After a number of business owners complained about the parking shortage in downtown Binghamton, city officials postponed the decision to allow students in a proposed student housing project the ability to use a municipal parking garage. On Tuesday, officials held a two-hour hearing at City Hall, where the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals listened to arguments about a proposal to expand the 20 Hawley Street apartment complex, a proposal that includes a request to have tenant parking at the city-owned Collier Street garage. The Hawley Street project has room for about 200 students to live, but parking is a concern, as area businesses and government officials have said that the shortage of parking spaces in the city is hurting Binghamton’s economic development potential. Several business owners are calling on the city to address long-term repairs needed at Binghamton’s three municipal parking garages downtown on Collier, State, and Water Streets, each of which are over forty years old.
