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The
Apex town board took a major step Tuesday night toward alleviating some of
the parking woes facing the downtown.
The
commissioners voted 3-1 to accept a layout plan for a proposed parking lot
along Saunders Street, directly across from the police station.
The
1.5-acre lot would contain 108 parking spaces and cost approximately
$300,000.
Apex
senior engineer Adam Stephenson said he was unsure about the exact
timetable of the project but noted that town officials would like to have
the parking lot completed by the end of the year.
Kent
Jackson, the town's director of construction management, told the board
that a lot of time and effort went into forming the layout plans. He
also credited Stephenson for doing the bulk of the work, which saved the
town at least $20,000 since an engineering consultant wasn't needed.
"We
worked hard to get to this point and we believe this is a real feasible
solution to the parking problems in the downtown," said Jackson.
The
four layout designs presented by Stephenson had a low of 72 parking spaces
and a high of 114. The cost ranged from $273,000 to $320,000.
Plans
'A' and 'B' were tossed aside since they represented both the least
parking spaces and the highest cost.
Plan
'C' included 114 spaces for a cost of $287,000 but had no trees or bushes
inside the parking area. Plan 'D' contained only 91 spaces for
$273,000 but had several "tree islands" that enhanced the lot's
appearance.
At the
suggestion of Commissioner Gene Schulze, the board decided to adopt a plan
that combined the best qualities of both 'C' and 'D'.
Commissioner Bill Jensen voted against the plan because he had concerns
about stormwater runoff.
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