A parking lot in The Hole? We can do better

A resolution before the Cheyenne City Council would help turn the space along West Lincolnway into a private facility for the Hynds project

By D. Reed Eckhardt

It should come as no surprise that the city of Cheyenne is about to make parking downtown even harder -- and help to give away an economic development asset -- to please the developer of the Hynds Building.

After all, city officials were in cahoots with the Greater Cheyenne Chamber of Commerce, Cheyenne LEADS and others last summer when they bullied the Children's Museum out of The Hole downtown. Former Mayor Rick Kaysen, Chamber head Dale Steenbergen

Last summer The Hole was used for concerts downtown.

and others claimed that if the museum did not get out of the way, efforts to develop the Hynds Building would fail. So museum officials did the "right thing," even though they -- and their supporters -- didn't want to do so.

Now comes a proposed resolution before the Cheyenne City Council at the behest of new Mayor Marian Orr to build a parking lot in The Hole along West Lincolnway to serve the Hynds development, should that land be bought by LEADS. Among other things, the city would: 1 -- Spend $750,000 to put in a covered facility that would be used during business hours ONLY by Hynds tenants; and 2 -- Set aside 10 parking spots on the street at the Hynds along Capitol Avenue and West Lincolnway to be used ONLY by the Hynds tenants as well as five more in the Spiker parking garage.

I never have understood the love affair that the city, Chamber, and LEADS have had with the Hynds developer. Perhaps it's all about who knows whom, and the Hynds has been vacant a long time. But these groups seem unwilling to view The Hole as anything other than a place to take care of their friend. That he still hasn't moved forward months after the museum ouster should speak loudly to the people of Cheyenne, whose money will be used to build the parking lot, about whether the Hynds ever will be developed.

Hopefully someone on the City Council will question whether this is the highest use of this property because it isn't. This space should be employed for retail or some other business that will attract residents and visitors downtown and serve as a way to make this city's central business district a more interesting place to visit. A parking lot? Ho hum.

Here's an idea: How about a saloon and casino? Yes, I know that would require changes in state law, etc., but that -- or something else of similar recreation/entertainment value -- would put The Hole to better use than a 25-space private parking lot. This prime location that should be utilized to help grow Cheyenne.

And then there is the issue of the parking itself. It can be hard enough to park downtown during certain times of the day without giving up 10 key spaces at the corner of West Lincolnway and Capitol Avenue. One wonders how the retail businesses down there feel about that. And whether they would get similar favors if they sought them.

Here's hoping that someone on the City Council will do due diligence on this proposal. It also would be great to get more public input on this plan. It seems to have appeared out of nowhere, though word has it that it is the result of several secret meetings among the key players. The people of Cheyenne and area businesses should be heard on this matter.

Yes, The Hole should be filled. But somebody should make sure it is used to grow Cheyenne, not just to take care of a developer who can't seem to get his act together.

D. Reed Eckhardt is the former executive editor of the Wyoming Tribune Eagle.

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THE PROPOSED RESOLUTION

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GOVERNING BODY OF THE
CITY OF CHEYENNE, WYOMING, that if LEADS acquires the vacant property adjacent to and immediately west of the Hynds Building, such property being commonly referred to at present as the “Hole,” then the City is willing to commit:

(1) up to Seven Hundred Fifty Thousand Dollars ($750,000.00) for the construction of a covered parking facility at that location to accommodate the parking requirements of potential tenants;

(2) up to ten (10) designated on-street parking spaces adjacent to the perimeter of the Hynds Building and five (5) designated parking spaces in the Spiker Parking Garage, such parking spaces to be committed to the benefit of potential tenants of the Hynds Building, yielding an approximate total of forty (40) parking spaces, assuming a
twenty-five (25) vehicle capacity at any covered parking facility constructed on the vacant property adjacent to and immediately west of the Hynds Building, such contributions subject to the condition precedent that the developer produce proof of actual construction initiation by no later than January 1, 2018, after which time the
City may no longer be able or willing to make any such contribution;

(3) to granting access to the developer and its agents to perform any work necessary to complete the developer’s geothermal heat element plan before the construction of any covered parking facility begins; and

(4) to negotiating in good faith to reach any ancillary agreements, including, but not limited to, agreements on necessary easements, shared walls, parking use, and other logistical items that the parties necessarily must enter into before construction of the covered parking facility.