Street — a lot size 140 feet long and 110 feet wide — and we’re going to split it in half and rent half of it to Bamboo and the River House Café,” Grover said.

Colton said that merchants do not have a legal right to a municipal parking that belongs to the village. Grover said that, while he agrees that the lot belongs to the community, he said the property was never intended to be sold to a developer, but rather to benefit local residents and businesses.

“The village no longer has an obligation to keep it as a parking lot” Grover said. “That’s something we don’t agree with,.

The Herald Leader submitted a Freedom of Information request last week, seeking all documents regarding the transfer of the parking lot from the Community Development Agency to the village, along with the minutes of public meetings about the transaction dating back to last year. The village responded that it needed 20 days to fulfill the request.

The lot was transferred by the CDA to the village in order to settle a $1.5 million debt. In 1997, the CDA borrowed loans from the village to cover operating expenses, medical insurance, pension payments and payments to attorneys who represented the CDA, according to Colton.

Kennedy said he stood by the potential development of the parking lot, which would add a property to the village’s tax rolls, helping to reduce taxes for everyone.