Parking issues on St. Gabriel’s site: easy way to test St. Eliz’s new claim last night it has enough parking
Joanne D'Alcomo
There’s no question that many people in Brighton have been concerned about the potential traffic and parking issues connected to the two big new developments proposed at the site of the former St. Gabriel’s monastery and church on Washington Street. Currently, according to St. Elizabeth’s Hospital management, there are 314 parking spots in the big parking lot that is located on the part of the St. Gabriel’s site owned by the developer Cabot, Cabot & Forbes, and another 116 parking spots at the parking lot at the St. Gabriel’s site now owned by the Archdiocese of Boston, which the developer Avalon Bay proposes to buy and build on.
But at a meeting on Wednesday night, St. Elizabeth Hospital’s management essentially claimed that parking is not an issue for the next several years. (This meeting concerned the hospital’s Institutional Master Plan). On the attached documents distributed by St. Elizabeth’s, the hospital claimed that it currently has 360 MORE PARKING SPACES THAN IT NEEDS!
And the hospital claims that if/when Cabot, Cabot & Forbes wipes out the 314-parking spots on the CC&F property in the course of its development, THERE WILL STILL BE 46 MORE PARKING SPOTS THAN THE HOSPITAL NEEDS. (The hospital conceded that there may be problems down the road when its newly revealed lease for the other 116 spots on the Avalon Bay proposed site is scheduled to expire, in 2022).
Now, St. Elizabeth’s numbers would be some encouraging news if these numbers are valid, because the hospital’s parking situation would be far less dire than many of us have believed given the crowded nature of the lots on the St. Gabriel’s site. But right now St. Elizabeth’s numbers are just figures on a piece of paper. Consequently, what should happen is that THESE NUMBERS SHOULD BE TESTED UNDER REAL WORLD CONDITIONS TO SEE IF THEY HAVE ANY VALIDITY, which could be easily done. St. Elizabeth’s should simply close off the Cabot, Cabot & Forbes- owned parking lot with its 314 spaces for one week and let’s see what the effect is of eliminating these 314 spots. After all, that’s what would happen if/when Cabot, Cabot & Forbes build its proposed development. If it is true that St. Elizabeth’s now has 346 more spaces than it needs right now, then there should be no disruption by shutting down the parking parking. If it is not true, then we should see what the effect is on the neighborhood.
At last night’s meeting with St. Elizabeth’s, I made such a proposal for a test. I asked the St. Elizabeth’s management to close off the 314-space parking lot at the St. Gabriel’s site for one week so that we could see empirical evidence that their numbers are valid. They said they would consider it.
If St. Elizabeth’s refuses to perform this simple test to show the validity of its parking numbers, then clearly St. Elizabeth’s management will not only show its lack of confidence in its contention that the hospital has excess parking capacity, but it will demonstrate a lack of good faith toward the community.
Joanne D'Alcomo
AngelaT
Sent from my iPhone
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<stelizparkingcalculations.pdf>
Clamp, Christina
Just a historical note regarding St. E’s parking. Years ago I worked to get resident parking when I lived on Sparhawk since the hospital employees were filling the nearby streets with their cars. This points to the need for resident parking throughout the neighborhood as these projects are developed.
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