Parking Deck Placement Is No Easy Task BY HARRY JOHNSTON
drive through the deck. We might be able to adjust the File this one under, “Nothing is easy.” plan to retain an open-air driveway, but that creates other The county needs to expand the Justice Center in negatives, and it doesn’t solve the other issues. downtown Canton. It was built a little more than 25 In the face of growing opposition, the county has years ago, to meet the space needs of the courts. Now, it’s put the plans on hold, to consider all available options. bursting at the seams. We’ve convened a committee of interested parties to help, The expansion will take up space currently used for including the city of Canton. parking, which already is inadequate. So, the We potentially could shift the deck partly first step is to expand the parking. For years, ... we thought onto a privately owned parking lot to the west. we thought we could add a big parking deck that property isn’t for sale, and would be on county-owned property behind the current we could add But, very difficult to acquire. Also, it would help only small deck, which then would be torn down, a little. to allow for expansion of the building. But, the a big parking A more viable option could be to purchase architects hired to evaluate the site and lay out deck on an adjacent piece of property, where a small the new plan told us that wouldn’t work. The county-owned apartment complex is located, and put deep ravine and stream on the property make the deck there. That site would function it virtually impossible to use, adding millions property. acceptably, and the overall cost would be of dollars to the cost. And, putting the parking moderately higher than the proposed site. in the back of the complex is contrary to the However, the city of Canton expressed concerns with goal of improving court security by routing everyone into that option, partly because it would displace residents the building though a single secured main entrance. and eliminate a block of affordable housing. Solutions to The architects’ plan is to put a large deck on the current resolve those concerns are being explored. That site also parking lot behind the historic courthouse, which is wouldn’t solve all the problems, but it might end up being the best-functioning solution for the courts. We began the best available option, so stay tuned. showing people that plan in January. Since then, there’s As always, I’m interested in your thoughts about this and been growing opposition to it. Advocates for historic other county issues. Email me at hjohnston@cherokeega.com. preservation and Canton’s visual appeal see it as detracting from the beauty of the downtown square and, especially, the courthouse. Advocates for the historic cemetery behind the proposed site object to the deck towering over the Harry Johnston is chairman of the Cherokee cemetery, and cutting it off from the square, visually and County Board of Commissioners. He's a retired CPA and accounting manager, and a former physically. To make the deck fit on the site, it’s designed district commissioner. so that all vehicular traffic to the cemetery would have to
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TOWNELAKER | October 2021
