Biddeford parking garage: Confusing and short on revenue

BIDDEFORD – It was intended to be the lynchpin for the revitalization of downtown Biddeford, but the new Pearl Street parking garage is not meeting expectations for revenue. Furthermore, many people – including city officials – say that using the garage can be confusing and frustrating.

The garage is operated by Premium Parking, a private firm based in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is owned by Amber Infrastructure, a company with headquarters in England. Premium Parking did not return calls or e-mail inquiries by press time.

Opened in July 2021, advocates for building the garage, including Mayor Alan Casavant, said the structure was necessary if the city wanted to continue the ongoing process of revitalization in the downtown area.

In order to entice a private firm to build, own and operate the garage, the city council made a deal with the project developer that would guarantee a minimum annual income stream for the garage. To ensure that city taxpayers would not be impacted if the garage failed to meet expectations, the council voted to create a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) fund and considered the possibility of creating a Special Assessment District for all property owners near the garage.

Essentially, if passed sometime in the future, property owners within the mill district would have an extra tax bill because they directly benefit from having increased parking options.

During a city council workshop earlier this month, several councilors raised questions about how a Special Assessment District would work and voiced concerns about how the garage is operated. City Manager Jim Bennet said city staff is researching the viability of creating a special tax district.

“How do we fairly determine who is in the Special Assessment District,” asked Councilor Doris Ortiz. “For example, Mulligan’s [Restaurant] is in that proposed area, and they’ve been there a long time and not benefitting from the parking garage.”

Bennet replied that Mulligan’s has always relied on public spaces, despite the fact that many of their customers used the lot on the other side of Lincoln Street before development of the Lincoln Hotel and other new businesses, which have popped up in the area since the MERC waste incinerator was closed and demolished.

But Joe DeLois, the owner of Mulligan’s, said creation of a new special tax district smacked of unfairness. “We get no benefit from that garage,” DeLois said. “None of our customers, especially our older patrons, are using that garage.”

DeLois purchased Mulligan’s in 2017 and said the amount of public parking spaces has been steadily dwindling over the last five years.

 “What about other downtown restaurants?” he asked, pointing out that many downtown restaurants also rely on public parking, but are not located in the new mill district.

Council President Norm Belanger said it would be virtually impossible to create a tax district that would satisfy everyone.

 “There is no science to this,” he said. “No matter how you create the map, it is going to be somewhat arbitrary. There is no way around that.”

Casavant said the creation of a Special Assessment District is an idea only for consideration and that such a plan would involve several public hearings and rigorous council involvement. “At this point, it’s just something we’re considering,” the mayor said. “It’s just another tool in the tool box to prevent impacting the mil rate.”

During the council’s discussion about the garage, several people said that using the garage is somewhat confusing and frustrating.

In order to park in the public garage, users must use their smartphones to scan and download a parking app. Once the app is downloaded onto the phone, the user must then enter their credit or debit card information and an e-mail address. Once that process is completed, the customer then parks their vehicle in a designated place and once again must use their phone to scan the exact parking location.

“It’s even more complicated than what I imagined,” Casavant said, telling councilors he used the app to park in the garage but never saw a charge on his card. He said he tried to e-mail the company and never heard back. He also said that a friend of his was ticketed even after using the app.

Biddeford resident Mark Robinson described himself as a “big supporter” of the infrastructure moves city officials have made in the downtown area, but also expressed frustration about how the private company is operating the garage.

“It’s not the city’s fault,” Robinson said. “I see it as an ill-conceived technology experiment by a private operator. I don’t object to paying for parking, but it’s not mobile banking, it’s a parking space. If I have to download an app to do that, forget it, I’m not using the garage.”

Casavant and Ortiz both say they would welcome the opportunity to meet with the garage owners to clarify how the facility is being operated.

“If we want people coming downtown and using the garage, we need to make sure that it’s not a complicated process,” Ortiz said.

Randy Seaver can be contacted at randy@randyseaver.com.