While parking solutions are needed for Old Bellevue, the city council on Monday agreed the problem won’t be resolved by delaying a July start for Downtown Park upgrades.
The city plans to complete the circular design for Downtown Park this summer, adding to the canal and replacing parking stalls to be lost at the southeastern parking lot with expanded parking on the northwest side of the park. The first phase of the Inspiration Playground — paid for through fundraising efforts by the Bellevue Rotary Club — is expected to occur either later this year or early 2016.
Local developer Carl Vander Hoek and the Old Bellevue Merchants Association had proposed including an underground parking structure at the park to both support a lack of options along Old Main Street and meet future demands at the park, arguing construction plans don’t include increasing the about 200 stalls available there now.
Parks and Community Services Director Patrick Foran told the city council on Monday that the 1984 and revised ’97 master plan for the park assessed parking needs, and a recent Gibson Study shows there are more than enough stalls at the park, even during peak usage. Foran added tiered parking could be added to an existing lot at the park in the future.
Councilmember Jennifer Robertson said she believes Inspiration Playground, which will be accessible by parents and children of all abilities, will create a regional draw to the park and the parks department should assume the need for more parking spaces.
The city is just now accepting public comments regarding an environmental impact statement being developed for the 1997 master plan, which didn’t include a State Environmental Policy Act analysis.
Residents like 86-year-old John Ellis, who chaired the original citizens downtown park committee that created the master plan for Downtown Park, financing its first phase of construction with private money, said it should not be used to solve parking problems for businesses around it.
“It’s not what was intended when these acres were purchased,” Ellis said.
City councilmembers said Monday they are not interested in slowing down park development, but do want a downtown parking solution — likely through a public-private partnership — to alleviate issues in Old Bellevue.
