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Mountain View is planning to construct a multi-level parking garage for downtown businesses, residents and visitors to make up for the loss of hundreds of public parking spots in the city.
In a unanimous vote, the City Council approved a $9.5-million appropriation last month to fund consulting services and concept designs for a new garage at Lot 5 on Hope Street, a few blocks from the Mountain View Transit Center. The item was part of the council’s May 26 consent agenda, which is a collection of routine items meant to be approved in a single vote.
This brings the total funding for the project up to $10.5 million, according to the city staff report. The garage will help address a projected parking deficit of 400-700 spaces in the downtown area.
Five years ago, Mountain View selected Lot 5 – a surface parking lot with 94 vehicle spaces at 231 Hope St. – for a five-level garage. The project was expected to create 400 parking spots, but did not get off the ground.
The May 26 report attributed this to limited staff capacity, as well as to the uncertainty of a hotel and office project planned for Lots 4 and 8, across from the transit center. In March, the city and RGC Mountain View, the project’s developer, updated a ground lease agreement so that Lot 4 would move forward as a hotel but without on-site parking. RGC will pay the city $6.6 million to go towards the cost of the new garage at Lot 5 instead.
City staff also attributed the loss of downtown parking spots to the development of Lot 12 into an affordable apartment complex at 444 Bryant St., across from Mountain View’s City Hall. The Lot 5 garage will provide enough parking to replace Lots 12 and 4, according to the staff report.
This fall, the city plans to prepare concept designs for the Lot 5 garage, after selecting a consulting team. Next spring, the city will conduct public outreach to gather community input about the project, the staff report said.
While $10.5 million will cover the environmental review and design phase of the project, more funding is needed to construct the garage, according to the staff report. The report did not provide a timeline for when construction would begin or the total estimated cost of the new garage.
This garage will be good and will be needed.
Any new condos or apartments will need the parking spaces as they will be within 1/2 mile of public transportation.
If the building is within 1/2 mile of public transport only 1/2 parking space per apartment or condo is required.
Most people have 1 car each.