4 Hearings Set on Parking Lease Draft

Pittsburgh City Council President Darlene Harris has set dates for four public meetings to discuss Mayor Luke Ravenstahl’s plan to lease the city’s parking assets. Harris says they will hold the meetings in the neighborhoods that will be impacted the most.

Each meeting will be held at 6:30 p.m., dates and locations:
Monday, July 26 – Downtown – in City Council Chambers, 5th Floor, City-County Building, enter on Grant street side
Tuesday, July 27 – South Side – Pittsburgh Federation of Teachers Headquarters -- 10 S. 19th Street at the River
Thursday, July 29 – Oakland – Pittsburgh Board of Education headquarters – 341 S. Bellefield Avenue, second floor
Monday, August 2 – North Side – Martin Luther King, Jr. Elementary School Cafeteria –
50 Montgomery Street – enter by the loading dock

Harris suggests residents read the draft agreement posted on council’s web page. The Mayor has proposed a 50-year lease. A study commissioned by the Parking Authority to evaluate its parking garages and meters is also available online. Harris says, “These four meetings will be the public’s best opportunity to comment on the concession agreements before an official meeting of Council.” Harris says this may be the most important vote she will ever cast as a councilmember. Council has commissioned a study of the value of the city’s parking assets. That study is expected to be published this fall and Harris says once that is in hand another round of hearings will be held.