Sep. 4--The transaction usually is one of relative simplicity.

You pay someone for a monthly parking lease. In return, they allow you to leave your vehicle in the appropriate lot or garage for extended periods -- typically until you decide to return.

At the end of the month, repeat.

This process is extremely difficult to complicate. But the impending Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh has managed to do just that.

When the international economic conference convenes in three weeks at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center, expect nearby parking lots and garages to close for security reasons.

As for which ones, specifically, no one has told Merrill Stabile. He's the president of Alco Parking Corp., the city's largest private parking provider.

"We just don't know," Stabile said. "So other than the convention center garage, obviously, we're going into this with the idea that all of our Downtown facilities will remain open -- until some man in a dark suit comes up to us and says we're not allowed to remain open."

The only certainty at the moment is that the several hundred convention center leaseholders are guaranteed to be left in the lurch.

They have paid the usual $220 per month to park in the center garage. But should their vehicles begin to approach the place during summit week, they likely will encounter increasingly threatening signs proclaiming "FACILITY CLOSED," "KEEP OUT, PUNK -- WE MEAN IT" and "TURN BACK IMMEDIATELY OR FACE THE WRATH OF THE ROCKET LAUNCHERS."

Stabile could attempt to accommodate convention center leaseholders in other Alco lots or garages. Problem is, he doesn't know which ones will be permitted to stay open.

"I don't want to tell people they can park in another facility that also may be shut down," he said.

You might assume, then, that Alco would consider refunding or crediting those who paid for guaranteed parking in a garage guaranteed to be closed during the summit.

You would assume incorrectly.

"That fact that we will be closed is beyond our control," Stabile said. "And we're still going to be obligated to pay our employees and utility costs."

Whether the Pittsburgh Parking Authority will attempt to assist any leaseholders displaced during the summit is unknown. Authority Executive Director David Onorato did not return calls this week.

But a statement about the G-20 posted on the authority's Web site offers a clue.

"Pleased say tuned for information regarding street and garage closures, and traffic restrictions, leading up to the G-20," it says. "The authority strongly encourages its individual and business parking patrons to plan ahead."

Translated from Bureaucratese -- a language in which many words are used to say little -- that means: "Good luck, folks. You're on your own."

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