Designers said some parking would be for employees who will work at the library’s new operations center, while the rest would be for library visitors. They said two parcels could later be sold and developed into housing.
But Plan Board members said they want to see marketing strategies in place for those parcels to ensure that very developable parts of downtown do not end up as paved lots.
“We have to make good land-use planning decisions that work for the entire community, not just one applicant,” said Greg Scott, president of the Plan Board.
As part of its $187 million system-wide building project, the Dayton Metro Library is expanding and improving the main downtown branch. The plan includes a cafe, a collaborative space, a black box theater, an auditorium that seats 300 people and a reading room that overlooks the park. There will also be a new themed children’s area.
The library purchased several pieces of property south of the downtown branch as part of the expansion, including Webster Station bar and the Gentile Produce building and the Hauer Music building, where it plans to move its business operations. The library plans to have about 100 parking spaces in an underground lot beneath the main branch.
The library proposes tearing down the bar and creating about 30 short-term parking spaces. The current drive-through, drop-off window would be eliminated, and officials said short-term parking would serve patrons who want to quickly pick up or drop off library materials.
The library also proposes to create four parcels of parking between Patterson Boulevard and Wyandot Street, south of Third Street, that will be divided by green space. The library proposes installing water drainage so a few parcels could be sold and developed in the future.
“We are still having a lot that is strictly for parking use right now,” said John Fabelo, a partner with LWC Inc., a Dayton architectural, interior design and engineering firm, which is designing the main library. “The library isn’t developing this, but they are making it ready so that somebody could develop it.”
Fabelo said the parcels could be turned into single-family townhouses or a condo complex.
But he said if the library is going to build a new black box theater, children’s section, auditorium and other features it needs parking close to the facility in order to attract new visitors from other communities.
“(Library officials) want to change downtown, because they are saying the current library is not working,” Fabelo said. “There is only one type of client. We want to bring new people in. We want people to come from the suburbs and use the children’s area at the main library, which isn’t happening today.”
But Plan Board members said the project creates a troubling amount of new parking, and they want assurances that the two parcels facing Patterson Boulevard will be properly marketed so they can one day soon become housing.
The Plan Board took no action Tuesday. The development plan is expected be reviewed at the board’s March meeting.
Fabelo said the library is not in the business of marketing real estate, but officials will work closely will the planning department and city staff to find an appropriate buyer.
“Housing — meaning more residents — right along the library corridor is critical to them because that means more customers,” he said.
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