Biddeford city officials are concerned a lack of parking spaces downtown is costing jobs and putting the community’s revitalization at risk.
The Portland Press Herald reported that city officials are looking at locations and designs of a downtown parking garage to address that problem.
“To maximize development and stabilize taxes, we have to have the parking infrastructure downtown,” Mayor Alan Casavant told the newspaper.
Biddeford’s revitalization has been charged up by major institutions like Southern Maine Health Care and the University of New England — significant magnets of employment — and the redevelopment of Biddeford’s Mill District, which become an incubator of new enterprise and innovation.
A major initiative to attract new business was the city’s purchase of Maine Energy Recovery Company’s municipal waste incinerator, opening the door to new business investment. At the center of revitalization efforts is a volunteer group called the Heart of Biddeford, which in recent years also identified downtown parking as a challenge.