ADRIAN — The city of Adrian is purchasing a small plot of land on the north side of Church Street with the goal of creating more parking spaces downtown.

The parcel’s address is 147 E. Church St. It is a small rectangle of land, about one-fifth of an acre, just west of the downtown roundabout. It is bounded by Church Street on the south, the city’s current Church Street parking lot on the west, the First Presbyterian Church parking lot on the north, and a small grassy parcel on the east.

The Adrian City Commission on Nov. 6 voted unanimously to purchase the land for $40,000 from Shayona Real Estate LLC of Plymouth.

City administrator Greg Elliott said the parcel will be turned into a parking lot, and it will also open up access to the small city-owned parcel on the northwest side of the roundabout, allowing that land to be used for parking as well.

Parks and engineering director Matt Tomaszewski said between the newly acquired parcel and the land it will provide access to, the city will be able to add roughly 30 public parking spaces to downtown. The total cost is estimated at $210,000, including the price of the land.

The cost will be paid out of the city’s parking fund, which Tomaszewski said currently has a balance of about $1 million. The money in that fund comes from three sources — a downtown Tax Increment Financing district, a special assessment on all downtown property owners, and the city’s general fund — with each putting in $60,000 a year.

Commissioners approved the purchase without additional comment; however, they did hear from city resident Ken Tokarz, who spoke against the purchase and said that downtown parking lots should be paid for out of the Downtown Development Authority budget. 

Tomaszewski said although the project’s exact time frame is not certain, he hopes it can be completed by next fall.