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<br />Mr. Lai stated that no evidence had been provided for this; however, the City has been providing <br />free parking at a cost to the City; the parking is not free since somebody has to pay for it. <br /> <br />15.The planning process for the Plan was initiated to develop support for the Washington <br />University project. <br />Mr. Lai stated that this Plan is for the sustainable future of the entire neighborhood, not just <br />certain parcels. He stated it looked at the entire area in a cohesive manner. It is inter- <br />coordinated and made of many components, focusing on a sustainable future. <br /> <br />16.The existing surface parking lot will provide the grant-attracting ability for the City. <br />Mr. Lai stated that no evidence had been provided regarding this issue. He stated that the City <br />has been looking for grant opportunities for this area and other parts of the City. He stated that <br />the federal government advocates compact structured parking because it is sustainable. He <br />added that the federal government is very competitive with their grants and if one looks around <br />the country at the grants awarded, they are not proposing surface parking lots but more transit <br />oriented developments near transit stations with multi-family development and structured <br />parking; that is the trend around the country and we want to be progressive and look to the <br />future. <br /> <br />Mr. Lai mentioned an article in The Patch from last November about the Draft Plan presented at <br />a public meeting, a few months into the planning process. Looking through the public comments <br />after the article, one was written stating that, he City owns the property <br />it should be put to the highest use as a revenue generator and economic engine to support all of <br />the planned infrastructure development in the expanded Loop area. We need more small locally <br />owned businesses behind the current ones on Delmar Ave. More unique businesses, more mix <br />- <br /> Mr. Lai stated that was in November and somebody already had the thought; people <br />are out there with different opinions. Mr. Lai asked that the Plan Commission members keep an <br />open mind. <br /> <br />Mr. Lai introduced Tim Breihan with H3 Studio, project consultant. Mr. Lai stated that Mr. <br />Breihan has been the project manager. <br /> <br />Mr. Breihan provided a Power Point presentation with additional details regarding the issues and <br />questions raised, as discussed by Mr. Lai. Mr. Breihan stated that he intended to provide a brief <br />overview of the public process, public process, summary of the market study and how it was <br />used to set up the recommendations of the Plan, and to look at the issue of parking in more <br />detail. <br /> as Attachment C.] <br />Mr. Breihan stated that the planning process was a 14 month process divided into five phases <br />with five key public engagement periods, including public workshops as well as meeting with <br />planning partners. He showed a summary of the public outreach that Mr. Lai covered and added <br />that they also worked with the City to identify a list of two dozen stakeholders that were <br />interviewed in small focus group sessions; both the LSBD and East LSBD presidents were <br />contacted and invited to participate. <br /> <br />tm;  šE <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />