With hundreds of new housing units in the pipeline nearby, some community leaders in Columbia-Savin Hill want the city to convert vacant lots on Dorchester Avenue into municipal parking lots.

“There’s a lot of support in the neighborhood and a lot of support in the business community and I’m in the process of getting that documented now,” said Eileen Boyle, vice president of Columbia-Savin Hill Civic Association.

Boyle said the idea has been a topic of discussion among the membership at civic meetings in recent months. The group has sent a letter to Mayor Wu that focuses on three vacant lots, most notably one at the corner of Dorchester Avenue and Pearl Street. Two others— at the corner of Dorchester Avenue and Dewar Street and r at Roach Street and Dorchester Avenue are also being mentioned.

Columbia and Savin Hill neighborhood leaders and some business owners are hoping to get the city’s attention in their recent call to turn two large, privately owned vacant lots into municipal parking lots to support businesses and new developments. This lot at the corner of Dewar Street and Dorchester Avenue is one they are pinpointing. Seth Daniel photos

The idea would be to convert the empty lots into two-hour municipal parking spaces and electric vehicle charging stations. Boyle and others believe it will ease the current double-parking problem at various businesses along the avenue and reduce congestion when hundreds of new units scheduled for the neighborhood come online in the next two years.

“I think a lot of the upcoming development here is going to lead to a lot of double parking on Dorchester Avenue and traffic chaos. It’s not going to be pretty,” said Boyle.

The letter reads, in part: “Dorchester Avenue is going under a tremendous amount of development with more on the way. The Ba Le Restaurant, Dollar Tree and Lucky Café and Venice Pizza already have patrons double parking on the Avenue causing problems with traffic. We want these businesses to succeed, and with sensible comprehensive city planning, they can. The members of the Civic Association feel these are the changes you as mayor are looking for neighborhood participation in city planning.”

Said City Councillor Frank Baker, “It is a good idea, and it would be worth exploring. It would be great if we could ever get the city to move on it and make an offer to the private owners. It would be a good use for these lots if we could get the city to move.”

Baker has seen business districts in other parts of the city thrive with municipal parking, and he noted that in places like Santa Monica, California, their bustling business districts are propped up with public parking within two or three blocks.

But the Mayor’s Office is not eager to move on the matter. In comments to the Reporter, a spokesperson said, “The City of Boston values the input of our residents and looks forward to hearing more about how to address neighborhood needs in Dorchester. At this time, there is not a city program to fund the acquisition of lots for off street parking.”

Boyle said the owners of the properties in question now appear to be land-banking and haven’t made much effort to beautify or improve them. She said a better use would be for parking lots to support businesses with about 40 spots, like in the Jamaica Plain business corridor on Centre Street.

“One of the reasons I like going to Jamaica Plain is there is a municipal parking lot with two-hour parking in the back and it’s so easy and you don’t pay at all,” she noted. “I would like to see the Pearl Street and Dewar Street lots – those two in particular – offer that same easy situation for those who want to come to Dorchester Avenue.”