Cumberland Parking Garage Approved

City Council unanimously voted Tuesday night to approve a plan for a parking garage for Cumberland Avenue’s “Strip” that would add 500 to 800 spaces to an area where parking is scarce. The garage is part of the Cumberland Avenue Redevelopment and Urban Renewal Plan.

An amendment to the budgets for fiscal year 2014-2015 brought the most discussion, with councilman Nick Della Volpe arguing that 25 percent of the 4.35 million dollar surplus be set aside for a “rainy-day fund” instead of being added to the general fund for renovations.

Mayor Madeline Rogero argued that deferring maintenance adds to its cost. “This is the time to invest wisely in infrastructure and in deferred maintenance,” she said. “If you want to save money, you save money by spending this money now.”

The rest of the council agreed with the mayor, and the amendment passed 8 to 1, with Della Volpe the dissenting vote.

In other action, rezoning requests involving properties in the Atlantic Avenue area and the Asheville Highway area were approved. Both involved changing areas from Residential. The Atlantic Avenue plots would be changed to Industrial and the Asheville Highway plots would become Office.

 

Leave a Reply