ENCINITAS — The City Council agreed in a unanimous vote Feb. 27 that the antiquated service station on the corner of E Street and Vulcan Avenue should be demolished and public parking spaces should be put in its place.

Merchant group representatives urged the council to take advantage of the chance to increase parking in downtown. “We have merchants who are impacted by the lack of adequate parking,” said Gary Tucker, president of the Encinitas Chamber of Commerce.

Downtown Encinitas MainStreet Association President Doug Long told the council that both the lack of downtown parking and the fact that the availability of additional parking spaces is hard to come by are well-known problems.

“Last May, the city and DEMA commissioned a parking study and in no question did anyone think there was enough parking,” he said.

Danny Salzhandler, president of the 101 Artists’ Colony, was the lone voice of dissent in the discussion. He offered to shoulder the cost of refurbishing the building to house the organization. The council was empathetic to the 101 Artists’ Colony’s search for a new home but not supportive of the idea of using the service station.

“The thing is melting,” said Councilman Dan Dalager. “There’s just no better way to say it. I hate to lose a part of our town’s past, but I think it’s time to say goodbye to it.”

Salzhandler said in an interview after the meeting that he could see both sides of the issue regarding the aging building. “It’s not older than me so it’s not historical,” he joked.

A staff report showed that the service station was beyond repair. “It would be cheaper and safer to tear down the building that to refurbish it,” Mayor Jerome Stocks said after the meeting.

Stocks said that parking would be an interim use for the site. He would not comment on permanent plans for the site.

The city leased the building to the San Dieguito Heritage Museum for 10 years. It has remained vacant since the museum moved to its new location on Quail Gardens Drive last year.

Councilman James Bond suggested that the new parking spaces at the base of City Hall be restricted to two hours to prevent Coaster train commuters from occupying them all day.

Tucker agreed that restrictions were necessary to ensure that merchants and visitors had adequate access to the new parking. He suggested creating a systematic time restriction policy on all downtown parking.

“We’ve got areas that are a two-hour limit, some that are a three-hour time limit and some with no restrictions whatsoever,” he said. “We are not the same town we were 20 years ago when free parking was abundant.”

Bob Nanninga, owner of E Street Café, said that he would support parking meters at the proposed lot and throughout downtown. “More parking would only translate into more sales,” he told the council.