Editorial: Parking deck might dictate downtown's future

It's unusual for the Banner-Herald's editorial board to address the same issue within a matter of a few days. But with an Athens-Clarke County Commission vote on a new downtown parking deck slated for Tuesday, it's important to take a look beyond the practical concerns addressed in the newspaper's Monday editorial, "More thought needed on parking deck," to offer up some broader thoughts on the project.

Monday's editorial focused on the fiscal aspects of the project, noting that while voters did approve construction of a mixed-used deck on West Clayton Street, to be paid for with a combination of sales tax dollars and a bond issue, commissioners might have been wise to have kept with the original scale.

As proposed in a 2004 sales tax referendum, the parking deck - which will occupy part of the block defined by West Clayton, North Lumpkin and West Washington streets - was to have had 575 spaces and 8,000 square feet of retail space. The plan set for likely approval by the commission at its upcoming Tuesday meeting comprises 520 spaces and 34,000 square feet of retail space - although a private developer, and not the county, is ponying up $6 million for the expanded $17 million vision of the deck in return for having control of the retail space.

Monday's editorial also expressed concern that paying off the bond debt for the deck could be an indirect factor in proposed increases in the downtown parking rates to as high as $2.50 by 2013.

But there is an issue beyond those fiscal concerns connected with the new parking deck. It's an issue that Athens-Clarke Commissioner Kelly Girtz, a likely supporter of the deck, referenced - albeit somewhat obliquely - in recent comments to the local alternative weekly Flagpole Magazine.

In comments to Flagpole, Girtz acknowledged that the parking

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