City committee allows apartment project to halve required parking spaces

The city of La Crosse is on the verge of breaking its own rules on parking spaces.

The Garden Terrace project near the Kane Street Community Gardens is looking for a last-minute plan change — one that involves cutting in half the number of available parking spaces for tenants.

That means street parking, and lots of neighborhood issues says city council member Scott Neumeister, who represents the area.

“We’re not being fair to the neighborhood,” Neumeister said. “We’re not being fair to the neighbors, the owners of the homes.

“And it’s just not feasible at this time.”

Tuesday night, a city council committee, however, has overwhelmingly approved the changes.

By city code, developers are supposed to provide a minimum of 106 parking spaces for the project. The changes allow them to provide just 54 for the 50 unit low income development.

There’s hope that tenants will use mass transit and bicycles, apparently. That is something that fits in with long-range goals for the city, says city council president Martin Gaul.

“That is the long-term vision for the city and we need to be bold enough to work towards that goal if that’s where we really want to be,” Gaul said.

Garden Terrace is a project aimed largely at providing housing for low income and the previously homeless. It’s set to break ground next month.