Michael Belluomini: Council should have insisted on more parking spaces

Re “Apartment project gets city approval” (Page A6, Aug. 11): The Sun-Star article on the city council’s approval of a conditional use permit for the apartment/dormitory near G Street and Cardella Road omits the main problem with the project, which caused six planning commissioners and two council members to vote no. The project has woefully inadequate parking.

The city council approved a 216-unit apartment/dormitory project with 678 bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. The design resembles a college dormitory and will be marketed to UC Merced students. It provides 332 parking spaces, or 346 fewer than bedrooms. It is located 3 miles from campus.

The city council could have required the developer to add more parking or reduce the number of apartments, but approved the project as presented. An alternative design, with 180 fewer bedrooms and 44 more parking spaces, was considered by the council and rejected. There will be over 200 apartment tenants who will not be able to find a parking space on the site and so will have to park on the street in front of houses in the future neighborhood. This creates a bad environment for tenants, neighbors and the community that could have been avoided.

This story was originally published August 12, 2015 at 10:58 AM with the headline "Michael Belluomini: Council should have insisted on more parking spaces."