In a public hearing tonight, the Provo Municipal Council will discuss whether to put a downtown parking lot up for sale a second time, a move that neighboring business owners have argued would put them out of business.

The parking lot at 70 S. Freedom Blvd. serves patrons of several nearby businesses, including Center Street Musical Theatre, Sensuous Sandwich, Bingham Cyclery and Royal West Martial Arts. In June, following an outcry from some owners and an inquiry by the Daily Herald, the city admitted it didn't follow city code when it put the lot on the market last December. The code requires two weeks of notice before a public hearing on the sale, but a city spokeswoman said the item had been accidentally left off the council's published agenda. The council approved the sale anyway.

The city pledged in June not to pursue a sale until a properly noticed public hearing was held. A new one would have been required anyway beginning July 1, because city code stipulates that property for sale at the end of the city's fiscal year (June 30) must be re-approved in the next one. Tara Riddle, the city's property coordinator, said public notice was posted this time around as required by law in three places -- the city center, the energy building and the public library -- several weeks ago. A newspaper ad ran as required in the Daily Herald's legal section on July 1.

"I prepared the notice," she said. "We generally only do this kind of noticing when it's considered to be a significant parcel of property."

That's defined in city code as anything valued at $500,000 or more. According to Provo Redevelopment Agency Director Paul Glauser, the city had the lot appraised at $560,000.

But Gavin Grooms, owner of Center Street Musical Theatre, said he was unaware of the new public hearing when the Daily Herald contacted him.

"Nobody let me know about it," he said. "No announcement, no notice, no anything."

Grooms said he thinks the city should have mailed him and other affected property owners a copy of the notice. He said he's been watching the parking lot closely for several months, but has seen no physical evidence on the property of the city's plans for it.

It's not required by city code to mail notices of public hearings about proposed sales to anyone, Riddle said. But Grooms said that's an adversarial tact to take with the people who sustain activity downtown.

"They're a public entity; they're obligated to make it public," he said. "If their goal is to get rid of all the mom-and-pop stores and bring in the big retail businesses, they should simply say so."

Glauser said it's important to remember that the city is looking for a solution that will work for all interested parties. He said he has been contacting many of the nearby business owners personally over the past few days to let them know what's coming.

"We're not trying to leave them high and dry with parking. We're trying to find a solution," he said. "I think some of them were glad to hear firsthand what the city's intentions are."

There are no clear plans for the property yet, but the city hopes to integrate it into larger downtown movements at some point, Mayor Lewis Billings told the council at its July 1 meeting.

"We want it to go to someone who is going to put it with some other property around it and make a project," he said.

Glauser said there have been no firm offers to buy the property, but at least one party is interested. It's possible that a sale contract would stipulate that some form of parking be provided or that the lot would revert back to city ownership within a certain time period if nothing is done with it, he said.

The public hearing will take place during the Municipal Council's regular meeting at 7 p.m. today at 351 W. Center St.

• Ace Stryker can be reached at 344-2556 or at astryker@heraldextra.com.