From:	Michael Behrendt
Sent:	Monday, February 08, 2016 1:47 PM
Subject:	Mill Plaza - email from J. Smith about parking

To the Planning Board,
Please see the email below from Julian Smith.

Michael Behrendt
Durham Town Planner
Town of Durham
8 Newmarket Road
Durham, NH  03824
(603) 868-8064
www.ci.durham.nh.us

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-----Original Message-----
From: Julian Smith [] 
Sent: Sunday, February 07, 2016 12:18 PM
To: Michael Behrendt
Subject: required parking at the Plaza

Dear Michael:

Would you please pass this message on to the Planning Board.

I watched their January 27th meeting twice and was impressed each time by the amount of attention 
members paid to the importance of providing parking for the stores, shops, restaurants, offices, and 
services now at or proposed at the Plaza. 

And I was glad they paid attention to circulation of traffic at the site, particularly for customers of the 
commercial enterprises and for deliveries. The question of how much or little parking will be provided 
exclusively for residential tenants needs very careful attention.

On the matter of the number of parking spaces: item 1.e. in the settlement agreement states that 
"Proposed on-site parking shall be increased from the existing 345 spaces to a number acceptable  to 
the planning board based on the zoning ordinance and site plan regulations."

I would like to remind the PB members that the number of existing spaces is actually less than the 
number required when the second phase of the Plaza development was approved back in the 'seventies. 
At that time, the original developers asked for and were granted approval to pave fewer than the 
number of spaces required by the zoning ordinance. 

And let's remember that the number of spaces required back then (and until now) were all for 
customers and employees of the businesses and services at the Plaza, not for residential tenants. The 
settlement agreement fails, perhaps intentionally, to make that distinction.

In any case, the settlement agreement does stipulate that the proposed "on-site parking shall be 
increased . . . to a number acceptable to the planning board." I would hope the PB arrives at an 
acceptable number based on an iron-clad condition of approval.

But no matter how iron-clad that condition is, let me call attention to what Laura Spector said to the PB 
on January 27th: that civil fines of up to $250 a day could be imposed for every day the conditions are 
violated. At most, the town could collect ninety-one thousand dollars and change each year, which may 
be less than what the Plaza could generate from charging tenants for reserved parking.

And let's not forget that the town has never fined the Plaza for renting many of their required parking 
spaces in violation of the table of uses. 

Julian