Mayor Randy Taylor, Nick Simpson still in talks about future of Lot 10

SALISBURY, Md. – Mayor Randy Taylor and the owner of Lot 10 in the downtown area say they’re making strides towards an agreement.

Mayor Taylor proposed to buy part of Lot 10 back from the owner of the lot, Nick Simpson, to provide more parking in the downtown area.

But Simpson said, while they’re open to considering a fair-market offer, selling part of the lot back to the city will limit their downtown development project.

“If we sell back part of this parking lot, we are no longer able to build the Pad Sites, or a fast casual restaurant next to the hotels, so we would then just be developing a hotel,” said Simpson.

He added, they plan to meet with Mayor Taylor sometime this week to discuss a potential offer from the city. In the meantime, the lot will be privatized and only open to permit holders.

“At this point, the ball is really in the city’s court,” said Simpson. “We’re, at this point, converting the parking lot to a private parking lot, and we’ll be issuing our own parking permits, and that will kind of be the new normal for that lot, until we start some sort of development.”

WMDT reached out to Mayor Taylor for comment, but he denied our request.