Acme Fresh Market is going to spend $650,000 on a new entrance and $450,000 to change its parking lot that many drivers find "totally confusing."

That's what City Council President Janet D'Antonio said about the current lot and said during Monday's meeting she is "glad [they] are looking to change it."

The $450,000 will be spent on realigning and resurfacing the lot and installing new landscaping islands. New light fixtures will also be added, said Robert White, a representative for the project.

"We'll install high performing fixtures and eliminated several of the poles," he said. "The height will be the same but the light is more efficient and we'll get a better light pattern on the parking lot. "

To get the most use out of the entrance, there are $650,000 plans to realign the exterior of the building.

"Acmes effect here, is to get better utilization out of the front entrance," said White. "If you're familiar with the store, people enter the store more on the left side and very infrequently use the entrance to the right."

The parking lot will be realigned to make traffic flow better.

Police Chief Louis Dirker said between now and 2008 there were 18 private property crashes reported at Acme's parking lot.

"I have also shopped there and found the aisle design and the traffic pattern to be awkward at best," said Dirker. "I agree that the redesign should alleviate a lot of problems."

Because the lot will be lined differently and spaces will be made bigger, Assistant Planning Director Rob Kurtz said Acme will lose 61 spaces, leaving 601 new 10-by-20-foot spots.

The business will also lose some parking spaces because the landscaped islands in the parking lot will be bigger. 

"The bigger the island ... the better landscaping will survive, it helps control the traffic at those intersections better too," said White.

The changes to the parking lot are "long overdue," according to Buckeye Car Wash Owner John Hurst, whose business shares the lot with the grocery store.

"There's a lot of diagonal traffic back and forth," he said. 

White said the project will begin sometime after Easter and is scheduled to be finished by the end of summer.

The project was approved by council March 10 with one abstention from Councilmember John Pribonic.