No, this is not an April Fool’s story.
It’s a legit question.
For years, we’ve discussed the pros and cons of a parking deck at the Baldwin (Elm Street) lot.
But what about another site: Parker Harding Plaza?
Parker Harding Plaz
It’s not my idea. It comes from Steve Levin. The 1971 Staples High School graduate has spent his professional career in commercial real estate.
He does not live in Westport. But — like many former residents — he keeps up with the town through “06880.”
The other day, Steve asked: “Has anyone considered double-decking the lot? It could easily double the parking there.”
I told Steve I’d never heard anyone propose that. I asked for more. He said:
“Aesthetics can be resolved with proper and sensitive architecture and planting. It’s not like Westport needs to protect the view of the Saugatuck River from the back of Main Street’s retail buildings, nor if properly designed, would it be an eyesore from across the river looking back at the backs of Main Street. And walking along the river would not be impacted.”
Another view of Parker Harding. (Drone photo/John Videler for Videler Photography)
Steve is a bright guy. But this is 2026. I went to an even brighter source: AI.
ChatGPT quickly provided a “conceptual parking capacity & layout” plan, with 160 to 180 spots on the ground level, and 140 to 160 above that. “Compact parking and angled layouts can increase capacity,” it added helpfully.
The AI agent also suggested an elevator and stairs, crosswalks and protective bollards, bike racks, wayfaring signs, exterior screening (“perforated metal, decorative concrete or architectural panels, to reduce visual bulk”), landscaping, and “lighting and signage to match Westport standards.
Of course, this being AI — not a human, but simply software that has never set foot in Westport — there was also this idea, which makes zero sense: “possible access via Church Lane or side street for service vehicles and deliveries.”
No matter how creative a parking deck at Parker Harding is, it can’t be accessed via Church Lane.
ChatGPT also thinks Main Street is the same as Post Road East.
ChatGPT’s plan for Parker Harding: a top level (top), and ground level (middle and bottom). But look closely: the Post Road and Church Lane are misplaced. What is “Parker Island”? “Parking Star Rivers”? And the circulation pattern seems a bit Escher-esque.
So no, we won’t be using artificial intelligence to design a parking deck.
But what about the rest of the idea? Is it completely ludicrous, or something to put on the table?
Perhaps it’s one more thing for the new chair of the Downtown Plan Implementation Committee — whoever he or she is — to think about.
(“06880” welcomes all ideas — and all contributions. Please click here to support our wide-ranging work. Thank you!)
Lev: holy cow!—still showing the kind of vision you had as the center halfback on our 1970 state championship team. I think there is only one property with an upper-level restaurant whose lease value would be impacted but otherwise what is the downside of at least exploring Steve’s concept?
Hi Fred,
You (and Dan, Steve and AI) have NAILED IT!!!
There is no downside. Just shop elsewhere until it all gets worked out, the construction is complete and Dan informs us (via 06880) that “The coast is clear” and it’s safe to shop in downtown Westport.
Keep discussing a deck for the Baldwin lot.
Decking Parker Harder has been pitched over the years. However, one of the threshold reasons a public parking garage downtown has been repeatedly rejected in the past hasn’t anything to do with the cost to taxpayers, etc. It has to do with the fact that most simply regarded a parking garage as incompatible with the traditional scale and feel of the area. Parking garages are one of those urban fixtures one mostly associates with other places, like Stamford. In order to conserve its distinctive sense of place, Westport has, up to this point, resisted the call. But the town has changed – almost radically. I don’t want to say that it has lost its way. But I sometimes think it.
I have a better idea. Let’s remove Parker Harding Plaza, make the retailers and restaurants waterfront, build a parking garage off Imperial Avenue, and create a nice riverfront walk to town. Just add water and stir.
Why this hasn’t happened baffles me. We should be using that beautiful and unique waterfront not storing cars there. Elm st double or triple deck makes a lot more sense and visually you wouldn’t even know it’s there
DO NOT DECK PARKER HARDING!!!
3 MAJOR REASONS
THIS IS EXACTLY WHY AI AND CHAT/GP ARE WEAK AND FLAWED WHEN IT COMES TO TO SOLUTIONS THAT LACK EXPERIENCE AND COMMON SENSE!
REASON 1. THIS WOULD BLOCK THE OPENNESS AND RIVER VIEWS OF THE SAUGATUCK AND GIVE DOWNTOWN A MORE “MALL FEEL” UGH! . OPEN SPACE AND GREAT VIEW PLANES ARE PRICELESS!
