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You have to dig deep to get to the bottom of the discord between some Mason City Council members, the Downtown Mason Association and the Northeast Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce.

A year-and-a-half ago, when downtown construction plans were being finalized, the DMA and the chamber promised they would work with the businesses on Main Street so the numerous curb cuts could be mostly eliminated, to allow for on-street parking.

This shared parking arrangement involves communal use of the lots behind the businesses on the south side of the street. Chet Mastalerz said he believes they might be getting close to brokering a deal, but it isn't done yet.

As a result, the street will be paved and striped next week, with only three spaces available on the south side, near Fifth-Third Bank.

"The business owners on the south side have not been able to get together and do what they promised," said council member Don Prince. "The DMA and everyone always knew parking on the south side was dependent on the business owners working together and opening up their rear parking lots to each other."

If an agreement can be reached, Mason Service Director Richard Fair estimated it would cost about $10,000 per driveway — there are four in the area in question — to close off curb cuts and install parking spaces.

Every idea that has been introduced, such as a right turn-only requirement out of driveways on Main Street, has been shot down, said councilman Victor Kidd, also a downtown business owner.

"We have to see some more openness. The one business I asked about right-in, right-out only, the direct quote was, 'That doesn't help me'," he said. "Well, it doesn't hurt you, but it helps the entire downtown. We have to get away from this 'just me and my situation' attitude."

Kidd said he had hoped city council would get the ball rolling on a goodwill mission by agreeing to a land swap deal that would have opened up nine spaces behind the chamber building. The majority of council said this week it wasn't interested in the idea.

Councilman Tony Bradburn said he opposed the idea because it would not be proper for the city to just hand over taxpayer land. Vice Mayor Pete Beck said he doesn't think it's a dead deal, it's just in limbo. Some of the council also said the land swap and the south side parking are mutually exclusive issues.

Mastalerz and Harris however, said the land swap could have been the touchstone for opening up the other parking. Mastalerz also said the DMA and chamber were never given a timeline for reaching an accord on shared parking.

Councilman Todd Wurzbacher said his decision was colored somewhat by what he perceives to be a damaged relationship with the chamber. The chamber has publicly disagreed with the city on an admissions tax and now the parking has become an issue.

Harris said he's not trying to antagonize anyone.

"We have always worked cooperatively with the city on matters of common interest and will continue to do so," he said. "However, when the interests of our members are in conflict with the direction of a city initiative, we will advocate for our members. This advocacy does not indicate we wish to have an adversarial relationship with the city. We expect the council members to draw this obvious distinction."