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I would like to see a philosophical change when it comes to primary use surface parking lots in downtown. The City has gone to great lengths and spent enormous resources to develop the [new] development standards for downtown. We have increased entitlements across the board, we have strived to orchestrate new development that creates pedestrian friendly and a sustainable environment. Primary use surfacing parking lots seem to go against what the new downtown code is striving for. Parking lots as an accessory use to a business is something completely different.

As a compromise I would like to see the city strip the use permit for [primary use] surface parking and implement a new procedure (and definition) for special permit for surface parking, which would only be applicable to downtown. This would take the any future surface parking request from quasi-judicial and into a legislative act. It would make the developer come before the community and give a pretty good reason why they would need a new surface parking lot in downtown moving forward.

I respectfully don't think more underdeveloped land in downtown is a way to move the City progressively forward.