Cheaper alternatives sought for Auto Mall parking

A plan to increase parking at the Thousand Oaks Auto Mall may be modified due to the sluggish economy.

The Auto Mall in Thousand Oaks has about 600 existing street parking spaces and 1,000 employees who need a place to park. Even though some dealers offer employee parking, not much room is left for customers.

Additional street parking is so necessary for the mall that auto dealers presented a petition to the City Council last March offering to tax themselves to help the city improve parking on public streets surrounding their businesses.

Although sales at the ThousandOaksAutoMallare higher than the national average, according to community development director Gary Wartik, they've slowed along with the economy.

As a result, Auto Mall property owners are working with the city to lower the cost of adding more street parking, city engineer Jay Spurgin said.

After receiving the Auto Mall dealers' petition in March, the city authorized spending money for city staff and consultants to establish a special facilities district, making it possible for the property owners to pay a fee to go specifically toward street improvements. Bonds are to be sold and the dealers will be expected to pay them back over the next 20 to 25 years.

An estimated $500,000 for the design of the project includes construction drawings. The city and the Auto Mall owners agreed to evenly split that cost. The city offered an additional $2 million toward the project, but the majority of the improvement costs will be paid for by the Auto Mall property owners.

Now, in the push to keep costs down, the vehicle dealers and the city are talking about several possible parking plans.

One alternative is to create angled parking and one-way traffic on five public streets in the Auto Mall area. That would add 228 parking spaces at a cost of $5 million, Spurgin said.

Another possibility is to widen all the streets to add 348 spaces at a cost of $8.5 million, he said.

The most costly choice would be to widen and cover a ditch/storm drain area between the auto mall and the freeway. That would add $4 million and 410 spaces on top of either plan, Spurgin said.

The plans also include aesthetic enhancements like landscaping and signage improvements, he said.

Costs versus benefits will be discussed this week by city officials and Auto Mall owners.

Once the costs of construction are determined, the tax rate will be set and the city can move forward with the formation of the facilities district.