Any discussion of downtown redevelopment quickly runs into one important and surprisingly emotional issue: parking.

Suffolk is still small enough that most folks visiting the city — not to mention those who have lived here most of their lives — come downtown expecting to park near their destination. The city’s current situation of limited curbside parking supplemented by lots located a block or more from Main and Washington streets might be the norm for larger downtown areas, and it might be eventually accepted by those who venture into downtown Suffolk, but current expectations are different.

To get a sense of what folks currently expect regarding downtown parking, one has only to look at the situation that has resulted in a parking nightmare at the Morgan Memorial Library. With the opening of the new City Hall, parking spaces at the library have been designated as “Visitor Parking,” and they’re being used by both library patrons and City Hall visitors. The result has been that some folks hoping to park in the library lot and actually visit the library have had their plans foiled.

City officials have long held that there is no downtown parking problem. In light of concerns raised by the continuing work on a cluster of loft apartments and retail spaces on the south side of the 100 block of West Washington Street, officials have stated repeatedly that the existing parking lots on Cherry Street and North Saratoga Street have more than enough spaces to accommodate current and future needs.

But the co-opting of spaces at the library should raise flags about the reality of Suffolk’s downtown parking problem. It also raises legitimate concerns for the library, whose patrons now find themselves bearing the brunt of the problem.

Things will improve when the old city hall building is demolished and a parking lot built in its place and when the new police headquarters expansion is complete and spaces now leased by the police department are turned over for use by other city departments.

Still, the situation shines a light on an issue folks in city government have been loath to publicly acknowledge. And it’s an issue they’ll be forced to reckon with if they want to see downtown Suffolk thrive.