From the Fayetteville Observer (7/5/09): A group of city, county and chamber officials met last week to talk about an idea that has been kicked around for years with no progress: building a parking deck in downtown Fayetteville.
Only the group didn’t want any members of the media present.
Doug Peters, president of the Fayetteville-Cumberland County Chamber of Commerce, said the downtown parking committee was organized by the chamber, which is a private organization not subject to the state’s Open Meetings Law.
A reporter who tried to attend the meeting in the chamber’s offices downtown was asked to leave.
“None of us have anything to hide,” Peters said. “We just don’t have anything to openly discuss yet.”
The people in the room, in addition to Peters, were: Mayor Tony Chavonne, Mayor Pro Tem Wesley Meredith, Councilman Keith Bates, county Commissioner Marshall Faircloth and PWC board member Mike Lallier. Also present were City Manager Dale Iman, County Manager James Martin and a Downtown Alliance representative.
According to interviews after the meeting, the group has no pending or imminent proposal to build a deck.
“Nothing definite is going on,” Faircloth said. “We’re still in the finding out process.”
A multimillion dollar project like a deck would require private and public investment and cooperation from the Board of Commissioners. The urgency of a deck as the downtown continues to redevelop and attract more people comes mostly from city officials.
The chamber has paid for studies in the last couple of years evaluating the need for a parking deck and suggesting locations.
Fayetteville Observer Staff Report