Parking Structure Costs to Be Discussed

The Ventura City Council, which doubles as the city’s Redevelopment Agency, is set to discuss the escalating costs of a proposed downtown parking structure during its meeting Monday night.

Along with looking at how the project’s estimated cost has jumped about 33%, the council will analyze whether it can continue to add to its list of redevelopment projects. The structure will be just one of several items to be discussed during a question-and-answer session.

The Q&A;, which will begin as a Redevelopment Agency session and continue through the regular council meeting, is drawn from questions the council asked during a Feb. 10 study session.

As he led the council through columns of numbers, Tom Figg, manager of planning and redevelopment, explained costs and the ways that the city could finance certain redevelopment projects.

According to a staff report to be discussed Monday, a simple parking structure was originally expected to cost $3 million. But with its actual size and a more sophisticated architectural design factored in, the cost rose to $4 million. Almost $2 million of that was supposed to come from the city’s capital improvement program, with the rest coming from the beachfront parking structure’s annual revenues .

And the price of the 500-space structure, near the corner of California and Santa Clara streets, could still increase. If it does, the city must decide whether it wants to take more money out of the capital improvement budget, tone the building down to a more traditional cement block style, or delay other redevelopment activities.

Other current projects for downtown Ventura include building a 10-screen multiplex theater and refurbishing the Peirano/Wilson building.

On Monday, the council is also scheduled to discuss earlier council questions about Ventura’s capital improvements budget.

The City Council will meet at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers, 501 Poli St.