Planters in front of downtown KeyBank building to stay for now

Jonathon Wheeler, Watertown Daily Times, N.Y.
·2 min read

Jul. 18—WATERTOWN — The downtown planters are here to stay, for now.

Watertown City Council decided to keep the planters in front of the KeyBank building for the time being after initially deciding to have them removed at the expense of the property owners.

City Council had decided to take them out after hearing complaints from building owners Jake Johnson and Robert D. Ferris. They said that every parking space is needed downtown.

The council on Monday tabled the resolution that called for a design for the removal of the planters.

For now, there will be parallel parking available.

Councilwoman Sarah V. Compo Pierce said she has heard from members of the community who say they are upset that they would be taking out the planters.

"I think it's really a no-win situation we're in," she said.

Compo Pierce said it would have been her choice to not have the planters there, but since they are already there it makes more sense to put a pause on the project and see if there are any issues.

No new design work had started.

Compo Pierce said she is hoping there is a place they can meet in the middle with Ferris and Johnson.

"Maybe that place that is in the middle is, 'let's wait and see how it goes since it's already there,'" she said.

Councilwoman Lisa A. Ruggiero said she has heard from people on both sides of the argument.

"This is one of those issues that you're not going to make everybody happy," Mayor Jeffery M. Smith said.

The mayor added that there was initial concern about parking in the red walking area in front of the former Wing Wagon restaurant, but said that losing the parking spaces didn't hurt the businesses. "At the end of the day, if you take these two spots and instead of being parallel you make them diagonal, you're gaining one spot, delaying the project, it's going to be forty plus thousand dollars," he said.

The resolution was unanimously tabled by Compo Pierce, Ruggiero, Smith and Councilman Clifford G. Olney III. Councilman Patrick J. Hickey was absent from the meeting.