Ongoing disputes regarding the management and operations of the Water Street Parking Garage on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall have raised concerns from business owners about a possible near-future shutdown of the garage.
Mark Brown, a University alumnus and the owner of the Charlottesville Parking Center, is looking to raise prices for parking to what he claims to be a fair market rate, while the city has yet to approve a new higher rate. He has now brought a lawsuit against the City of Charlottesville for forcing him to operate below a marketable rate. The matter is currently in litigation.
The CPC manages the Water Street Parking Garage on behalf of its owners, the Water Street Parking Garage Condominium Association. The condominium association consists of four city representatives and four members of the Charlottesville Parking Center, including Brown.
The CPC has a contractual agreement with both the city and the Condominium Association allowing it to manage the operations for the Water Street Parking Garage. Brown, through the CPC, is in conflict with the city over parking prices.
At the same time, however, the CPC is in conflict with the Condominium Association over the right to incur additional business expenses. The CPC requires authorization from the Association for additional expenses, and the Association has requested expense reports from the CPC detailing exactly what additional expenses will be incurred.
A letter from Brown and the CPC to the condominium association stated that as per the contract between the two, the CPC “[w]ill not incur any other expense not expressly authorized by an approved annual budget or by the Association.”
According to the letter, since the association has not adopted an annual budget for 2016, it will default on the contract unless the problem is remedied within 30 days. This letter, and the claim that the association will default, has led to concerns that the garage may shut down in the coming month.
The Downtown Business Association, concerned about the economic impacts of the garage’s possible shutdown, wrote a letter urging city representatives and Brown to “take the good of the community into consideration and forgo all personal vendettas” to reach an agreement. They claim that the garage shutting down would be unacceptable and damaging to downtown businesses.
Miriam Dickler, director of communications for City Of Charlottesville, said the lawsuit between the city and Brown is a separate issue from the possible garage shutdown. She explained that the dispute between the Condominium Association and the CPC is the one which could lead to a shutdown, while the litigation between Brown and the city is over price issues only.
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