Reasons to Oppose the Garage Project

Space devoted to parking is space that could be used instead for affordable housing. The current Garage-Library-Housing plan is for 240 parking spaces. According to a parking consultant, garage space for two cars (including ramps) is equivalent to a two bedroom apartment.

The sad irony is that the Downtown does not need 240 new parking spaces, according to a consensus of consultants who advised the City on parking.

Janis Rhodes (J.R. Parking Associates) told the City that new parking garages will never pay for themselves. The only way this garage would be financially viable is for it to be subsidized with revenue from other parking garages and meters Downtown. Even this strategy is no longer viable, since the City’s financing model did not include the prospect of an economic recession. According to the City’s consultant, Economic and Planning Systems, “It should be noted, however, that the model does not evaluate a worst-case scenario (for parking revenues) where a major recession occurs or a technological change (and pricing) substantially reduces parking demand.”
Patrick Siegman, when at Nelson\Nygaard, modeled future parking demand and concluded that a new garage was not needed. See the article An Honest Consultant
UCSC Professor and parking researcher Adam Millard-Ball advised the City Council that it would be cheaper to pay working commuters not to park Downtown than to build a new garage.
City staff have failed to bring the completed Nelson\Nygaard Downtown Parking Strategic Plan to the City Council. The Strategic Plan does not recommend a garage. It states, “The most fiscally prudent approach to accommodating additional demand: Modernize parking management”

The City is legally able to put parking revenue into the General Fund and use it for affordable housing or other benefits. This was confirmed by the City Attorney The money currently flows in the opposite direction. Because of low parking revenue since Covid, General Fund money covers the expenses of the Downtown Parking District. At any time of fiscal downturn, building a garage would come at the expense of City workers and services.

If/when we see economic recovery Downtown, parking revenue saved from not building a garage could be used to leverage state and federal funds for affordable housing. City staff estimated the debt on the garage as costing $2.9 million per year—for 30 years.

It is not accurate that future affordable housing projects need a new garage in order to avoid having to build parking on site. There are approximately 1500 empty parking spaces in City garages overnight that can accommodate Downtown residents with a parking permit. We don’t need to build more spaces that don’t pay for themselves.