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Developers, independent business owners, political activists, and many other people with a wide range of interests gathered Tuesday night to discuss the construction of a parking facility in the midsection of State Street. Everyone who was present at the meeting had their opinion documented to help the Mid-State Street Parking Ramp Committee decide the best course of action for the city of Madison.

The decision has actually been debated for the past 30 years. In the mid 1970s people started discussing the idea of adding more parking to the mid-State Street area, said Mark Olinger, Director of the Department of Planning and Development for the city of Madison.

The most recent proposal was to construct a parking ramp to replace the Buckeye Lot which is located at the intersection of State Street and West Gorham Street near Pizzeria Uno, but controversy surrounds this location. The Buckeye Lot is located directly across from the Lisa Link Peace Park and the Mansion Hill National Historic District. The building of a parking structure would require the demolition of historic buildings in this district and may overshadow the park.

After two proposals were presented at the meeting, attendees met in small groups to discuss the positive and negative aspects of building a parking ramp in the mid-State Street area. One discussion group was comprised of Jesse Kaysen, member of the mid-State Parking Ramp committee and Chair of the Transit and Parking Committee, Steve Heaps, Owner of the Chocolate Shoppe, and Tom Neujahr, a developer for Urban Land Interests. They discussed whether the city would be denied additional parking if the Buckeye Lot were to remain as it is now. They also discussed the necessity of supporting the growth of downtown Madison.

However, some attendees of the meeting were strongly opposed to the construction of a parking structure in this historic neighborhood.

“This is all part of the whining of business owners, as if parking will solve their problem,” said Tom Link, member of the Lisa Link Peace Park Committee. “[Businesses] have massive parking lots they never use.”

There have been 15-20 proposals presented to the Mid-State Street Parking Ramp Committee.

“We could spend forever looking at these different options,” Olinger said.

However, both plans presented at Tuesday night’s meeting involved the construction of a mixed-use facility in which there would be retail and housing components, in addition to parking.

“[A mixed-use facility] might enhance the relationship between the public and private sector,” Kaysen said.

But the mixed-use facility presented at the meeting would be a maximum of five stories tall and would entail the destruction of three historic buildings.

“There is a long tradition here of standing up for historic buildings, yet every few weeks another goes,” Link said.

Another concern is increased traffic congestion. According to a traffic study conducted by Daniel J. McCormick, Assistant City Traffic Engineer, a new facility “could potentially generate approximately 1,700 net new or additional vehicles per day or about 170 vehicles per hour,” based upon a potential maximum case of a parking facility of a total 300 parking stalls.

“If you build it, they will come,” said Robert Stanton, an attendee at Tuesday night’s meeting.

The widely varying opinions presented at the meeting will all be considered by the Mid-State Street Committee at their next meeting on Dec. 8 when the committee will vote either in favor or against the investigation of a mixed-use facility.