Plans for Unpopular Parking Structure Continued

A year after presenting plans for a proposed seven-story parking structure meant to help ease extreme overcrowding, the project is still in the planning stages.

On Dec. 13, the Loma Linda City Council approved extending their approval of plans for the structure on the southwest corner of Campus Street and Prospect Avenue.

The plan was commissioned by the Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Center. The $20 million project would provide more than 1,100 needed parking spaces, officials with the project told councilmembers.

Plans include up to 4,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, as well as a security center that would take up to another 4,000 square feet.

The project has not yet gotten a green light by the Health Sciences Center, so more time is needed, said Konrad Bolowich, director of community development for Loma Linda. Officials with the center had said they did not expect to start construction until after 2012.

Residents did not attend the meeting to voice their opposition to the project. In December 2010 about three residents expressed their concerns to the council.

“There were some people who were a little concerned about the traffic and noise and everything else,” Bolowich said.

Resident Dru Turner, who lives within a quarter of a mile, told the council back then that the structure would affect the quality of life and the value of her home.