Reason 2. THE DISRUPTION TO THE ALREADY LIMITED PARKING WHILE A NEW PARKING LOT LOWER AND BUILDING THE DECK WOULD DISRUPT CUSTOMER AND VISITORS IN THEIR ACCESS TO THE DOWNTOWN MERCHANTS FOR 6-8 MONTHS AND ALTERNATE PARKING DURING THIS CONSTRUCTION WOULD BE ALMOST NON-EXISTANT AND A NIGHTMAR4.5E FOR SHOPPERS, VISITORS ANX MERCH6ANTS!!
3. THE SIMPLE , MUCH LOWER COST AND NO DISRUPTION OF EXISTING PARKING AT PARKER HARDIGNG EXISTING PARKING.
MAKES THE NEW PARKING DECK AT THE ELM STREET LOT IS THE BEST SOLUTION WITH LOWER COST, QUICKER CONSTRUCTION TIME AND IF IT IS FINISHED FIRST IT WILL EASILY ELIMINATE A LOT OF PARKING SHORTAGES AS PARKER HARDING E ISTING LOT IS UNDERWAY.
COME ON WESTPORT, STOP THE “ROCKET SCIENCE” IDEAS THAT DELAY PROGRESS ON THIS ANCIENT PARKING PROBLEM..
QUIT BEATING THIS NECESSARY PARKING TO DEATH AND
“JUST GET’ER DONE” !!
I AM NOT A PARKING PLANNER EXPERT, BUT THE INPUT FROM COMMENTORS ON HERE SEEM TO INDICATE THAT WESTPORT APPEARS AS THOUGH WE HAVE A BUNCH OF THEM! ” A LITTLE BIT OF KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE IS A DANGEROUS THING”!
DANGER WILL ROBINSON, DANGER!
Mindless and insensitive to the town and its natural beauty. “It’s not like Westport needs to protect the view of the Saugatuck River from the back of Main Street’s retail buildings…” Yes, we don’t have to protect the view of the river from the back of Main Street’s retail buildings. We have to protect the view and beauty of the river so it can be enjoyed and appreciated by people. Just as Tooker wanted to pave over Jessup Green, this is a thoroughly thoughtless suggestion to give priority to a parking lot over what nature we have left in this town being increasingly over built and shopped. When Parker Harding was first designed, cars were parked right by the river until David Royce made the issue prominent and had that part redesigned.
Despite public opposition to a parking deck (where ever it may be), parking consultants saying we just need to manage parking better AND a community desire to have more access to the waterfront, a suggestion to put a parking deck on the waterfront. You can’t make this up!
To quickly recall the BFJ/THA study that came out in March 2025:
Downtown parking deck concepts were studied primarily for the Baldwin Lot
• A one-level deck would add about 100 new spaces
• That option would displace roughly 40 existing surface spaces
• Net gain would be approximately 60 spaces
• Estimated construction cost was about $4.9–$5.25 million
• Cost per net new parking space would be roughly $87,500
• These figures did not include additional site work or surface lot reconstruction
• A three-level precast garage option was also analyzed
• Each supported level would provide about 102 spaces
• Approximately 100 existing spaces would be displaced
• Net gain would be about 163 spaces
• Estimated construction cost was about $9.75–$10.2 million
• Cost per net new parking space would be roughly $63,000
• These estimates also excluded site work and certain infrastructure costs
• Consultants concluded parking demand could be addressed more cost-effectively through management tools (time limits, permits, turnover improvements) before investing in a deck
• High cost per net new space was a primary reason the town did not proceed with construction.
Or the short answer, No.
https://06880danwoog.com/2025/01/27/consultants-spread-parking-from-downtown-core-no-deck-right-now/amp/
I agree with Tim Manners comments above (I don’t know him by the way) but I’ve only been in Westport for a year but it seems a little crazy that the nicest land in town – the riverfront – is largely a parking lot. It is not free and would be a significant investment for the town but it would be a lifetime of dividends – build a large parking structure or two where there are current parking lots (not Parking Harding Plaza) and create a terrific riverfront park. Could add retail and restaurants too or just leave that for future years.
In theory Kevin, you are correct, that would be amazing.
The problem is where to replace 200 parking spots people will use.
And adding restaurants and retail on the river would be amazing but then that would mean adding more parking on top of the 200.
I love your idea, but practically speaking I just don’t know where we can find hundreds more parking spots.
Shoppers and visitors will not walk from distances like imperial. It has been tried. It failed.
But your vision is wonderful.
Ciara – When was it tried? Why did it fail?
I think our energy would be better spent on getting a Baldwin Parking deck! A Baldwin garage or deck would be mostly hidden from view and more important it would not obstruct the view of the Saugatuck River! (Parker Harding just needs a cleanup)
Dan,
I had a good laugh reading this piece this morning.
