The lot was purchased in April 2004 by Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, which owns the building adjacent to it at 1746 The Alameda.

Pending approval from the San Jose Planning Department, the lot will become an extension of the existing parking lot behind the building, which straddles The Alameda between Taylor and Asbury streets.

It will add 28 parking spaces to the existing lot.

Paul Nielsen, architect and project manager, presented plans for the expanded lot at the Jan. 20 meeting of the College Park Neighborhood Association board.

According to minutes of that meeting, his presentation proposal included:

"Along the Taylor Street side there will be landscaping and trees with perimeter fencing of wrought iron and concrete posts. More trees and landscaping are planned for the other sides of the lot, and a covered trellis over a picnic area for employees will be located nearest the corner of Taylor and The Alameda. A gate leading from the lot to the Taylor Street sidewalk will be locked 24/7."

Additionally, Nielsen's proposal included the acknowledgement that "adjacent property owners have requested a masonry wall along their border to the property; Planned Parenthood is looking into the costs of that or concrete form fencing."

However, when Planned Parenthood CFO John Giambruno reviewed the minutes, including perimeter fencing and a wall along neighbors' property bordering the lot, he removed those items. He also removed the proposed picnic area for employees.

"We have a budget and it doesn't cover those items," says Gayle Tiller, public affairs director for Planned Parenthood.

Entrance to the lot will be on the Asbury side only, with no driveway access on the Taylor Street side. There will be trees and some landscaping, but no fence.

New 8-foot-tall lights will be installed in the lot, the standard height for lots that are adjacent to residential property.

At the Feb. 3 meeting of the College Park Neighborhood Association, action was postponed pending an updated proposal reflecting the actual design Planned Parenthood intends to build.

Judy McDowell, the association vice president, says, "It was friendly meeting. Planned Parenthood had a bad case of sticker shock when they received the bids for the parking lot as originally planned and decided they need to scale back."

Marlene Morton, who owns the home adjacent to the current lot and sold the triangular plot behind her home that will become the new extended parking lot, says she and other neighbors were "disappointed" with the changes made between the Jan. 20 presentation to the board and the association meeting 14 days later.

"It sounded wonderful, we were all happy with the plans," Morton says of the initial presentation. "I understand budget constraints and they can't do everything to please everybody, but the wall is my main concern."

Morton is pleased with the wall on the side of her home, which Planned Parenthood put up several years ago.

"It's nice looking and this is what we were told they would do behind. I'm not bothered at all on the side. We want the fence in back for privacy and the noise," Morton says.

Currently, Morton says she has a wooden fence in back, "but I wouldn't feel protected with a wooden fence."

The association hopes that once Planned Parenthood finalizes plans that meet the budget that it will present them for review at a future meeting.

Planned Parenthood Mar Monte is the largest affiliate of Planned Parenthood in the United States. It provides education and medical services to more than 300,000 people at 34 clinic locations in California and Nevada.

In addition to the building at 1746 The Alameda, the affiliate also owns the building diagonally across the street at 1691 The Alameda. That building, which is also a clinic, is undergoing an exterior renovation that is expected to be completed later this year.

The staff speaks eight languages in addition to American Sign Language and offers both reproductive and general health care services.