In response to a request by City of UP Planning & Zoning Commission Chairman Bob West, Highland Park Presbyterian Church officials tonight held a meeting with neighbors to discuss alternatives to their strongly-contested surface parking lot proposal.
(For those new to this issue, HPPC has filed a request to rezone the south side of the 3900 block of University Blvd and the north side of the 3900 block of McFarlin Blvd from single family residential to a Planned Development. The church seeks to demolish 3 homes on the block to construct a surface parking lot, and use three of the remaining homes for the church’s communications department, offices for two separate 501c3 organizations, and storage. The request has met with strong neighborhood and community opposition expressed through yard signs, letters to city officials and church leaders, and a petition containing over 550 signatures.)
Tonight’s discussion began with the presentation of a ‘same song, second verse’ variation of the parking lot plan already submitted by the church. The neighbors quickly made it clear that they would not support anything other than single family residential zoning for that block. They asserted that the 3900 block lies in the heart of a stable, long-established residential neighborhood and any other use would be incompatible with the neighborhood character and damaging to surrounding property values.
Church representatives discussed pursuing one of the alternatives originally suggested by neighbors 18 months ago: working with the City of UP to allow parking (on Sunday mornings only) along curbs that are currently marked ‘No Parking.’ The neighbors strongly support this idea and offered to go with HPPC representatives to meet with City officials regarding this request.
The discussion then turned to the underground parking alternative that Chairman West asked the church to investigate after its initial August 10 presentation. HPPC has done some preliminary investigation into an underground parking lot and showed neighbors some early sketches of the plan. The neighbors asked the church’s architect to further investigate the idea of constructing an underground lot on HPPC’s existing church campus on the 3800 block of University (known as PD-36 in City of UP records) between Shannon Lane and Park St. While the neighbors are not convinced that HPPC “needs” a parking lot at all (because so many other options exist, ex: valet parking, shuttle service, increasing City-designated spaces) they are willing to compromise with the idea of an underground lot (rather than a surface lot) for the following reasons:
o Creates abundance of additional, actual “on-site” parking within “footprint” of existing HPPC PD-36
o No demolition of homes required
o No re-zoning required
o Safety concerns are greatly diminished—no crossing of a busy street
o Serves needs of all demographics of church membership–Members would access church buildings at points of need; i.e. families with children enter directly into east end of building for nurseries and children’s classrooms; “challenged seniors” enter into Hunt Building at west end for adult Sunday School classes
o Completely invisible to neighbors and community
o Takes financial burden from the neighbors and places it entirely upon HPPC
o Leaves backyards and garages of Single Family homes intact
o No landscape maintenance required–removes concerns about neglect
o Long-term, permanent solution to increasing available parking which HPPC can control
o Eliminates noise, night lights, views of cars and concrete, potential for crime and other negative effects of a parking lot that would intrude into neighborhood
o Expense for underground parking garage vs. surface parking lot could be offset by sale of HPPC-owned homes in the block of Single Family homes
o Environmentally better: no heat transmission from surface, no water run-off issues
o Planning & Zoning Commission directed HPPC to investigate underground parking
o Neighbors have told church they would support underground parking
o Satisfies UP Code (25-106): “Off-street parking as an accessory use to a place of worship located in a residential district shall be permitted when such parking is located on the same lot, tract or site occupied by a worship-related structure on which building permits were issued”.
Neighbors’ Conclusion: This plan meets all the needs, all the time, for all time.
After tonight’s meeting, the neighbors are encouraged to have engaged HPPC in a detailed discussion of an alternative that would shift the financial burden from the neighbors to the church. If HPPC insists it must have a parking lot of some kind, a parking garage underneath the church’s current footprint is the best compromise.
HPPC officials promised to investigate this idea further and get back with neighbors with an update in advance of the October 12 P&Z meeting.
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