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Shared parking OK'd
Commissioners approve Kirkorian project by narrow margin
By Steven Raphael
Despite concerns about parking, Kirkwood Plaza will soon feature a new two-story, mixed-use building near the corner of W. Campbell Avenue and San Tomas Aquino Road. The building is expected to be completed by the end of 2001.
The bottom floor has already been leased to Avery's, a retail store now located on Stevens Creek Boulevard. The top floor will contain about 30,000 square feet of office space. It has not yet been leased.
"We knew parking was going to be an issue," said John Kirkorian of Kirkorian Enterprises, the company behind the development.
The number of parking spaces required by the city for the development is 228. However, only 166 spaces will be available, leaving a deficit of 62 spaces.
It's not unusual for shopping centers to have less parking than would be required for all the stores individually. Because customers can visit multiple stores without moving their car, fewer spaces are needed.
Kirkwood Plaza already has a parking deficit of 180 spaces. The new development will raise that deficit to 235 spaces.
In a letter to the city, Kirkorian said that the actual demand would be significantly less than the city's requirement. Due to a difference in peak hours of usage between the offices, restaurants and stores, he said that the amount of parking available would actually be in excess of the demand.
"The majority of the office tenants would be going home and stores will be closing down while the restaurants are just opening up," he explained.
Using customer counts performed by neighboring businesses, Kirkorian determined the actual parking demand at 5 p.m., which is one of the busiest hours of the day, would only be 574 spaces. That amount is nearly 250 spaces less than parking demand based on an individual store count--and a surplus of 45 spaces.
Kirkorian presented these findings to the planning commission on Aug. 22. He asked that the project be allowed to continue.
While the commission did eventually approve Kirkorian's request, there was much opposition to the proposal, which was approved by a 4-3 vote.
Voting against the plan, Commissioner Dennis Lowe said that he liked the project, but felt that the parking shortage was simply too severe.
"Mixed-use is the right thing to do if you have the available parking," he said. "I don't think we do."
Lowe questioned the accuracy of the shared parking concept, stating that, since Kirkwood Plaza is so long, customers will not be likely to walk between stores located on opposite ends of the center. Instead, he said, they will probably drive from one end to another. He said the result may be a severe shortage of parking.
"Can you imagine 50 cars running around that parking lot?" he said. "I just can't see causing the citizens of Campbell any more trouble with parking."
Commissioners Joseph Hernandez and Brad Jones also voted against the proposal.
But, Kirkorian said that, while it is true that people may not walk from one end of the center to the other, people will walk from the office building to nearby restaurants for lunch.
Commissioner Mel Lindstrom voted in favor of the development. "The formula the city uses is just a formula, and in real usage, they still have room," he said.
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Campbell, California
