Has the Iksan Sindong Public Parking Lot Development Project Been Abandoned?

City Council Fails to Pass Threshold for Public Property, Abandons Effort

Isan Sindong Market, which has not been in operation for 3 to 4 years

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hong Jaehee] The ‘Sindong Public Parking Lot Construction Project’ promoted by Iksan City, Jeonbuk Province, has been canceled.

In particular, the city attempted to convert the aging Sindong Market into a parking lot, but it failed to pass the city council and is currently unable to even purchase the site.

According to the city, parking spaces in the Sindong area are severely insufficient. Last year’s parking supply and demand survey showed that the parking lot acquisition rate in residential areas of Sindong was below 70%, with 14 out of 32 blocks having a parking supply rate below 60%.

Furthermore, Sindong Market, established in 1999, lacks fire safety facilities such as sprinklers and has not been in operation for the past 3 to 4 years, leaving it neglected and raising concerns about crime.

Accordingly, the city planned to purchase the 4,131㎡ site and buildings of Sindong Market to resolve the shortage of parking lots in the Sindong area. The ‘Sindong Public Parking Lot Construction Project,’ aimed at providing parking convenience to Sindong residents, was planned with a budget of 6.6 billion KRW.

However, the city council rejected the ‘2020 Shared Property Management Plan’ for constructing the Sindong public parking lot, citing low efficiency relative to investment. Moreover, purchasing the Sindong Market site is difficult due to plans for mixed-use residential and commercial development.

The Iksan City Council pointed out, “The plan to invest 3 million KRW per pyeong to convert the commercial area of Sindong Market into a parking lot has efficiency issues,” and criticized, “They are conducting haphazard administration without any feasibility study.”

They also emphasized, “There are many areas with insufficient parking spaces such as Busong-dong, Yeongdeung-dong, and Madong, but investing 6.6 billion KRW to create parking spaces in areas mostly consisting of single-family and row houses requires thorough reconsideration.”

For these reasons, the city abandoned the ‘Sindong Public Parking Lot Construction Project.’ A city official explained, “The shared property management plan did not pass the council, and site acquisition was difficult, so we had no choice but to give up the project.”

Some have expressed dissatisfaction, saying that the city has consistently used the difficulty of land acquisition as an excuse for the failure of the Sindong public parking lot construction and ultimately scrapped the project.

A Sindong resident, Mr. A, said, “We have repeatedly requested the construction of a public parking lot in Sindong, but it has been repeatedly canceled,” and argued, “It is necessary to purchase other sites, not the expensive Sindong Market site, to open a public parking lot.”

Meanwhile, the Sindong Market Reconstruction Association reportedly submitted a plan in May to build a mixed-use residential and commercial building over 20 stories high for market development, according to the city’s explanation.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.