To bolster urban density, Seaside is investing in parking -- for both customers and residents.

When Seaside City Council approved the West Broadway Urban Village Specific Plan back in 2010, the vision was to revitalize the city’s downtown core with a pedestrian-friendly, transit-adjacent street that would attract businesses (and customers) and a variety of different housing types.

Some of that vision has already been realized: The sidewalks have been widened, trees have been planted, and the street has gone from four lanes to two. But among the things that haven’t happened yet are new housing developments (a lack of water supply has played a part in that) and a parking structure, the latter of which was included on page 1 of the 300-page plan.

That’s in part why the council voted last January to spend almost $1.1 million to acquire a small lot on the corner of Broadway and Del Monte, which has been used for parking ever since.

On Jan. 19, the City Council declared that use official, and also included another city-owned lot across Del Monte Boulevard that would total 60 parking spaces. Council voted to keep 36 of those spaces dedicated to residential parking.

The timing is important as sometime in the next few weeks, El Dorado Hills-based developer Doug Wiele – who built the Trader Joe’s development in Monterey, among others – says he will submit a formal application to redevelop the Seaside Market property at 1540 and 1546 Del Monte, which has been shuttered for years.

The plan is to build a four-story, mixed-use development with fast casual restaurants on the first floor and 32 workforce housing units above them. Wiele’s initial plan didn’t include any parking spaces for residents – they would all be offsite.