Shaughnessy: Parking Essential to Oneonta Economic Development

By MONICA CALZOLARI
ONEONTA

Business owner and former network engineer Bryan Shaughnessy was the first to present his proposal for 27 Market Street on Tuesday, April 15 at the City of Oneonta Common Council meeting. The jammed-packed agenda drew about 100 people to the Foothills Performing Arts and Civic Center.

Shaughnessy’s message was clear and simple. For existing businesses to thrive, and for new businesses to invest in downtown Oneonta, ample, convenient parking is essential.

As he has done for the past six months, Shaughnessy gave the council a litany of reasons why maintaining 27 Market Street as a parking lot is the best option for business development in the short term.

He told the council that he is willing to buy 27 Market Street and lease it back to the city for free for at least one year. The lot at 27 Market Street “is striped for 49 cars,” Shaughnessy said. “If you take the (five) dumpsters out, you can fit 60 cars in that lot.”

Shaughnessy reminded council that “Fiesta closed five months ago.”

He predicted that no new business is going to lease in Clinton Plaza without sufficient parking.

“The many commercial vacancies throughout downtown all require parking,” he said.

Without the availability of 150-200 overnight parking spaces in the garage that was demolished, Shaughnessy suggested that “there is a lot of vacancy in downtown apartments (mostly in student apartments).”

Background

Shaughnessy moved to Oneonta from Northern New Jersey 16 years ago in 2009. He invested in two apartment buildings at 20–22 Market Street 19 years ago in 2006. He spoke as a business owner who relocated to Oneonta, invested in student apartments, and has a vested interest in seeing Oneonta thrive.

He has followed the ebb and flow of businesses investing in Oneonta or closing their doors for nearly two decades. In a telephone conversation on Friday, April 18, he said he held a demanding job as a network engineer for 20 years until he started to manage his real estate investments full time.

Shaughnessy has a bird’s eye view of 27 Market Street because the apartments he owns are directly across the street. He showed the audience multiple photos of the Market Street property, one dated April 15, to support his claim: “The parking lot at 27 Market Street is frequently full almost every day. The busiest times are typically afternoons, evenings, and Friday and Saturday nights. Mondays are the least busy.”

“The parking garage that closed on May 5, 2023 regularly accommodated 150-200 cars,” he said. “The loss of convenient parking has significantly harmed downtown retail, reducing foot traffic and economic activity.”

“Where did those 150-200 cars go?” he asked.

He estimated that 50 of these cars are now parked at 27 Market Street.

“Some moved to Westcott Lot that has parking restrictions for overnight parking; some moved to Dietz Street Lot; Wall Street Lot; some moved to on-street parking in the Dietz Street area.”

Shaughnessy pointed out four groups of people who require parking: local customers, visitors, employees, and downtown residents. Employees need eight hours of parking. Downtown residents need overnight parking.

Public Opinion

During the public comment section of the meeting, Denise Oliver identified herself as an employee in Oneonta. She said she works as a crisis counselor for the Mobile Crisis Center at 242 Main Street. She parks in the Westcott Lot.

“Moving my car every two hours is difficult in my role,” Oliver said.

She suggested a compromise, saying that it would be easier to move her car at lunchtime if Westcott Lot could be changed to four-hour parking.

Maureen Daly, who resides at 34 Dietz in the Dietz Street apartments, also expressed frustration.
“It is exhausting advocating for our parking lot to be cleared of ice and snow. I feel like once the building is built, the party is over. You are on your own. What do we do now?” she asked.

Based on Shaughnessy’s observations, Saturday nights are the busiest times that push the demand for parking to 200 parking spots. At previous Common Council meetings, the owners of Black Oak Tavern, B Side Ballroom and Supper Club and Autumn Cafe concurred that the garage demolition has not been good for their businesses.

Shaughnessy reminded the council that back on February 7, 2023, at a Common Council meeting, Greg Mattice made a joint presentation with Wendel, an engineering company.

“They proposed a plan to demolish the parking garage and rebuild a smaller parking garage which would accommodate 220 cars,” Shaughnessy said.

During that February meeting, the demolition and smaller one-level garage was estimated to cost $7.8 million. By June 23, 2023, the new estimated cost climbed to $13.96 million, making that plan prohibitively expensive.

On a PowerPoint slide, Shaughnessy concluded, “Now we have no plan.”

Council’s Reaction

This comment produced a strong reaction from at least two council members during the question-and-answer session following Shaughnessy’s presentation. Emotions and frustrations often ran high during the four-hour meeting.

“You said there was no plan,” Elayne Mosher Campoli, D-First Ward, said. “We have a comprehensive plan. I have it right here.”

Shaughnessy introduced himself as a resident of Oneonta’s First Ward since 2009, the same ward that Elayne Mosher Campoli represents.

“Many downtown businesses and property owners have tried communicating concerns. Are they being heard?” Shaughnessy asked in frustration.

Cecelia Walsh-Russo, D-Second Ward, asked Shaughnessy, “How does a parking lot contribute to a 2018 comprehensive plan?”

“I think that [2018] plan is obsolete,” Shaughnessy said. “You keep talking about a plan to put a building there.”

Another building is not going to solve Oneonta’s parking shortage, Shaughnessy contended.

“We have money to redo the plan,” Shaughnessy said. “The city [of Oneonta] was awarded a $135,000.00 grant…The city plans to complete an update to its comprehensive plan, which includes extensive public input. This may be the right time to create a plan for Market Street and downtown.”

Len Carson, R-Fifth Ward, asked Shaughnessy to “flush out” his proposal in more detail. “Are you suggesting paid parking?” Carson asked.

Shannon McHugh, D-Third Ward, questioned Shaughnessy’s claim that “every single business owner in Clinton Plaza” is in favor of keeping 27 Market Street as parking.

Don Mathisen, D-Eighth Ward, said, “I did speak to all the businesses…. All of the businesses were opposed to paid parking except one, who wants to charge students to park. They want 27 Market Street to remain parking.”

Kaytee Lipari Shue, D-Fourth Ward, seemed to be in favor of updating the comprehensive plan and getting a lot of community input.

“We might not have another opportunity like this for another 50 years,” she said.

“We’ve gone from 65 percent [parking] usage to 85 percent since the garage came down,” Michael Forster Rothbart, D-Seventh Ward, said. He suggested that the city needs to figure out a way to use the “huge hotel parking lot that goes unused.”

Proposal Number Two

After a tense exchange between Shaughnessy and several council members, Luisa Montanti, manager of Southside Mall, was invited to the podium to present her proposal for 27 Market Street. She decided not to advance her PowerPoint beyond the first slide.

She echoed some of the same points Shaughnessy made, saying downtown Oneonta has “17 empty storefronts, soon to be 18 storefronts.”

“It is not a race. That lot has been empty for 40-50 years,” Montanti said, meaning no business has been in operation at [27 Market Street] location for many years.

She told the council and the mayor, “You do not know economic development.”

There were some claps from the audience.

“Dick’s Sporting Goods was in discussion for four years before they decided to invest in Oneonta. Petco followed,” Montanti said.

Her point is that to find good business partners takes time: “Economic development is driven by private investment,” she said. “We have to create sales tax revenue. We have to produce property taxes.”

“What is your vision of Market Street in 10-20 years?” Forster Rothbart asked.

“Main Street should be full of coffee shops, art galleries and gift shops,” Montanti said. “It is not easy recruiting businesses Right now, I do not feel comfortable with eight [council] people making this decision.”

Rehabilitation Support Services presented its proposal for 27 Market Street on April 1.