UP City Council OKs Snider Plaza Concept Plan, With Caveats
The University Park City Council recently approved a zoning ordinance that includes a concept plan for existing streets and sidewalks in Snider Plaza with some amendments and incorporated a property at 3420 Rankin Ave., which is intended to be used as a parking lot, into Snider Plaza in a 3-2 vote.
Councilmen Phil Philbin and Bob Meyers voted against the ordinance.
The ordinance approved by the city council removed the Rosedale Green (a proposed linear green space along the 3400 block of Rosedale Avenue) and Snider Common (a proposed gathering space in the intersection of Snider Plaza and Rosedale Avenue that would have crosswalk connections to the Rosedale Green and a paved area) from the concept plan in hopes of preserving parking spaces.
Pre-project, as of 2020, there were 409 total Snider Plaza parking spaces available, University Park Community Development Director Patrick Baugh said. The concept plan initially presented before removing the Rosedale Green and Snider Common would reduce the number of parking spaces available in the streets around Snider Plaza by 51, bringing the total to 358, according to city officials. However, the spaces made available by the Hilltop Plaza garage and incorporating the Rankin lot (which is estimated to add 53 spaces) would increase the spaces available by 238, bringing the estimated total spaces available to 647, Baugh said.
University Park special projects coordinator Amanda Hartwick said it’s unclear how removing the Rosedale Green and Snider Common from the concept plan will affect the number of parking spaces available in the plaza. Still, when the plan was discussed, the question of parking was top of mind for business owners in Snider Plaza and nearby residents at a recent city council meeting.
“Add the Rankin lot … but please keep it primarily for employee parking,” Julie Broad, former owner of JD’s Chippery in Snider Plaza, said. “The ordinance that currently governs Snider Plaza development states two times that plantings should not replace parking. Please adhere to that ordinance and replace any spaces you might have taken away for trees, shrubs, or curb bumpers with parking spaces. That includes a pocket park and the Snider Plaza Commons.”
Broad also called for implementing an employee parking program at the north and south ends of the shopping center.
“It’s inadequate today, and now we’re looking at incredible businesses coming in…all kinds of things are looking to happen in the plaza, and, guess what, that’s only going to increase the demand,” Ann McIntyre, who lives near Snider Plaza, added about parking in Snider Plaza. “We can’t do a status quo here because if these restaurants can succeed, the growth is going to be even greater … I’m all for beautification. I love all the efforts that are being made to bring landscaping into the plan, but it just can’t happen at the expense of parking spaces.”
Mayor Tommy Stewart noted the concept site plan doesn’t authorize or define construction or the scope of a construction project. The issue will come back before the city council for public hearings.
“The public will have plenty of time to talk about it,” Stewart added. “For the last several years, the city council has been building an inventory of parking, Hilltop and Rankin, with the goal of programming employees into those lots…this will require the cooperation of merchants and property owners, and we believe the best means to accomplish that goal is through the creation of a PID (public improvement district).”
Per the concept site plan presented before the vote, Baugh said the right-of-way between Rosedale and Milton would also widen to 123 feet largely on the southern end of the plaza with 11.5-foot sidewalks on both sides, 18-foot parking bay with angled parking, a 12-foot, one-way aisle, and a 40-foot center, two-bay angled parking area.
