Salisbury community members not happy with parking lot construction

SALISBURY, MD. – If you’ve been to downtown Salisbury this week, you’ve seen construction is already underway on the upcoming Unity Square.

A sign of progress in the City’s plans.

“I would like them to immediately stop the sale of parking lots,” Salisbury resident, Carolyn Wohlgemuth said.

Salisbury Taxpayer of 11 years, Carolyn Wohlgemuth wants residents to know what’s going on in their city. It’s all part of a construction project that’s been in the works for years.

“The parking lots have been in the master plan that was developed in 2014 and actually masterplans before that. We want to accommodate new businesses that are coming in we also have a need for apartments we have a shortage of housing in the city,” Mayor Jack Heath said.

More specifically the new Ross building is set to open this Fall. Realtor Mike Weisner says that the influx of people is set to take up a significant amount of parking spaces.

“The parking garage has 700 parking spaces but the Ross building has a contract with the city to take over 300 spaces, so the capacity of the garage goes from 700 to now only 400 for the public,” Mike Weisner, with Weisner Realty, said.

Mayor Jack Heath says he understands the changes may be inconvenient right now but believes the end goal will better generations to come.

“Our job in the city is not to just think about today, but its also to think about the future and the future will have more revenue coming in because of these developments. It’s staged over time, but in the end, it will be a great asset to the community,” Mayor Heath emphasized.

However, some residents would like the city to halt this plan.

“I think the city needs to reconsider its options in any way and these additional developments and put a priority on retaining the existing lots,” Weisner said.

And while right now, construction has already begun tearing up one of the downtown parking lots, Wohlegmuth would like to see voters decide on future lots.

“If need be, have a referendum on the next election which is coming up in November,” Wohlegmuth said.

Mayor Jack Heath says that if you want to share your concerns you can submit comments on the city’s website. You can also attend city council meetings that have public comment periods.

Wohlegmuth also submitted this link referring to parking lots sold in Salisbury.