City of Lafayette Staff Report
For:
Lafayette City Council
By:
Steven Falk, Lafayette City Manager
Date Written:
July 30, 2009
Meeting Date:
August 10, 2009
Subject:
Draft
Letter to Property Owners Regarding City's Interest in Purchasing
Downtown Property for the Purpose of Public Parking
Introduction
At your meeting on July
the City Council directed staff to draft a letter that would be sent
to certain downtown property owners regarding the City's interest in purchasing a downtown
property for the purpose of public parking. Staff has attached the draft letter, along with a map
indicating eleven properties that would be good candidates for this purpose.
Background
The City Council has long had an interest in expanding the amount of off-street parking in the
downtown area. To this end, in the early 1990's the Council installed parking meters and
ordered that the proceeds from the meters be gathered in a special fund for the purpose of
acquiring additional off-street parking. The parking fund now has an estimated fund balance of
$2.5M.
In January of this year, the Council added "Goal Eight: Secure Additional Downtown
Parking" to its annual workplan. Incorporated in that goal is the directive to "pursue options
for new downtown parking."
More recently, as part of the downtown strategic planning process, the Council articulated a
"parking boundary" within which it will seek to acquire off-street parking. This boundary
stretches, roughly, from Town Center to Second Street along Mt. Diablo Boulevard, and up
Moraga Road to Brook Street.
At its meeting on July 13th the City Council directed staff to draft a letter that would be sent to
certain property owners within the parking boundary regarding the City's interest in purchasing
a downtown property for the purpose of public parking. Staff has drafted this letter (attached).
Staff has also attached a map indicating seventeen properties that might be good candidates for
this purpose. In developing the map, staff rejected parcels that were too small, too narrow, too
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difficult to access, or that had new or particularly successful development. The properties
include:
Vacant parcel @ Mt. Diablo and
Dewing
Town Center III
Bank of the West
Oak Bridge Parking Lot on Golden
Gate Way
Abandoned Links Appliance Store
Abandoned Spruzzo Restaurant site
Knoxx Restaurant
Milosport
Uncle Yu's Parking Lot
Mobile Station @ Oak Hill Road
World Savings
76 Gas @ Lafayette Plaza
Recommendation
Petars
Campana Music
Lincoln Site (Golden Gate Way at
First Street)
Boswells
Auto Repair Building (Golden Gate
Way next to new Library Parking
Lot)
Review and amend drafi letter and list of properties. Direct staff to send amended letter to
property owners.
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Vacant
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World Savings
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Selected Parcels
Parcels over .45 acres
DRAFT
[LETTERHEAD]
7/28/2009
Property Owner
Address
Dear Property Owner:
The City of Lafayette has long had an interest in expanding off-street public parking in
the downtown area. To this end, in the early 1990's the Council installed parking
meters and ordered that the proceeds from the meters be gathered in a special fund for
the purpose of acquiring additional off-street parking. The parking fund now has an
estimated fund balance of $2.5M. In January of this year, the Council added a goal to
secure additional downtown parking to its annual work plan.
More recently, as part of the downtown strategic planning process, the Council
articulated a "parking boundary" within which it will actively seek to acquire off-street
parking. This boundary stretches, roughly, from Dewing Avenue to Second Street
along Mt. Diablo Boulevard, and up Moraga Road to Brook Street.
At its meeting on July 13th the City Council directed staff to contact certain property
owners within the parking boundary to determine their interest in entering into
negotiations for this purpose. You are one of those owners.
Public parking may not have to be the only use for the parcel. The draft Downtown
Specific Plan also explores the potential for shared public/private parking under or over
retail or office development and so, if you have development plans that can
accommodate additional public parking, we should have a conversation.
While the City has $2.5M in the parking fund, other monies may also be available from
the Lafayette Redevelopment Agency. Note, however, that California State Law
prohibits the City from paying more than appraised fair market value for properties, and
any price negotiations would thus be limited by the findings of an independent
appraiser.
Finally - and this is very important -- the City Council has no intention to use eminent
domain or otherwise force a property owner to sell its property to the City. Any and
every transaction will be voluntary.
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Given the state of the economy, we expect that several property owners will be
interested in this proposition. The City's funds, however, are limited and so if you are
interested in discussing this further, please contact me at 925-284-1968, or
sfalkc2lUovelafayeue.org. So that the City might consider its options in an orderly
fashion, I would appreciate hearing from you not later than September 30, 2009.
Most sincerely,
Steven Falk
Lafayette City Manager
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