REDLANDS, Calif. — Redlands is shelving plans for a new 140-space downtown parking lot after spending $104,000 studying and designing the project, the latest turn in the city’s yearslong effort to address parking as redevelopment reshapes the downtown core.
Why it matters: The City Council reached a consensus Sept. 21 not to continue pursuing a roughly two-acre property owned by the San Bernardino County Transportation Authority between Seventh and Ninth streets, north of Redlands Boulevard, as downtown prepares to lose parking to the redevelopment of the former Redlands Mall property.
Building the parking lot was estimated to cost $650,000. The city could have leased the property from SBCTA at essentially no cost beyond a $1,500 annual railroad license fee or purchased it for a little more than $1 million.
Without a funding source, city staff said they could not recommend moving forward with the project as Redlands faces broader General Fund budget constraints…