Actual Factual North Fulton: When is the downtown parking deck in Alpharetta coming?

The Alpharetta City Council has a problem — but it's a good problem to have. Its downtown business district is growing, but now they've got to figure out how to provide adequate parking for people coming to eat and shop.

“It’s not something that just cropped up due to some new development. It’s something we’ve been needing desperately for quite a while,” said Jim Parsons, who owns the Smokejack BBQ building on South Main Street.

The city council has worked with an engineering firm since August to construct a downtown parking deck on the west side of Main Street. Their ideal choice, dubbed "Site A," would stretch 125,000 square feet, contain four parking levels, and have 335 spaces.

Site A's location would stand at the junction of Milton Avenue, Old Roswell and Roswell streets. The spot is ideal because of its proximity to the growing downtown district, said James Drinkard, the city's assistant administrator.

“When we look at (Site A), it’s the most centrally located … It serves the most destinations and the most businesses,” he said.

Alpharetta's downtown corridor has increased in popularity over the past few years, and when addressing walkability, a parking deck — like Site A — ideally needs to be 200 feet to 400 feet within the downtown hub for it to be effective, Drinkard said.

But council members' plans for the A deck were delayed by some residents who have lobbied for another location. The council's preferred deck, they said, would be built on and take away a popular downtown gathering spot.

Alpahretta resident Saga Terrell told council members in September she was worried the excess of cars coming from the Site A parking garage could clog traffic in key gathering spots where hundreds of people come to enjoy outdoor public events.

Instead, these residents have pushed for a different location, Site D, which would be built further away from downtown.

The Site D parking garage would have three floors, stretch 110,000 square feet and contain 301 parking spaces, ultimately replacing an abandoned structure along Milton Avenue next to Rest Haven Cemetery.

(A third option, Site E, has also been proposed, and would have 264 parking spaces. It would be at the same location as the council's preferred Site A, but include a rooftop park.)

Even though Site D's parking deck would be located further away from downtown, longtime resident Mary Ulich believes its distance would not single-handedly keep patrons from frequenting the area.

"You all don’t get to decide where the soul of Alpharetta is. I believe the residents and the people who use the place every day decide where the soul is," she said alluding to the hundreds of residents who came downtown for special events this fall. "And they have clearly voted with their feet."

To help with the decision-making, city officials announced Thursday they will launch two large balloons at each proposed site.

"This will help illustrate the visibility of the proposed structure and how the height of the deck would relate to the buildings around it," said the city's Facebook post.

Council members will vote on the various parking deck proposals at their next regular monthly meeting, Oct. 17.