|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Most of a downtown Mountain View parking lot is set to close for more than five years as the city begins construction on its new police and fire headquarters, an over $200 million project that has been in the works for years.
Last month, the City Council unanimously approved the closure of Lot 11, which sits at the corner of Villa and Franklin streets, and authorized city staff to move forward with the first phase of the construction project. The council also signed off on cutting down 40 heritage trees, which are large mature trees protected by a city ordinance.
The parking lot closure is expected to begin in October and last at least 66 months – about five and a half years – meaning the lot would not return to regular use until around spring 2032, assuming the project stays on schedule, according to a June 23 city staff report.
The 78-space lot is across from the existing police and fire headquarters and will be used for construction staging and temporary staff parking while the building is replaced.
The city considered alternative sites, including other city properties and private parcels, but found them less feasible because of proximity, operations, logistics, cost and schedule constraints, city spokesperson Lenka Wright said.
“A key consideration for locating a staging area is the need to maintain the existing 24/7 functionality of the Police and Fire Administrative Building simultaneously during the construction of the new Public Safety Building,” city spokesperson Lenka Wright said in an email.
The existing building opened in 1980 and houses police operations, emergency dispatch, the fire chief and deputy fire chief, support staff and the city’s emergency operations center. According to the city staff report, “the building has reached the end of its useful life,” isn’t big enough and does not meet current seismic standards for essential service facilities.
The new public safety building will be constructed on the same site as the existing facility, which city officials said adds to the project’s complexity.
The project will be built in phases, with the first construction stage including partial demolition, site preparation and utility coordination. That work is expected to begin in fall 2026 and be completed in spring 2027. Later phases include construction of the new building, demolition of the existing one after staff moves into the new facility, and the construction of new public parking areas and a parking garage.
A portion of Lot 11 will be designated as temporary visitor parking for the existing police and fire building, while the rest will be used for construction trailers and storage.
A downtown parking utilization analysis conducted last year found Lot 11’s peak utilization rate was between 50% and 70% on weekends, with nearby downtown public parking facilities showing similar utilization rates, according to Wright.
The city plans to install signs at Lot 11 directing drivers to nearby public parking, including the Bryant Street parking garage between West Evelyn Avenue and Villa Street, which has 313 spaces; Lot 2 at the corner of Dana and Bryant streets, which has 104 spaces; and the California Street parking garage on Bryant Street between Dana and California streets, which has 405 spaces.
The Lot 11 closure comes as other downtown parking lots are also being repurposed or redeveloped. Construction is underway at the former Lot 12, where the city-owned parking lot is being turned into a 120-unit affordable housing development at 444 Bryant St. The city has also revived a deal to redevelop Lots 4 and 8, two municipal parking lots on Hope Street between Villa Street and West Evelyn Avenue, into a hotel and office project.
Still, Wright said the city “expects there to be adequate capacity in the downtown to absorb the temporary displacement of parking at Lot 11.”
Project involves removing heritage trees
The project will involve chopping down 40 heritage trees, which city officials say is necessary because the new building is being built on the same site as the existing facility, which will remain in use during construction.
The city’s arborist found that no trees in the project area were good candidates for transplanting, according to the staff report. The city plans to replace the 40 heritage trees with 80 24-inch box trees. The project will also replace 35 non-heritage trees at a 1:1 ratio and add three additional native trees. In total, 118 new trees are expected to be planted on-site when the project is complete, according to the report.
The tree plan drew pushback earlier this year, when the city’s Parks and Recreation Commission voted 4-1 to ask staff for a revised mitigation plan. Commissioners said the original proposal did not include enough native plantings or canopy coverage, and some criticized the use of “semi-native” species.
The Urban Forestry Board later recommended approval of the revised mitigation plan, according to the staff report.
