To the editor:

I am thinking about what is taking place with the 300-unit apartment complex that can’t get enough parking. Their proposal is an off-site parking lot to make the city believe that this will solve the problem of not meeting city code.

I am reminded of the HERE of Lawrence project that did not have a site that was large enough to meet city code. They devised a cunning solution that included a parking system by some company to allow enough parking to meet code requirements. The parking system provider went bankrupt but HERE of Lawrence did not get a performance bond in order to guarantee that they could perform on the parking system. So they come to the city, hat in hand, asking the city to change the code to allow parking in rented lots in the area including the one across Mississippi Street owned by the university for game-day parking. Now that this is going away, will the city make HERE of Lawrence reduce the number of rentable apartment units to comply with code? Not likely!

I see a similar situation that the city is facing now with offsite parking. What happens if two years down the road, the owners of the complex sell the parking lot? Impossible you say? See paragraph 2 above.

The solution is to make developers adhere to code and we would not have any problems. City, do the right thing and follow building codes, no matter who the developers are.

Jeff Allen,

Lawrence