The Bellevue City Council on Monday got a chance to review plans for a three-level parking garage to be built for the Bellevue Regional Library downtown.

The King County Library System is building the 250-stall garage to replace an 80-stall surface parking lot. Combined with parking already available under the library, the garage will add 163 parking stalls, hiking the total from 199 to 362.

Usage of the library, at 1111 110th Ave. N.E., is expected to increase by at least 5 percent. The library now averages 68,000 visitors a month.

The city granted design review and conditional use permits for the garage in May. Like the parking lot it will replace, the garage will have driveways on Northeast 12th Street and 110th Avenue Northeast. To improve its appearance for neighbors and passersby, the garage will feature plant trellises along roof edges and planting islands on the roof.

On Monday library and city staff focused on efforts to minimize impacts on library patrons, neighbors and users of nearby Ashwood Park during construction, set to begin in September. The garage is scheduled for completion in September 2012.

The city will make 51 stalls in the Ashwood Park parking lot available to library patrons, locating park events elsewhere.

The King County Library System will encourage patrons to reserve books and other materials for pickup at other branches. Library employees will park at an off-site lot. KCLS director Bill Ptacek said KCLS will also publicize transit routes and possibly establish a system for local library uses to borrow bicycles to go to and from the Regional Library.