Statement from Takis Karantonis Regarding Parking Needs for a New High School at the Career Center
Having seen a few comments on the list serve recently, I would like to take the opportunity to clarify my views on the parking needs of the Career Center site.
As a member of the Career Center BLPC and a long time Columbia Heights resident, I have been excited to participate in planning for what I hope will be a public facility jewel for our community. However, unless we get the parking right, we co uld easily end up with an unattractive nuisance whose operations will plague our nearby neighborhoods for decades.
Let me be clear: I do not support spill over neighborhood street parking as a solution for public facilities. Not in Arlington Heights not anywhere.
The smart solution to achieve the required parking both environmentally and fiscally responsible would be for the County to purchase the building and its existing parking garage owned by the Ethiopian Community Development Council, located at the corner of Columbia Pike and S. Highland Street. This option should be more seriously considered and pursued by both Boards and the County Manager.
The existing garage has 325 of the approximately 450 spaces the high school will need when it reaches full buildout. Analysis has shown that the cost of buying the building and garage is less expensive than all the estimates for building parking on the site. Preserving and using what we already have to its greatest extent is a long accepted sustainabilit y principle that applies here.
If our community buys this property:
We can protect and expand open space (vs a new above ground garage);
We can avoid significant complications and costs of underground parking of which the estimated cost is at least $3 5 40 million).
We would have to spend some amount of money to shore up the parking structure. We could look at creative opportunities to find the additional 100 or so spaces by building an additional level on the existing structure, or surface parking arou nd the existing buildings. Any of these solutions would cost less than either of the onsite parking solution being proposed;
Parking availability will not delay opening of the new school; AND
The County will bring a new asset into its inventory that has frontage on the Pike, ultimately creating opportunities for more programs and services to come to our Main Street.
As a planning principle, I believe the solution is in finding the right balance of onsite parking to minimize the impact on nearby neighbors, look for solutions that take advantage of existing nearby infrastructure, aggressively manage demand, and utilize the rich transit already available to this site. We need to continue working together to find the best long-term solution that serves all the students and staff on the site, protects our neighborhood, and is fiscally and environmentally sound.
It is difficult to fully predict the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on school operations, budgets and CIPs for the next couple of years, and on this particular project. I believe we may be hearing more about this tonight at the Career Center public meeting being held by APS, and I encourage everyone to attend to hear an update on this important project and provide feedback.
Regardless of the outcome or impacts to this project, I believe in good, long-range planning and the delivery of thoughtful, accessible and well-designed civic structures as a key economic driver for the Pike. I remain steadfast in this, as I am in my optimism for the future of the Columbia Pike community. I appreciate the opportunity to clear up any misconceptions about my positions and invite you to reach out to me if you want to have further discussion.
