While the HERE Kansas apartment complex has identified a potential solution to its parking issues, the Lawrence City Commission should stick to its commitment to limit occupancy until the parking is available.

HERE Kansas, a multistory apartment/retail project near 11th and Mississippi streets, is under construction, and, when finished, will feature 624 bedrooms. Originally, HERE Kansas was to feature a high-tech, automated parking garage, but the company responsible for building the garage declared bankruptcy and left developers seeking an alternative solution.

First, apartment developers put a valet system in place for underground parking at the complex, but the valet system can’t accommodate as many vehicles as the automated system originally planned.

Now, plans have been filed with the city for a decidedly simpler approach: a 68-space surface parking lot at 1029 Mississippi St., just northwest of the HERE Kansas project. The project involves razing multifamily structures currently on the property. Half of the property already is an old parking lot that is rarely used except for big game-day crowds at nearby Memorial Stadium.

If approved, the new lot, coupled with the underground valet system, would give the HERE project enough spaces to accommodate all 624 bedrooms. But it will take months for the parking lot to get through the city approval process. It’s not a stretch to imagine that some Oread neighborhood residents will be opposed to razing houses to create more parking. And even if approval is secured, construction could push completion of the project to next spring.

However long the approval process takes, commissioners should remain firm in their position that portions of the apartment building must remain unrented until the parking solution is completed.

In May, the City Commission said 12 percent of the apartment complex’s bedrooms — 75 bedrooms — should not be leased until additional parking can be found. That’s a reasonable stance that may be the only way to avoid worsening an already bad parking conundrum.

It remains to be seen whether tearing down homes to make way for a parking lot is a good strategy to address this particular parking problem. But it is good that developers have finally put forward a plan for dealing with this unfortunate situation.

What would be even better is if the HERE project serves as an impetus for commissioners to have a broader discussion about how to improve parking throughout the Oread neighborhood. It is a problem that has been brewing for decades, and it only gets more complicated the longer commissioners wait to act.