Senators and staff have outgrown the parking areas in front of and behind the Senate building on St. Thomas and the Legislature is now leasing 12 spaces every day in the Fort Christian parking lot across the street.
Neither Senate President Vargrave Richards nor Finance Committee Chair Lorraine Berry returned telephone calls seeking comment on the issue.
St. Thomas businessman Vinnie Mohanani wrote Berry to complain.
Between all the spaces for Manno's restaurant and those for various government agencies, Mohanani said the lot is shrinking.
"You can't get a space in the lot after 9:30 in the morning," he said. "I have a very hard time getting any work done (away from his store) during the day." If he leaves to clear a shipment through Customs, for instance, he can't find a space when he returns.
Public Works Commissioner Harold Thompson Jr. could not be reached Wednesday for comment. But the man who supervises the lot, John Desuit, doesn't see the problem.
"The (Legislature's) spots are being paid for," he said, unlike other sections carved out by other agencies. "Police don't pay for their spaces. Territorial Court do not pay for their spaces."
He added, "It's not a government parking lot. It's a parking lot run by the government, and everybody should pay" – including private individuals who try to sneak out free.
The Legislature is paying $5 a day to reserve each of the 12 spaces, Desuit said, and already has given the department a check for $960.
At $60 a day, five days a week, the annual cost to the Legislature works out to $15,600.
