Fee in lieu of parking vote -- TONIGHT!

Local sustainable transportation activists are making noise about tonight's Portland City Council meeting, which takes place at 7 pm at City Hall. Fees in lieu of parking, which are described eloquently here and here, basically encourage developers to opt out of the city's parking requirements (which require builders to provide a certain amount of parking spaces depending on the building's size and use) and pay a $10,000 fee instead. The fee would go toward a proposed "Sustainable Transportation Fund;" money from that account could hypothetically go toward anything from new, cleaner buses to new transit or bike/ped infrastructure (but not for paving roads). The Maine Alliance for Sustainable Transportation, which I wrote about earlier this year, supports the measure.