BIDDEFORD — What started as a request that the public be allowed to weigh in on whether to use city money to pay for a parking garage could end up as a referendum on parking meters in the downtown.

Earlier this year, the city council discussed the issue of building a parking garage in the mill district and/or downtown.

During the discussions, Mayor Alan Casavant said he believes a parking garage is needed in order to further economic development in the city center. However, he said he would not support paying for a parking structure using property tax revenue.

Among the funding sources discussed were money from a Tax Increment Financing, or TIF, district, that could be used to pay for infrastructure improvements. This fund is made up of revenue from increased values of properties within a specified district.

Another funding source that was discussed was from parking meters that could be placed along Biddeford’s downtown streets.

One of the areas under consideration for a parking structure is the Pepperell Mill Campus, owned by developer and Biddeford resident Doug Sanford.

Resident Paul Therrien said he thinks the public should be consulted before city funds are used to back a private/public partnership to pay for a proposed parking garage in the mill district.

Therrien said he recognizes that officials claim property taxes would not be used to pay for a parking structure. However, he said, TIF funds are also city funds, and the public should be consulted on whether they want to use that money for a garage.

“This is big,” said Therrien. “When it comes to big issues, you’ve got to go to the public.”

So one way he thought the public could weigh in on the issues, said Therrien, was to put a referendum question on parking meters on the ballot next year.

On Nov. 20, the City Clerk’s Office certified 2,218 signatures, more than the 2,063 required, for the citizen’s petition asking: “Shall the City of Biddeford install parking meters in the greater downtown Biddeford area?”

According to City Clerk Carmen Morris, it will be the city council’s decision as to whether to put the question on the ballot. She said council members can decide whether to amend the question, whether to place it on the June or November ballot, or they could decide to not put the question to a vote at all.

Not all agree that a decision on installing parking meters should be up to the voters right now.

“It’s too premature,” said Economic Development Director Daniel Stevenson.

He has been working with consultants hired by the city to create a parking plan for the entire downtown and mill district, said Stevenson, with the parking garage being just one piece of the puzzle.

Parking meters could be useful for downtown business even without using the revenue for a parking structure, said Stevenson. Many who live and/or work in the downtown use prime parking spots all day, he said, taking the spots away from potential customers, which is not good for downtown businesses.

In addition, said Stevenson, “There’s no such thing as free parking.”

Currently, he said taxpayers bear the cost of the upkeep of downtown parking spots with street plowing, cleaning and repair.

Casavant said he thinks the parking meter question is “putting the cart before the horse.”

It’s an “emotional” question, he said, and if it passes, it would tie the hands of the council about how to fund a parking garage if they decide they’d like to move forward such a proposal.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.