By Lookout Staff

October 20, 2010 -- City officials say two parking structure-related projects currently in the planning stages will eventually lead to more available spaces in Downtown Santa Monica. But if construction overlaps, this could lead to a shortage in two years. City officials are devising a plan to deal with the potential problem.

The site of the structure at Fourth Street and Arizona Avenue is proposed for demolition and construction of an AMC movie theater complex. AMC and City officials are currently in negotiation on a development agreement. This project could begin in 2012. A retrofit is planned for the structure at Second Street and Santa Monica Boulevard beginning next year.

The structure at the proposed movie theater site has 342 spaces. The other structure has 339 spaces, but the enhancement project will bring that total up to 710. That will create a net gain of 29 spaces, according to the City. But any overlap would be problematic without a good game plan.

“The closure of one structure will impact parking in the downtown core and if both structures are closed at the same time, parking will be extremely challenging,” wrote Carol Swindell, Santa Monica’s director of finance, in an information item for the City Council.

Swindell’s information item includes several ideas for dealing with the parking issue. One is construction of a temporary two-story structure at the City-owned property at Fifth Street and Arizona. Another is the implementation of a centralized valet program. Also proposed is to “further implement new on-street and off-street parking technologies.”

Other ideas include the development of “smart phone and other parking location assistance devices” and relocating monthly parkers to the Civic Center.

City staff will host a public meeting on the subject at 6 p.m. on Monday at the Civic Auditorium East Wing. Also, staff is meeting with the Bayside District Board’s Parking Committee to discuss the projects. Additionally, staff is meeting with the Chamber of Commerce’s Land and Assets Committee on Thursday.