Parking in Pomona, Calif., proves a puzzling problem.

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News November 15, 2004 By Monica Rodriguez, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, Calif. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News Nov. 15–POMONA, Calif. — Developers are lining up to build new projects downtown, but before that can happen, the city must figure out where all the new residents and business patrons are going to park their cars. bestparkingnycnow.net best parking nyc

And what makes this even more difficult is that some of the existing parking lots in downtown are the same places where some developers want to build.

Raymond Fong, the city’s redevelopment manager, has presented a proposed parking strategy calling for the city to build a parking structure in downtown to replace all of the parking stalls that would be lost to development.

Some members of the city’s Board of Parking Place Commissioners of the Vehicle Parking District, along with Councilman Marco Robles, said recently the goal shouldn’t be to simply replace parking stalls at a one-to-one ratio but to increase parking capacity.

“Other things will develop,” Robles said. “More restaurants, perhaps theaters, amenities that will require more parking.” Three mixed-use housing and commercial developments are in the pipeline for the area, Fong said.

The first and the closest to ground-breaking is an $11 million project planned on an existing parking lot in the 500 block of East Third Street. The four-story, 100-unit apartment building will house graduate students attending Western University of Health Sciences, said developer Jerry Tessier of Arteco Partners, who is developing the project with Newport Beach-based Realm Real Estate.

Two other developers have interest in each bringing mixed-use projects to the same general area, Fong said.

Before those developments can be executed, the redevelopment agency must find a way of replacing the parking stalls that would be lost to construction.

As downtown attracts development, more people will come to live and do business there, Robles said.

“Without parking we cannot claim to have the right mix” of uses downtown, he said.

More than one parking structure will be required to meet downtown’s future needs, and they’ll be needed in central, convenient locations, Robles said.

Parking structures require significant financial investments, and paying for them will require creativity, Robles said. One option would be to design structures with commercial space that can generate revenue to pay for their construction, rather than relying strictly on parking fees, he said.

Fong said a 700-stall parking structure could cost between $8 million and $10 million, and would offer enough stalls to replace those taken by new construction.

The city has some funds generated by bonds set aside a number of years ago to pay for costs associated with building a structure, Fong said. The funds, however, wouldn’t be enough to cover the entire bill, and would require an increase in parking fees.

Monthly parking rates would have to increase from the current $15 to somewhere between $45 to $50 to pay for a structure, Fong said. The increase would still be low compared with rates in Los Angeles, but the question remains whether Pomona residents would pay that much.

Raising parking fees is something that needs to be done carefully, said Mike Schowalter, chairman of the city’s Board of Parking Place Commissioners.

Many different people — shoppers, residents, merchants, professionals and others — park downtown now, and all have different needs, Schowalter said.

It’s also important to keep in mind that shoppers aren’t accustomed to paying for parking at large malls, and often expect to have low-cost or free parking in Pomona, he said.

All the needs of all different groups must be evaluated along with how to meet them, while still providing parking rates that don’t scare people away, he said.

“There’s a lot of crystal ball work ahead,” Schowalter said.

To address the loss of parking due to construction of the student housing development, the redevelopment agency has proposed replacing the parking stalls by building a new lot on vacant city-owned land at Fourth and Palomares streets, Fong said. see here best parking nyc

“We own the land and we will obligate ourselves to provide the land and the developer will improve the land,” he said. “But not every project will be like that.” All future projects will have to provide their own parking facilities, he added.

If a developer tries to get around the parking requirement, “they’d better have good justification why they don’t need parking,” Fong said.

The student housing development will not be required to build parking because a recent study showed the city’s Vehicle Parking District can accommodate those residents, Fong said.

Some Antique Row merchants said that for years, people have discussed building a parking structure, and it’s something that becomes more necessary every day.

Carolyn Hemming of the Pomona Antique Center favors building a structure in an area that benefits people on both sides of Garey Avenue.

“I don’t want to see it stuck on Mission Boulevard,” she said.

A structure is already needed because other projects, such as the renovation of the Mayfair Hotel on Garey Avenue and Third Street, will bring people to the area.

“All those people are going to need a place to park,” she said.

When the Fox Theater is restored and operating, it will attract additional customers who will need convenient parking, since they’ll also want to eat or shop downtown, she said.

Hemming said she believes the student housing development will not create a negative effect for antique shops because it will be located outside of the area were antique customers generally park.

The development, however, could have a positive impact.

“I think it’ll bring more students to the area who will shop here,” Hemming said.