Council mulls separate garage.

Byline: Edward Russo The Register-Guard

Eugene city councilors on Wednesday had mixed reactions to the idea of the city building a parking garage on its own at East Eighth Avenue and High Street, separate from the proposed Whole Foods Market development.

Plans are not final, but greater-than-expected construction costs have led the store's developer to consider building the store and its above-store parking at East Broadway and High Street without a 260-stall, city-owned parking garage next door.

Dropping the public parking garage would be a dramatic change for the project, which earlier this year generated fierce debate between residents who favored the development, including the public garage, and those who opposed it.

If the developer drops the public parking garage from the project, some councilors said, they should discuss whether it makes sense for the city to move ahead with the garage on its own, either next to the proposed Whole Foods or somewhere else in east downtown.

But other councilors said they weren't keen on that idea.

Mayor Kitty Piercy on Wednesday said her sense of the council is that most members wouldn't favor moving ahead with a garage independently of the Whole Foods development.

Piercy said the council last March endorsed the city partnership with the landowner of the Whole Foods site and developer Gerding Edlen of Portland because it believed that the developer could build the public garage at lower cost and at higher quality than if the city hired its own architects, engineers and contractors.

The City Council agreed to the public-private partnership as long as the garage would not cost more than $7 million to build, excluding the value of land, interest and other expenses.

If the developer cannot build the garage for $7 million, Piercy said, councilors would have to compare other city priorities against a more expensive garage.

"Then we can have a discussion about whether (another) garage is a priority," she said. "My judgment is that it's probably not."

Yet Councilor Jennifer Solomon said the council should think about exploring ways to have more parking in east downtown.

"If we want people to come downtown, they need to have a safe and predictable place to park," she said. The city's long-range downtown plan recommends more east-side parking.

Solomon also said she would prefer that the developers tell councilors how much more than $7 million is needed for the garage.

"That way we could decide if we would want to pay more or not," she said. "If we are going to split ways, let's make that decision cooperatively" with the developers.

Councilors Gary Pape, George Poling and Chris Pryor said they might be willing to discuss whether the city should press ahead with a garage, though they were wary about costs.

"We need parking in that area of town," Pape said, "especially when the new federal courthouse opens" and more development occurs in the surrounding riverfront area.

Whether the city needs more parking garages is a hot topic in Eugene. Critics cite city surveys that show, on average, the six downtown garages are only slightly more than half full.

Councilors Betty Taylor and Bonny Bettman last March voted against the proposed agreement with Gerding Edlen.

Bettman said that with the garages barely half full, she would be reluctant to consider another one.

"With limited resources to spend, a garage would not seem to be the best investment that we could make," she said.

One councilor who voted for the parking garage agreement in March said she would be against a more costly city garage.

Councilor Andrea Ortiz said that she considered her votes in favor of the Whole Foods project and the garage "as a package deal."

"I was willing to help support the business community because they said the (garage and store development) would help downtown Eugene," she said. "There are other things (besides a garage) that are more worthy to spend money on."