Photograph by Scott Cookson
Scott Baker, director of Building and Engineering Services, prepares for July 15 public hearing.
By Clarence Cromwell
Proposed expansion downtown may force Los Gatos to charge parking fees that have been discussed for years, although town officials say they prefer not to.
About 16 years ago, the town forgave merchants their parking shortages in exchange for the parking district fees they paid. Now the merchants have license to draw as many customers as they have parking-district spaces, although a downtown parking space shortage still exists and is growing.
The parking district fees were part of a plan the town adopted but didn't finish. The plan started four new parking districts to charge property owners and shoppers for parking-lot construction. Downtown property owners paid parking-district fees based on the number of spaces their property needed but lacked. The town sold about 3,500 spaces.
With that money, the town built parking lots three, four, nine and 15, which alleviated the parking shortage with their 482 spaces. Town officials say they don't actually need to build the 3,500 spaces they used to calculate parking-district fees because one large downtown lot can serve many businesses more efficiently, thereby using less spaces.
Unlike previous parking strategies, the current plan includes charges to downtown shoppers for parking that could bring enough money for two more parking garages. When the town built its first four public lots in the 1960s, it charged only the downtown property owners.
Elected officials balked at parking fees because of a dip in the local economy that followed the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. Before he completed lot four, Scott Baker, the town's director of building and engineering services, received a request from the council to cancel plans for parking meters on the lot. The council feared the meters would scare away potential shoppers.
The downtown area still doesn't have enough parking spaces. Although officials don't want to make shoppers pay for the lots, the budget-beaten town lacks money to pay for the $4 million parking garage Baker proposes, and it already absolved landowners of responsibility for the crunch.
Town Council members said in April that they'd be reluctant to try out the parking fees unless the community supports them at a July 15 hearing.
Despite the parking plan, some current council and Planning Commission members would rather squeeze businesses than ask for money from those using the parking. Members of the Town Council and Planning Commission have said they want to approve or deny future projects based on the number of real parking spaces the property owner can supply, without regard to the "phantom spaces" landowners bought from their parking districts.
They may clash with the owners of numerous parking district spaces who want to cash in their chips and expand or build shopping centers, which, in turn, would create a greater demand for parking.
One of those is a large commercial and residential development along Main Street, proposed by Diane Ogilvie, that would put a commercial building with a hotel and shops and 13 condos on the 1.9-acre property near Town Hall.
Ogilvie owns 65 parking district spaces and can supply 48 spaces on her property. She's still making payments on a bill of more than $42,000 for the spaces.
Planning Commissioner Sandy Decker opposed the project partly because the property didn't have enough real parking spaces within its boundaries.
"The point is, it's going to be a problem, but she's paid her dues," Commissioner Sandy Decker said of the project.
The same issue arose when the Planning Commission discussed Old Town shopping center, where owners want to add a 30,550-square-foot building on top of a sunken University Avenue parking lot. Although downtown parking lots are sometimes congested, Old Town plans to use its 463 phantom spaces to meet town parking requirements.
Old Town's environmental impact report showed that the move will make parking conditions tight. It will more than double the number of cars seeking a parking space near Old Town, and it will force all of them to compete for space in downtown lots. The center requires 254 spaces now, and zoning-code parking formulas will require the renovated shopping center to supply 653 spaces after the expansion is completed.
Old Town has 199 parking spaces on its property.
The shortage is further demonstrated by a 1995 study of downtown parking. The study details a 457-space parking shortage at Old Town that could grow to 722 spaces if the property were developed to the maximum density allowed.
Officials expect construction work at Old Town to temporarily cause parking difficulties as well, unless they find an alternative parking lot nearby. The 104-space lot to be covered by the new stores won't be open during construction; the lot now is used frequently by customers of other downtown shops.
The parking plan goes to the Town Council July 15.
If the plan passes, those who park downtown will have to pay 35 cents per half hour, with the first 30 minutes free. The money would go to building at least one new parking structure and restriping some parking lots. It would add 180 new spaces downtown. There likely would be a "trial run" on parking fees after the holidays before fees would be adopted.
Baker said the town actually needs two garages, but he doubts the council would approve more than one.
The parking fees would additionally help the town control where shoppers and downtown employees park, by charging lower rates for long-term parking and employee parking. The parking fees would also eliminate time limits and parking enforcement in town lots.
The Town Council holds its first public hearing on the proposed parking plan July 15 at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers, 110 E. Main St. For staff reports, call the Building and Engineering secretary, 354-6876. There is a small fee to cover town printing costs. Staff reports on council agenda items are available to read in the town library.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, July 10, 1996.
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