I wonder what the Gettysburg address would be have sounded like if President Lincoln used ChatGPT to write it, or what the Guggenheim Museum and Fallingwater would look like if Frank Lloyd Wright used ChatGPT to design those two iconic structures and finally, would our emotions be so overwhelming, would we be in complete awe standing in Florence, viewing Michelangelo’s David, if he had been created with a 3D printer?
Technocrats will continue to try to convince us the answers to all of life’s problems, along with the creation of all the world’s art, should be created using a computer. Humans survived the evolutionary process because of their ability to make tools. The computer is nothing more than a tool, it has its place in the world for sure.
However, after creating a design solution for a parking deck at Parker Harding, it’s unfortunate the computer is incapable of screaming out loud; “hey knucklehead, are you really thinking about giving up you prime waterfront real-estate to a parking deck? Who’s programming me, Robert Moses? ”
Parking structure at Parker Harding; I think not.
~ Joseph Vallone, A.I.A.
No serious city planner would suggest a parking deck on the waterfront. The writer completely misses the aesthetic point. The objective is not to protect the “view of the river from the back of the stores.” The point is that we are protecting the aesthetic feel of the whole town– the walk along the river, and the drive over the bridge and through town — from the eyesore of a parking deck. We should stick to considering a parking deck or underground parking at Baldwin.
I like the way ChatGPT appears to have paved over all of the buildings on the west side of Main Street.
Kristin makes an excellent point. To amplify on this, I believe the key to making our downtown a destination is access to the riverfront, which can only be achieved by having an ample pedestrian promenade along the river. If intelligently designed, this would not preclude parking at Parker Harding, though it would certainly reduce it. I also agree with Kristin that ample compensatory parking would be best achieved by decking part of the Baldwin lot. Merchants argue for having ample adjacent parking; well, the Baldwin lot is steps away from most of downtown and actually adjacent to some of it. In addition to objections Kristin raised regarding decking Parker-Harding, there would be the added problem of congestion caused by entry and exit of considerably more traffic from a narrow one-way street.
Fundamentally, Westporters must decide whether they want to make our downtown a more inviting, pedestrian-friendly destination or have it remain the shop and go or dine and go place it presently is. Really, how many of us feel inclined after a nice dinner in town to take a stroll along the river and maybe do a little shopping? I, and I believe most Westporters, favor a braver re-making of our downtown that truly restores connection to the riverfront.
The lot will only temporarily provide relief. Once the word gets out, gigantic SUVs will max out capacity and you’ll be circling the lot, just as you are now. Then what? A third deck?
The below quote at the end of this comment is from an article Dan wrote in November last. To expand on this, the use of landfill was brilliant. This project had one goal, to provide much needed parking.
It was expensive- the merchants at the time paid 80% of the cost.
Parking has been a challenge since the 1950’s. It is nothing new. But undoubtedly, we have the merchants back then to thank for building and paying the lions share for Parker Harding.
The changing over time of the downtown area has certainly put new pressure on the parking situation. Anybody living more than a mile from downtown, is unlikely to walk and instead has to drive. Population increases from the 1950’s.
Second and third floor retail has also added to parking pressures.
New construction such as Bedford square added parking pressure.
I am not sure what the solution is but I do know something must be done.
BFG was hired by the last administration with blessing of the RTM, to do one thing, and one thing only.
The money the RTM signed off on was to evaluate where amongst 3 locations would be most appropriate for a parking garage. Full stop. There was zero mention of them getting involved in parking management. That is not what the appropriation was for.
Their parking management “solutions” were Tookers and DPICS wish list, literally.
They are neither local, nor are they merchants. Their parking management solutions are asinine. They make no sense whatsoever, except to turn people off coming downtown.
In fact the DPIC committee appointed by the last administration has not come up with one single workable solution, years later.
Tax payers and ARPA funds have been squandered on designs and experts, designs that made no sense, and experts who did not understand Westport.
Excerpt from a piece written in November.
“There’s been plenty of talk lately about Parker Harding Plaza.
Should we add more green space next to the Saugatuck River? Or is keeping parking paramount?
Access to the river was an afterthought in the 1950s, when town official Emerson Parker and landscape architect Evan Harding devised a plan to use landfill to create a couple of hundred spots for shoppers, behind Main Street.
Up to then, the river lapped up against the backs of stores on the west side.
(Their sewage was dumped directly into the water — but that’s a different story.)
But Parker and Harding did provide access to the Saugatuck.”
