SANTA CRUZ >> Santa Cruz will move forward in exploring building a new downtown library branch beneath a five-story parking garage where an existing parking lot now sits.

A meeting Tuesday on the concept-level pitch, eyeing a city-owned space on Cedar Street between Lincoln and Cathcart streets, drew more than a dozen speakers heavily opposed to the idea. The Santa Cruz City Council heard worries that the city is encouraging, rather than discouraging, vehicle trips and climate impacts, and that a six-story building would be an unsightly monolith added to the downtown streetscape. Others urged the city to wait for the completion of the city’s in-progress Transportation Demand Management study before taking any steps.

“The Sierra Club agrees with mixed use structures and infill, because otherwise our town centers are going to sprawl out. However, providing more parking infrastructure absolutely does not support climate action,” Sierra Club member Keresha Durham said. “This is like our central plaza, it’s like a pop-up park. It’s not a beautiful one, albeit. It’s a paved area. But it’s an outdoor community center right now. I’d like to you envision something like a greener space.”

This is not the first time the city has considered putting a new parking facility on the lot, though earlier incarnations did not include a library partnership. Earlier concerns included the displacement of the Farmers Market, Antique Faire and other community uses of the Cedar Street lot, as well. The council’s vote to move forward Tuesday included creation of a working group, recruiting downtown stakeholders such as Farmers Market representatives, to create a plan to relocate those public uses to a different, permanent site. The Downtown Commission also will be asked to investigate a parking fee plan for the structure, and an advisory committee will work with the library on design ideas for the new facility.

The motion passed 5-1, with Mayor Cynthia Mathews recusing herself due to property she owns close to the lot, and Councilman Micah Posner opposed.

As proposed, the new facility would share costs of constructing the building’s foundation, but the parking structure and library costs would otherwise be funded from separate pots of money. In June, voters approved Measure S, a Santa Cruz Public Libraries facilities bond, which sets aside about $23 million for a downtown library project. Renovation costs for the existing 50-year-old Church Street library are projected at about $31 million, while the library portion of a new facility likely would be in the $23 to $27 million range, City Manager Martín Bernal said.

The new parking structure, an estimated $33 to $37 million project, would provide the city with an additional 388 parking spaces, above what exists on the city lot already. In coming years, the city expects to lose its lease on a 109-space downtown lot at Calvary Episcopal Church, to make way for new development.

Councilman Don Lane, who shared some of his own concerns, said he was not sure that those speaking at the meeting represented downtown workers who would not support raising parking permit costs or alternative transportation incentive programs that community members recommended.

Both Lane and Councilwoman Richelle Noroyan asked library officials to do a better job in the future of explaining why a brand new library is needed. Library Director Susan Nemitz earlier had explained that the new facility would be a 21st century facility that could achieve cost savings in this project. The new location would make the library more accessible to downtown foot traffic and public use, have convenient parking.