Ventura Sets Aside Nearly $2 Million for Parking Garage for Moviegoers : Development: Agreement is made while negotiations are under way for a downtown multiplex theater and retail shops. Analysts had recommended $575,000.

With negotiations under way for a downtown multiplex theater and nearby retail shops, the Ventura City Council has set aside nearly $2 million to fund a parking garage for thousands of expected moviegoers.

The agreement came late Monday as the council hashed out its five-year, $148-million capital improvement budget.

City financial analysts recommended that the council earmark $575,000 for the five-story garage.

But Councilman Gregory L. Carson wrestled another $1.3 million for the parking structure, saying the 600-space garage is needed to ensure that the movie house gets built and that downtown revitalization proceeds.

The theater and upscale retail center are vital to the city’s plan to lure more visitors to the aging business core, Carson said. Allocating the $1.875 million for the parking garage would send a message that Ventura is serious about improving its downtown, he said.

“This is a real project,” Carson told his colleagues. “Let’s make it work.”

Burbank developer Victor K. Georgino and a Pasadena company have jointly proposed a movie and shopping center at Palm and Main streets, the historic hub of Ventura.

It entails acquiring the whole block and transforming it into a mix of specialty shops, walking space and the theater.

But both developers said they cannot implement their plans without a city-financed garage nearby. They have until August to negotiate a firm deal with the city, under an agreement reached last month.

The additional $1.3 million set aside for the parking structure came from two sources: $1 million from an anticipated employee retirement rebate and $300,000 from money left over from the current year’s budget.

Carson first held out for $2.175 million for the parking garage but was swayed late Monday night by other council members.

“I don’t think you’re being very flexible,” Councilman Jack Tingstrom told Carson earlier during the debate.

The downtown parking garage is just one of dozens of projects recommended for support in the five-year capital improvement budget, which lays out city goals through 2000.

Collected from gas, utility, sewer and other taxes, capital improvement funds are typically used for long-term projects to maintain or improve the city’s infrastructure, such as roads, parks and other services.

The five-year program approved Monday allocates about $20 million for new Ventura Freeway interchanges at Johnson Drive and Victoria Avenue; $2.2 million for computers; $4 million for fire stations; $1.5 million for storm drains; and numerous other projects.

Georgino on Tuesday credited Ventura officials for moving quickly to get the parking structure financed.

“That’s very good news,” he said. “It tells me that the city and the (redevelopment) agency are making a commitment to find a way to do the project.”

City Planner Patrick Richardson said the garage, which would probably be built on the northeast corner of Santa Clara and Palm streets, would cost $3.5 million to $6 million. There are several options to finance the rest of the project, including a tax on downtown property owners, but nothing has been decided.

One merchant told the City Council on Monday that more parking has been needed downtown for years.

“This parking structure has been sorely needed long before the theater proposal came to town,” said Linda Logan of Cut Loose Hair Design. “It could be used by street fairs, county fairs and just plain shoppers.”

Georgino said he hoped to negotiate a development agreement with the city before September and break ground on the theater this winter. He would like to open the 14-screen complex before Christmas of 1996.

“I think that’s still within reason,” he said. “It depends on how fast the city can act on a decision and how quickly they can convey property for the development.”