There is NO Downtown Parking problem. There might be an inconvenience problem, but that isn’t a parking problem. There is no need for deck parking or parking garages
I have done my own informal survey for the last three years on Black Friday – “the busiest shopping day of the year.” And every year, the Town Hall parking lot with its 135 spaces is empty, the Senior Center Lot is empty, as well as the Parking garage at Wilton Road. There is an empty lot at Imperial as well. To get to the Downtown would require ‘WALKING’ 600 yards! Yikes!
If you need door-to-door service, call Wheels 2U.
Meanwhile, institute paid parking – let those who use it, pay for it. Commuters pay for railroad parking, beach goers pay for beach stickers, other towns charge for parking.
The goal of Downtown parking should be increased turnover through short term, hourly parking. We need 2-hour spaces that turnover for shoppers, and long term parking permits for those who work in the Downtown. Baldwin has been re-furbished. Parker Harding needs to be ADA and Fire Code compliant. Jesup Green needs to be re-paved and re-lined without destroying any trees.
Put in the parking meters or walk. We have more pressing capital projects.
There is a catastrophic parking problem in the downtown.
The businesses in the downtown do informal surveys daily fielding persistent and honest complaints from patrons who want to be able to both eat and shop.
Turnover of parking makes no sense whatsoever in a downtown filled with restaurants and shops. Turnover is the enemy of retail.
Residents and visitors who come downtown more often than not want to eat and shop. That cannot be done in 2 hours.
Town halls parking lot is basically full from early morning Monday to Friday. The senior centre needs all its parking.
The imperial dirt lot is not a parking lot. It never got the permits required.
The fact that they blacktopped and striped it was just a flagrant disregard for zoning regulations.
It is an illegal parking lot.
It is also a 17 minute walk from imperial to the Main Street and elm street part of town.
It also has the popular farmers market on a Thursday which means there is no parking there. Or are you suggesting they move ?
Thought should have been given to parking 12 years ago when Bedford square was being built and when elm and church were redeveloped.
Thought should have been given to parking when second and third floor retail was being approved.
This puts added pressure on parking. And not insignificant.
And I’m not disagreeing with those situations merely pointing out it all adds pressure.
The merchants should have been consulted before Tooker and her DPIC committee lost the run of themselves and determined that any of their solutions worked.
Bottom line in the 1950’s merchants out of desperation paid 80% of the cost to landfill Parker Harding.
Like it or not it was constructed out of a need for parking
Other than practically zero maintenance over the last 12 years, which has left it looking shabby to say the least, and a lack of ADA ( which we all agree on) it functions incredibly well.
Far far better than the plan which lost 48 spots, shrank spots, made rows of cars perpendicular, added 80% small car spots, and the list goes on. An accident waiting to happen.
Ask shoppers at Trader Joe’s about that nightmare parking.
I agree on more pressing town projects than possibly a parking garage. So let’s get on with them.
So it would seem, the short term solution is to add ADA TO Parker Harding and to fill in the pot holes.
And wait until there aren’t such urgent other expensive projects which are surely a priority.
Let’s get all the new merchants open, let’s get Felice, and yuzu, and the deli that was rye ridge open. Between those 3 it’s a capacity of over 300 people. At lunch time that could be 300 more cars.
Let’s see how parking looks when Main Street is at capacity once more.
Only then will we really learn just how dire the situation is.
Meanwhile let’s try to come up with some fair and respectful potential solutions, which won’t bankrupt the downtown businesses, or run them out of town.
I think much of the discussion regarding parking and our downtown, and why it’s been so frustrating, are due to putting the cart before horse. I do believe we need to first decide as a town whether we basically want to maintain the status quo with marginal improvement or try something bolder that makes our downtown a destination by virtue of an attractive riverfront promenade or esplanade of some kind. It will be the kind of downtown we want that should drive the parking solutions. And it seems we have not collectively decided that yet.
As I have mentioned before, I am not in favor of a parking garage. I hope this administration does not try and go down that road.
A lot of great civil comments above. We will never satisfy everyone.
One thing the Board of Selectman should do IMMEDIATELY is remove all those EV designated parking spaces. There is no reason why these EV vehicles should get “special treatment.”
The Democratic Majority who have run the state for the past 25 plus years have already given them a tax break, isn’t that enough?
These spaces should be open to the public. The new joke is all the EV “pretending to charge” as new signs say “for charging vehicles only.” Charge the toy at home!
Enough of this elitist privilege parking perks.
There should be a few more handicap spots behind Starbucks. Same road structure downtown from 110 years ago when horse and wagons traveled the streets. Dan posted a picture once of a horse drinking water out of a water trough in 1919 on the corner of Main Street and the Post Road.