The controversial parking lot proposed for Mitchell Park may have been derailed at the Nov. 18 SLO City Council meeting. The issue, to add a parking lot and net 11 parking spaces for the senior center, became a big issue for some candidates seeking election to the council. Jan Marx, for one, vowed to try to overturn the lot. Now, the decision to approve a contract for work on the parking lot has been postponed until Dec. 2, when the new council will be seated.
Council Chambers were filled to near capacity Tuesday night, with activists on both sides of the issue ready to deliver testimony. They never got the chance. With Marx’s opposition clear and newcomer John Ashbaugh a possible opponent, staff worried the incoming council would overturn a decision, possibly exposing the city to a lawsuit from a contractor.
The council therefore voted to let the next council award the contract or not.
This article appears in Nov 20-27, 2008.