Tuesday's town council meeting included yet another 3-D presentation of the county's new courthouse plans. This first phase shows a massive court building facing East Main Street and a new parking structure.
Several years ago, all county operations were pretty much consolidated in one building -- the existing courthouse which was built in 1979. A few ancillary offices could be found a couple of blocks away, but more space and employee and public parking were given as key reasons buying the "old garment factory" was a good idea. Half of that building was renovated and all non-court offices moved in.
Subsequently, adjacent property to the new county government center was acquired and even more parking space was developed which could provide for some of the county's equipment which now sits idle behind the existing court and jail. Years of dithering over building a new courthouse and consolidating school board administrative offices see the government center remaining underutilized and half empty (one employee breakroom is larger than the homes of many citizens).
Tuesday, Christiansburg council granted the county its request for the conditional use permit needed for this new parking garage/structure. Plans for this phase were reported to be about 60% complete and where shown incorporating streetlights similar to those recently installed along West Main per the Planning Commission's suggestion.
The total number of parking spaces required, as defined by town guidelines, to meet both employee and public needs for the next 25 years remain in flux. Parking 600 feet from the property's perimeter can be included in these totals, and this includes the "triangle" property for the former Texaco gas station (more recently the former home of Quality Tire) supervisors recently purchased, and the county's Health & Human Services building on Pepper Street which borders the Montgomery Museum property.
One speaker at Tuesday's meeting said he had been monitoring use of the existing parking lots at the courthouse, and found them to be routinely 85-90% empty. This speaker said costs associated with building a new parking structure was a "rip off for county and town citizens" and suggested people be taught how to use an umbrella and utilize existing spaces.
Handicap parking had been planned along Pepper Street in close proximity to the front door of the new courthouse where, due to security, all members of the public must enter. Due to security concerns, this parking has now been eliminated from the design plans.
Councilman Mike Barber wanted assurance the total number of parking spaces did not include the town's municipal lot, which will be directly across the street from the front doors of the new courthouse.
What he couldn't get was assurance that people conducting business at the new courthouse will not utilize the town's small lot (which is already pretty much filled up by town employees). Here's a prognostication: this will become as unmanageable as preventing county visitors from parking in short-term Town Square and South Franklin spaces is today.