A small, but important project that will build a 158-space surface level parking lot, next to the Roseville’s original fire station, got underway late last month in the Historic District. Due to the investment of approximately $13 million in improvements in the Historic Old Town, and the recent resurgence of activity within the area, there is a recognized need for additional public parking in this area.

In addition to the existing demand, the “Park Once” strategy of the Downtown Specific Plan recognizes the need for additional public parking resources to be constructed within the area.

During the 2009-10 budget adoption process, the City Council was presented with an approach for addressing the parking needs in the Historic Old Town area. This approach was based on providing a short-term solution to parking needs over the next 12-18 months, an interim lot that was to be constructed within a three-year time frame and a longer term approach to developing the Parking Garage/Mixed Use project (five to seven year timeframe). The original overall strategy was to provide the following:

Short Term: Construct an at-grade parking lot on Lincoln Street;

Interim Parking Solution: Expand the existing at-grade parking lot at Pacific Street (three years);

Long Term: Form a public/private partnership and develop a mixed use project and parking garage where the current Pacific Street parking lot exists (five to seven years).

The current project will construct the new at-grade parking lot and will include improvements such as landscaping, lighting, a 6-foot-high wall on the north end of the lot, repair and refurbishing of existing chain link fence and paving and striping the site. Accordingly, the parking lot will convert a 70,000-square-foot barren, dirt lot into a valuable asset to the businesses and property owners in the Historic District and will fulfill an element of the parking strategy for the area.

With the vibrant nightlife and active businesses in the District parking is a much-needed commodity in the area. The new parking lot should serve the district’s businesses, residents and property owners well in the months and years ahead.

Gina Garbolino is the mayor of Roseville.