At the Aug. 5 Downtown Facility Special Committee meeting, Holt architects and the project traffic consultant presented a two‑day parking study for the proposed Center of Government site and nearby blocks.
The study matters because parking availability will affect visitor access to public services, staff commutes and negotiation needs with the City of Ithaca for any curb‑side or on‑street changes.
The traffic consultant said the team collected parking counts over two days in late April and averaged the results. The study area included the Green Street and Seneca Street garages, and roughly a quarter‑mile (three‑ to four‑block) walking radius around the proposed site. The consultant reported about 352 on‑street spaces in the immediate study area and roughly 920 spaces across the two garages. Utilization across the study day averaged about 60–65 percent, leaving approximately 150–175 on‑street spaces and at least 225 garage spaces available at peak periods.
The presentation also used four weeks of sign‑in data from county departments: consultants recorded 653 unique visits to county departments over the month, of which about 70 percent arrived by car and the average visit length was 19 minutes. The consultant summarized that this equates to about four visitors per hour on average who drive to county departments.
On staffing, the study accounted for roughly 187 employees currently associated with downtown county buildings and projected about 256 employees after consolidation, producing a delta of about 69 additional employees needing parking in the immediate area.
To accommodate visitors, the consultant and architects proposed reserving up to 18 short‑term curb spaces directly in front of the new building, managed as 20‑minute visitor spaces. The presentation said those 18 spaces would exceed the expected four to five visitor vehicles per hour and be more convenient for families and people needing accessible parking. The consultant said, "We only anticipate having, 4 to 5 visitors per hour, and we're providing 18 spaces." For employee parking the team recommended that most employees use available spaces within a 10‑minute walk shed; the presenters said approximately 824 free parking spaces lie within that walk radius and the county's Cascadilla lot offers roughly 40 county‑designated spaces.
Several legislators warned that curb spaces must be negotiated with the city. Legislator Amanda Champion recounted prior attempts to secure visitor spots at an annex and cautioned, "they have not wanted to allow that to happen," recalling that the city granted only a single handicap spot in one past case. Legislator Greg Mezey asked that the county pursue conversations with the city now because meter revenue is important to city budgets.
The consultants said negotiations with the city, decisions on whether the county will lease or reserve curb spaces, and any changes to employee parking arrangements remain to be completed. They also offered to provide department‑level visitor data that breaks out visits by office and average dwell time.