VISTA -- The city's rapidly evolving downtown has plenty of parking spots, yet perceptions of a parking crunch persist because the available spaces aren't always in desirable locations and people don't always know where to find them, a report from a city-hired consultant says.

Using data it said was collected over the course of four days last year, a city-hired consultant -- Monterey Park-based Katz, Okitsu and Associates -- determined there is enough parking available in the downtown area, which includes the Vista Village shopping center, the city's historical downtown and the nearby Vista Transit Center.

But more can be done to funnel the right cars to the right spots, the report says.

The City Council will discuss the report at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 600 Eucalyptus Ave.

The consultant outlines several ways that it says will immediately improve the parking situation, including increased security at some lots, time restrictions on the best spaces and increased signs that would boost awareness of lesser-known parking areas.

If demand for downtown parking grows as anticipated, the city may eventually need to look into building a parking structure or charging people to park, the consultant states, but says that those steps are not yet warranted.

Gauging the problem

There are about 2,750 parking spots within the entire downtown area, which is several dozen acres. Nearly 300 of those spaces are on the street.

By monitoring occupancy and turnover counts, the consultant says it determined that even during peak periods, there are between 1,600 and 1,800 empty spaces downtown. Three hundred of those spaces are within 1,000 feet of the movie theater and 350 are in downtown.

Still, that's unlikely to comfort patrons in the most popular downtown areas such as the Vista Village shopping center, who can sometimes be observed, white knuckles on their steering wheels, while searching for a convenient parking spot.

Concerns from patrons and business owners that downtown development could worsen the parking squeeze prompted the city to hire the consultant last year for $40,000 to count the existing spots downtown and analyze usage, then estimate the area's future demand and craft recommendations.

Providing adequate downtown parking "is not a problem that is insurmountable, but I think that it could go that way," said Tom Fleming, president of the Vista Village Business Association and the owner of a shoe repair business in the district. "It's critical that they come up with something that isn't a stop-gap measure, but is a fix."

The status quo

The last time the city studied downtown parking was 1994, said Jeff Zinner, the city's redevelopment and housing manager.

Since then, the construction of the Vista Village center, which is anchored by the Krikorian MetroPlex 15 movie house, has transformed the downtown from a blighted commercial district into a shopping and entertainment hub.

But with progress and popularity inevitably come complications, and patrons often relate that their trips to see a movie or grab a bite to eat were tainted by several minutes of circling a crowded lot.

Bernard Jourdain, owner of El Callejon Mexican restaurant in Vista Village, said a parking crunch often affects his business during the lunch hour.

"People don't have the time to park far away to just have lunch," Jourdain said.

In the summer, when the nearby Wave Waterpark opens, "it gets completely out of control," he added.

But others say the parking concerns are overstated.

"We'd all like to park right in front, but I understand that that's just not practical. … You can't build for the absolute peak," said Jim Baumann, chief executive officer of the Chamber of Commerce.

Steve Hargrave, property manager of Vista Village, said parking at the shopping center is engineered well for the normal business cycle, and only reaches capacity during that rare "perfect storm" -- when it's a holiday, the weather is nice and a popular movie is playing.

While central areas, like the parking lot between the Krikorian MetroPlex and Vista Village Drive or some small lots in downtown, are popular during peak hours, many peripheral spaces are underutilized, the parking report states.

"Although parking occupancy in the study area is generally characterized as low, occupancy at specific locations within the study area varies drastically," the report states.

The next step

The parking study recommends several short- and long-term strategies for improving the parking situation.

To make outlying lots more secure, and thus more attractive, the city should immediately increase lighting, fencing and surveillance, the report says. To boost awareness of underutilized spaces, the city should post signs to direct drivers to peripheral lots.

In some areas, "parking lots are not clearly signed to indicate who may use them, and many lots are located behind buildings or in places that are not immediately obvious," the report states.

Over the next few years, the city should also consider valet parking and a "downtown parking district" that would allow city policies to be modified in a select area, the report states. To raise money for parking solutions, the city could offer developers the option of paying a fee if they do not include parking spots in their projects, the report states.

The most significant parking challenges may not appear for several more years, as the downtown landscape continues to evolve. In Vista Village, a barbecue restaurant and office building are slated to open in the coming months, further increasing demand, and by the end of this year, a Sprinter light-rail line station should be up and running nearby.

Fleming said he's concerned about what will happen to downtown once a planned mixed-use development at South Santa Fe Avenue and Vista Village Drive replaces an existing dirt parking lot.

As these and other changes come on-line, the city should monitor its parking resources and adjust its strategies accordingly, the parking report states. While a parking structure may one day be warranted, it wouldn't be an easy project. Assuming adequate land could be cobbled together, it would still take two to three years to build and potentially cost more than $30,000 per space in today's dollars, according to city staff.

For now, Fleming said, the parking situation is manageable, but "if you're not careful, you're going to turn the page on the calendar and it's going to be a problem."

Contact staff writer Craig TenBroeck at (760) 631-6621 or ctenbroeck@nctimes.com.