Which Way Do We Go? - Colonial Beach Parking

The Wilder Parking Lot on the Boardwalk hangs in the balance.  If Council agrees to a change in the sales agreement you may continually hear people say “where do I park”.  During the 4th of July Colonial Beach Parking was at capacity and the town even put out a post saying our parking is at capacity - only residents could enter town.  The question for me and many others is what happens when we sell the Wilder Parking lot and 200 “prime” parking spaces are gone?  The promise when the Mayor (Vice Mayor at the time) and the rest of council signed off on the sale of Wilder Parking lot was there would be a parking solution.  Nearly 5 years have passed with no parking solution and there likely never will be.  Do we depend on private businesses like the Riverboat to provide public parking when private businesses could stop allowing parking at any time?  A few years ago, council voted for a $20k study to come up with a parking plan and in my opinion that was a complete waste of our tax dollars.

The reason for this blog post - Accept a change in the sales agreement or walk away and keep the parking lot.  Here’s my take: One the parking lot generates roughly up to $200k a year in parking revenues.  Two, that parking lot gets significant use for both beach and event parking and no other nearby parking solutions exist. Three, the original sales agreement required a boutique hotel to be built and if that does not happen it is my understanding we do not have to accept an alternate proposal. 

The public now gets to weigh in again and say yes or no.  The two options presented to council by Mr. Dodson were vague (see below) but you can watch the June 18 council meeting to hear for yourself. 

Option #1 build 4,000-8,000 square feet retail with 10-35 condos above leaving the back half for paid public parking for a time period of his choosing (at first, he said indefinitely, but when I asked for him to clarify, he said it may not be indefinitely).

Option #2 pay full retail price for the property and do whatever he wants with it.  

Option #3 Not presented. We do not agree to changes and keep the parking lot.  

The Future of Our Boardwalk

The boardwalk land between the beach shop and the bathrooms is now under development. The town has already given concessions as mentioned earlier in prior blogs. Phase 4 which is the Wilder lot from the swing sets back towards the Pink Poodle has not closed yet. Many people believe that we need to reconsider the Wilder lot sale which may be our opportunity to salvage what’s left of the boardwalk. Many people have told me they want entertainment games and other things for residents and visitors alike to do. We were promised a real overall plan years ago so before buildings go up I think the community needs to come together and find some way to save the boardwalk.

Your voice needs to be heard

If you want to weigh in you should write your council members at TownCouncil@ColonialBeachva.gov