Council debates second VCARE parking space on High Street; seeks legal language and agency input

Councilor Jenny Rivera asked the Ordinance Committee on Feb. 19 to allocate an additional parking space on High Street for VCARE, a transport provider that uses vans to carry elderly and disabled clients. Rivera said the group now operates two vans and that drivers and the mayor’s office had expressed safety concerns where the vans currently load and unload.

Rivera described the need as operational and safety-related: “Now they have 2 vans. They have much more participants,” she said, asking the committee for two adjacent spaces and signage so drivers can pull in and out safely. Rivera also said the Social Security office lot behind the site is not available for VCARE use because employees occupy that lot.

Nut graf: Committee members split on granting a second permanent public curb space to a private operator. Concerns included fairness to downtown businesses, loss of metered revenue, and whether on-street spaces can be allocated to a single organization. The committee approved a motion to have the law department draft legal language, to request an opinion about using a bus lane for queuing, to invite VCARE to explain operations, and to involve the city engineer; the item was tabled pending those follow-ups.

Discussion and staff input: Several councilors (including Councilor David Bartley and Councilor Mike McGrath Smith) said they were sympathetic to the safety concern but wary of giving a private operator a permanent public curb space without conditions. Councilor Patty Devine said she observed elderly passengers boarding at the site and supported two spaces. Councilor Bartley raised the equity issue: he warned that granting a second free space could set a precedent and urged that any extra allocation be time-limited or tied to compensation to the city.

Jeff (city assistant/staff) recalled a prior compromise when VCARE had agreed to one space with scheduled drop-off windows (morning and afternoon) and an alternating-van arrangement. City Solicitor Jeffrey Bissonnette noted prior discussions explored use of an alleyway for queuing and that law can prepare ordinance language; he advised the committee that the practical accommodation likely requires coordination with public works and the engineering office.

Outcome and next steps: The committee voted to request legal language formalizing a second space with constraints similar to the originally approved drop-off arrangement (time-limited drop-off windows), to request a law-department opinion on whether VCARE could use the bus lane for queuing, to invite VCARE to meet with committee members and staff to explain vehicle staging and schedules, and to involve the city engineer and DGR (Department of General and Neighborhood Relations) in follow-up. The maker requested that Ward 7 council file the order and that the item be returned after legal and technical review. The item was tabled for follow-up.

Ending: No additional parking was allocated on Feb. 19. The committee directed staff and law to produce proposed legal language and technical guidance and asked VCARE to appear at a future meeting to describe routing and staging so the group and the council can seek a compromise that balances accessibility and public parking use.