BIDDEFORD — A meeting of residents to express their concerns regarding paying to park in city-owned lots in Biddeford’s city center will be held from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, June 26 at the Little Theater at Biddeford High School.

The Biddeford City Council scheduled the meeting Tuesday following a petition being filed with the City Clerk’s Office requesting the meeting, that is allowed by city charter pending the submission of petition signed by at least 100 Biddeford registered voters.

According to the petition, signed by 131 verified registered voters, an order will be presented at the meeting “that instructs the City Council to remove the parking meters installed downtown and prohibit the City from charging for parking within one mile of Biddeford City Hall. Furthermore, the order will instruct the City Council that it may not charge for parking within one mile of City Hall unless the referendum from 2014 that prohibits parking meters is overturned.”

In November 2014, citizens overwhelming voted to prohibit parking meters in the downtown. The vote was 6,761 to 959.

But last year, as part of a larger Parking Management Plan, Biddeford’s City Council voted to begin charging to park in most city-owned lots in the downtown and ordered the installation of parking kiosks at those lots. People can use the kiosks or go to the City Clerk’s Office to purchase parking permits to use at the lots.

The plan, which included adding more time-limited parking spaces in the downtown, took effect Nov. 1, and paid parking started in early December.

City officials said a number of reasons the parking changes were needed, such as: providing short-term, high-turnover parking options for those visiting the downtown to eat, shop or do other business; taking the tax burden off property taxpayers to maintain downtown streets and the parking lots (the cost has been paid for through the general fund); and because there wasn’t enough parking to go around — according to parking studies there is a an existing demand for 4,200 parking but only 2,889 combined public and private spaces in the downtown and adjacent mill district. In addition, the parking plan includes the possibility of constructing a parking garage on city-owned space in the mill district, revenue generated through payments from parking permits would likely be used to help pay for a parking structure.

The parking plan, particularly the portion that requires paying to park in city lots has been controversial and many downtown business and property owners as well as some residents have voiced criticism even prior to its implementation.

At a public meeting on the PMP on Nov. 19 before parking charges went into effect, Matt Swaford, owner of High Rollers Glass and Gifts at 20 Alfred St., said he was against charging for parking in city parking lots because he was afraid it would hurt his business.

The parking plan “is gambling with our livelihoods,” he said.

Joan Ladakakos also spoke against the plan in November. Ladakakos, whose husband owns the popular George’s Sandwich Shop at 37 Franklin St. and whose customers had been able to take advantage of free parking at a city-owned lot across from her business, said she believed charging to park at the nearby Franklin Street lot would be detrimental to her business.

“I’m pretty sure most of us don’t like it (the parking plan),” Ladakakos said.

The majority of those attending that meeting agreed with her by a show of hands.

Since the plan was implemented, changes have been made to try to address business owners’ and others’ concerns, such as creating more free and shot-term parking spaces in the lots.

But some say that isn’t enough.

Since charged parking has taken effect, “business is down to one-half,” Vincent Keely said in a telephone interview on Thursday. Keely is the owner of the downtown restaurant WonderBar and was one of the organizers of the 2014 referendum to keep parking meters out of the city center.

At one time there were parking meters in downtown Biddeford but they were removed decades ago, he said.

“We had the referendum to have no parking meters in the downtown,” Keely said. “Now they have it all screwed up again.”

On Tuesday, resident Jason Litalien told the council “meters aren’t only hurting businesses on Main Street and feeder streets, but its affecting everything around it. All you’re doing is making more money for the mills at the taxpayers’ expense.”

He said the city lots were full prior to instituting charging to park because those living or working in the former mills parked there rather than pay a monthly fees to park in some portions of the mill district. But now that the city charges $65 for a monthly permit, which is more than the amount charged in the mill district, fewer are parking in the city lots.

“Now (the mill district) doesn’t seem to have a parking problem and neither does the city,” Litalien said.

Litalien had a filed a lawsuit in in October in York County Superior Court in Alfred against the city to prohibit charging to park in city-owned lots.

The case was moved to Cumberland County Superior Court in Portland and Justice MaryGay Kennedy dismissed the lawsuit, saying in a May 13 order that Litalien waited too long to challenge a city vote to approve the plan and should have filed his suit within 30 days of that vote.

On May 24, Litalien filed another suit on constitutional grounds at U.S. District Court in Portland. It states that the implementation of the parking plan is a direct violation of the rights of the citizens of Biddeford by disregarding the binding 2014 referendum.

— Managing Editor Dina Mendros can be contacted at 780-9014 or dmendros@journaltribune.com

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