Pittsburgh residents and business representatives say Mayor Luke Ravenstahl's plan to lease the city's parking assets as a way to preserve the municipal pension system could drive away business.

"It makes sense to me, economically, as a way to deal with the pension problem, but I'm concerned with the longterm impact on business," said John Canning of the North Side. "I don't know the solution, but I know the pattern."

Ravenstahl led the first of three public meetings Wednesday night at the Northside Senior Center in Allegheny Square to try to get residents on-board with his plan to lease 12 Downtown garages and nearly 9,000 parking spaces citywide to a private company for 50 years. About a half-dozen residents attended.

Restaurant owners in Bloomfield fear extending the time people must feed on-street parking meters from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. would drive away their prime-time customers, said Ben Forman, president of the Bloomfield Business Association and Bloomfield Development Corporation.

"Their concern is that their evening business will drop off because people can drive out to the suburbs and park for free. That's the mentality," he said.

Under the mayor's proposal, parking rates throughout the city would skyrocket over the next five years. Hourly rates at Downtown meters would increase from $2 to $4.50 by 2015. Hourly rates in parts of Oakland would increase from 50 cents to $3 by 2015.

Ravenstahl hopes to plunk a one-time lump sum of $200 million into the pension system and erase roughly $105 million in Parking Authority debt with the money received in the deal. The pension funds have about one-third of the $1 billion needed to cover obligations and must reach the 50 percent threshold by the end of the year to avoid state takeover.

John Graf, owner of The Priory hotel on the North Shore, called the deal a Band-Aid approach.

"Once those assets are gone, they're gone. I just wonder if there's not a better solution," he said.

A majority of City Council members said they want more information before deciding if they'll support Ravenstahl's plan or the other proposals on the table to help the ailing pension system. City Council last month commissioned a $250,000 study to analyze the options.

"We certainly want to have the study come back, hold public meetings, talk with local businesses and residents and gather as much information as we can," said Councilman Bruce Kraus. "It's way too early in this process to say I've made a decision."

If taken over by the state, Ravenstahl said the city would be forced to pay $30 million more per year toward the pension fund, resulting in potential major tax increases or service cuts.

Ravenstahl plans to host another meeting on July 21 at St. Mark's Evangelical Lutheran Church in Brookline, and on July 28 at the Greenfield Senior Center. The meetings begin at 6 p.m.

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