Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Preliminary study of parking garage sites and funding approved by Town

Consultant will prepare a report on two possible sites

Will town be seeing spots?

By Jeff Kearns

For many downtown business owners, the idea of a new parking garage has been sitting on the distant horizon for quite some time, shimmering like a mirage. Now, it seems, the garage may be become reality.

The town took its first tentative steps toward building a new garage last week, as councilmembers decided to hire a consultant to prepare a feasibility study. The study should be completed in about five months--but the earliest anyone will find themselves fighting for a spot in the cool splendor of a new poured-concrete structure would be about two years from now.

After being kicked around for a couple years, the garage idea surfaced at the Feb. 17 council meeting, when the council discussed the $1.3 million budget surplus in the 1997-98 midyear budget report. Councilmembers again discussed the budget and the garage at a Feb. 21 goal-setting workshop and decided to consider using some funds for parking improvements downtown.

Lot 13, which is off W. Main Street on the west side of N. Santa Cruz Avenue, is the most likely spot for the new garage. The study will evaluate designs with as many as two levels above ground and three levels underground. Lot 2, which runs behind businesses on the east side of N. Santa Cruz Avenue between Bachman Avenue and Royce Street, will also be studied as a potential site. For this lot, the study will look at building a garage similar to the one on Lot 4, with one floor at ground level and one or two underground.

The study, which will be prepared by an outside consultant for about $40,000, will analyze construction costs, the number of spaces and cost-per-space ratio.

The price tag for the garage is estimated at $3.5 million. Funding will come from several sources in the town's budget. About $1 million worth of Redevelopment Agency funds are available, as well as $800,000 in parking remediation funds left over from a lawsuit involving a toxic cleanup done during the construction on Lot 4.

Additionally, the town may sell a parcel of land near Los Gatos-Saratoga Road and Los Gatos Boulevard, which could fetch $180,000. The town also anticipates raising $400,000 in contributions from downtown businesses eager to see the garage built.

Discussions on forming a more solid funding plan will likely be held in the late summer and early fall.

Councilmember Jan Hutchins warned that the council shouldn't stumble over itself to spend the money. "I want to caution against looking at the $3.5 million as realistic," he said. "It's very optimistic to think the private sector would be able to respond with $400,000."

Hutchins said $100,000 was a more realistic expectation, and added that he would not favor raiding the reserve for economic uncertainty or the reserve for street improvements.

"There are other expenses, and the town has profound needs for infrastructure."

Town Manager David Knapp said that most of what people would consider extra money would be the $770,000 raised by sales tax and hotel tax. "It's one time only, because the economy is so strong right now," he said.

The council decided to put $350,000 into street repair, which will be replaced by the same amount from next year's budget. Knapp plans to use the money to start pending street repairs and taking bids from contractors. "We're trying to get the jump on other municipalities for next year," he said.

A final report, including funding alternatives and public comments on the alternatives, will be submitted to the Town Council sometime in August.

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