Several hours of discussion at last week’s Lawrence City Commission meeting raised at least as many questions as it answered about parking arrangements for a huge apartment development east of Kansas University’s Memorial Stadium.

Faced with the bankruptcy filing of the contractor that was going to install an innovative robotic parking system in its 624-bedroom complex, HERE @ Kansas is scrambling to come up with alternative parking provisions. Jim Heffernan, a principal in HERE Enterprises, continued to focus on the “green” aspects of the project — its bicycle storage, its proximity to campus and bus service, its grocery delivery service — all of which the company contends will reduce the number of tenants who want to bring cars and park them at the complex. By contrast, commissioners understandably were more concerned about the complex providing parking that was both adequate and convenient enough to keep tenants from simply choosing to park on streets in the Oread Neighborhood.

Avoiding further parking congestion in that area was a primary concern when this project was approved. It is no less a concern now, and information shared at last week’s meeting does little to allay that concern.

First, commissioners appeared to be hearing for the first time that parking access wouldn’t be included in leases at the building and would require a separate lease and fee, which certainly raises the possibility that tenants would choose to skip the added expense and park elsewhere.

Another reason they might make that choice is the valet parking system that would squeeze their vehicles into spaces that are a foot narrower than what is required in city code — the width approved for the robotic system that doesn’t require a driver to enter and exit the vehicle. Heffernan said the valet system would be run by a private contractor that would assume liability for the cars.

The other parking option would be a separate garage proposed for property just south of the complex. Several local residents pointed out last week that assuming that garage will be part of the solution to HERE’s parking problems would be premature since those plans still have to go through a city review process that could take a couple of months.

Heffernan appeared to grow frustrated as commissioners asked questions about specific parking scenarios that the developer obviously hadn’t thought through. Instead of answering those questions he repeatedly chose to tout the innovated aspects of the project that his firm has “substantially delivered.”

Except for that pesky parking issue.

The last City Commission, which approved this project along with sizeable tax incentives, may have been impressed by what one community member on Tuesday called the “shiny object” that this project represented, but current city officials now have to deal with the details. Commissioners wisely put off a decision on the project Tuesday to give city staff an opportunity to examine more closely the developer’s parking plans. Questions also were raised about the developer’s apparent shift toward filling the commercial space in the complex mostly with restaurants instead of retail, as was proposed.

HERE’s vision of a complex populated by people who embrace an “urban lifestyle” that eliminates their need for cars and parking may become a reality, but that’s a sizable gamble for Lawrence, Kansas. Commissioners must make sure that if HERE’s vision isn’t realized, the Oread Neighborhood doesn’t come out the big loser.