 | | | Site soon to be the City's newest parking lot Photo Cathy Tyson
| | | | | | Two is not enough. The City of Lafayette is already the proud owner of two small parking lots, one at Uncle Yu's and the other near the Gazebo on Golden Gate Way. With $2.3 million in the parking fund from twenty years of collecting meter money and a portion of parking ticket revenue, relatively depressed land values, and residents crying out for more parking spaces, the City Council took the plunge on a .75 acre lot just south of the Methodist Church on Moraga Road.
There are currently three structures on the property - an abandoned house, an insurance office and a small medical office.
Although there has been an active search of properties in the downtown core, this future lot is just a few blocks south, had a willing seller and was priced right at $2,315,000. It will serve Town Hall Theater, Lafayette Elementary School, Chevalier/Flippers' customers and La Fiesta Square employees.
Drivers coming down the hill from Moraga are aware of the overflow queue of cars backed up on Moraga Road waiting to get into and out of Lafayette Elementary School. This back-up creates "traffic havoc," explained City Manager Steven Falk, who anticipates the parking lot will help alleviate the congestion.
Soon to be next door neighbor, the United Methodist Church is keenly aware of the challenging parking situation in town. Pastor Lori Sawdon reports that the church shares the facility with 25 community groups so the additional parking would be a blessing. She requested some kind of buffer between the playground on the south side of their property that will abut the future parking lot.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA