Jeffreys told CityBeat there are many reasons to quell the expansion of surface parking lots.

“We know the impact of surface parking from multiple factors. One is from an environmental standpoint; it’s just horrible, it’s a heat island. It’s horrible for stormwater management,” Jeffreys says. “It’s also one of the worst forms of development from the city. We get very little earnings tax from that or property tax, versus if there’s housing there or an office building. Maybe there’s some retail there. We want to create a city that is people first, that is designed for people first, where people want to come to downtown. People don’t want to come to a downtown that is simply surface parking.”