News

City delays parking deck

By Lightning Reports, Published: April 2, 2020

The Hendersonville City Council on Thursday voted to delay construction of a downtown parking deck, given that the local and national economy is too certain to commit to a large capital investment and to institute paid parking on Main Street.

At its March meeting, the council had voted to move ahead with the parking deck. But that was before the coronavirus pandemic shut down large swaths of the local, state and national economy. With no clear projection on when stay-at-home orders might be modified or lifted, the council accepted City Manager John Connet’s recommendation to postpone demolition and construction for the parking deck. The council did decide to shave the size by one story, dropping the structure from five to four floors.
“This would allow us to move forward and financially cover the cost of the debt service,” Connet said. “However, based on the current national and local economy we recommend that we do not move forward at this time with metering Main Street or any kind of demolition or construction until the economy stabilizes to support moving forward with the project.”
The council also agreed to move forward with the purchase of the Jackson law firm property for $1.15 million and to extend purchase for $800,000 of the Fazio property for up to a year.