HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015-03-19 DTPC Packet
DOWNTOWN PARKING COMMISSION
AGENDA
Thursday, March 19, 2015
8:30 AM Conference Room 213, City Hall
1. CALL TO ORDER
2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
3. APPROVAL OF FEBRUARY 19, 2015 MINUTES
4. NEW BUSINESS
4.01 Adoption of 2015 Downtown Parking Maps
4.02 Time Limit Change for Parking on Main Street
4.03 Brown’s Creek Trail – Grand Opening
5. OTHER BUSINESS
5.01 Council Action on Food for Fines
5.02 Council Action on 2015 Rates and Fines
6. ADJOURNMENT
DOWNTOWN PARKING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES
February 19, 2015
REGULAR MEETING
Chairwoman Pelletier called the meeting to order at 8:34 a.m.
Present: Chair Pelletier, Commissioners Helmberger, Hopfe, Johnson, Lettner; Council
Liaison Junker
Absent: Commissioner Anderson, Council Representative Kozlowski
Staff: Community Development Director Turnblad, Police Chief Gannaway, Parking
Enforcement Officer Pasket
Consultant: Damon Noga, Denison Parking
APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Motion by Commissioner Helmberger, seconded by Council Liaison Junker, to approve the
agenda. All in favor, 6-0.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Motion by Commissioner Helmberger, seconded by Council Liaison Junker, to approve the
January 15, 2015 meeting minutes. All in favor, 6-0.
OLD BUSINESS
Parking Lot Revenue Discussion
Community Development Director Turnblad provided a brief summary of the proposal to
convert Lots 3-11 east of Main Street to pay lots. On average over the past five years, the
shortage has been about $25,000 per year. In order to make the budget balance for the surface
lots, the Commission has been looking at revenue streams including monthly parking passes,
permits, and parking fines. The Council supports converting more lots to pay lots if needed,
but suggested an hourly rate instead of the proposed $5 flat rate. The Parking Commission is
gathering comments as part of the process of determining an appropriate rate structure.
Lollie ______ urged the Commission to postpone converting to pay lots until after the new
bridge opens. Whatever the solution, it must work for all businesses downtown. She has
talked to other business and property owners downtown. No one is happy about the proposal.
All of the people working so hard to make downtown a positive place hear so much negative
from residents who go downtown once or twice a year. A more positive attitude toward
Downtown Parking Commission February 19, 2015
Page 2 of 5
downtown is needed. She questioned why the proposal was not brought to the DRC or the
IBA.
Randy Gutzmann, Northern Vineyards, noted that the bridge and bike trail are positive
changes. He would like to postpone the proposal, to have a couple of years to grow into these
changes without immediately capitalizing on revenue from parking.
Corey Buettner, Leo’s Grill & Malt Shop, agreed with the above comments. He urged the
Commission to let the summer play out before deciding whether to convert the lots. The
downtown doesn’t need any unwelcome signs out for customers. He thanked the members
for their work on the Commission.
Andy Malone, Stillwater Marina, expressed concern about the impacts of pay parking on
customers. He agreed that the Commission should wait to convert to pay lots.
Todd Streeter, Greater Stillwater Chamber of Commerce, expressed appreciation for
everything the Commission is doing on behalf of downtown. He acknowledged that the
parking issue won’t go away, but requires a constructive solution as a collective group. There
may be different ways of looking at the issue to reach an outcome that is beneficial in the
long run. He urged the Commission to take more time to reach a decision with the
businesses’ input.
Kurt Kohl, resident, asked about the $100,000 surplus in the past year.
Community Development Director Turnblad responded that the City invested over $800,000
in parking lot construction over the last two years. A good year doesn’t eliminate the bad
years.
Lollie ______ asked about enforcement of the business parking permits. She suggested all
businesses be required to purchase parking permits for their employees.
Community Development Director Turnblad replied that the request for a parking mitigation
plan usually comes in with a special use permit application. It is being enforced.
Chair Pelletier assured Ms. ______ (Lollie) that the Commission understands that the
businesses need their customers.
Ms. ____(Lollie) asked about downtown property taxes as she has understood that it partially
pays for parking lots.
Council Liaison Junker pointed out that downtown Stillwater has never looked better. The
amount of parking has never been greater and has never looked better. There is a fair amount
of parking downtown, though more is still needed. If business owners complain to their
customers about parking, it will have negative impacts. It’s important to maintain the attitude
that Stillwater is a great place to visit. The City and business and building owners all have to
Downtown Parking Commission February 19, 2015
Page 3 of 5
work together. If some lots are pay lots, it will still be important to maintain a positive
attitude. The recommendation is that 269 out of 1,842 become pay spaces.
Chair Pelletier thanked everyone for their input.
NEW BUSINESS
Valley Outreach
Tracy Maki of Valley Outreach requested that the Parking Commission partner with them
during the month of March on their “Fill This Plate” campaign. The specific request is to
allow individuals who receive parking violation citations during the month of March to pay
for them with the donation of ten non-perishable food items. A slip of paper could go with
the ticket explaining the program. When people come in to pay their ticket, they could bring
in their donation to the City and the ticket would be forgiven.
Parking Enforcement Officer Pasket said it isn’t practical because Washington County is also
involved and there is a lot of paperwork. He would rather see a donation out of the enterprise
fund made directly to the Food Shelf instead.
Police Chief Gannaway said it’s a great idea but he isn’t sure logistically how it could be
done, and he is unsure if March is a good month because of the snowfall which could be a
big issue. Also, more lead time would be helpful.
Council Liaison Junker remarked that the program would be publicized and many other
community organizations could request the same thing.
Community Development Director Turnblad cautioned the Commission that any donation to
the Food Shelf would have to come out of the general fund, and cannot come out of the
enterprise fund. A typical March revenue from parking violations is about $3,000.
Police Chief Gannaway said if the ticket is paid in the required timeframe, the canned goods
could suffice but if the ticket goes unpaid, they should still be required to pay the fine in
dollars.
Motion by Commissioner Helmberger, seconded by Commissioner Hopfe, to approve the request
to allow individuals who receive parking violation citations during the month of March to pay
with ten non-perishable food items, provided that it is paid within 15 days. The ticket would then
be voided. All in favor, 6-0.
Downtown Parking Commission February 19, 2015
Page 4 of 5
OTHER BUSINESS
Permit Parking and Rates (2015) and Parking Equipment RFP
Community Development Director Turnblad stated the number of units needed is unknown.
He is concerned about proceeding with the RFP until the Commission knows how many
machines are needed.
Damon Noga, Denison Parking, stated that there would be a fluctuation in cost based on
number needed. He asked if the City has ever looked at a business improvement district for
the downtown in order to decrease costs to visitors?
Council Liaison Junker acknowledged that 2014 was a very good year for parking revenues,
but he is really tired of hearing about waiting because 2009, 2010 and 2011 were brutal
financially. There is something that comes up every year whether it’s flooding or some other
issue.
Chair Pelletier noted that business owners have asked, why aren’t you writing more tickets?
Police Chief Gannaway replied the reason for tickets is to correct behavior, not to boost
revenues. He cannot tell the staff to write x number of tickets. The businesses should
appreciate tickets because it turns over the parking spaces.
Council Liaison Junker said he would like to look at converting Lot 3 or 4 to pay parking -
which would generate more money than a flat rate for 11 lots.
Chair Pelletier replied that may put an undue burden on the south end of the City. With all
the changes coming, it may not be a bad thing to wait until the bridge is constructed and the
bicyclists start coming and see the impacts to downtown.
Council Liaison Junker said he is not sure the present Council would approve fixed rate
parking at other lots. He thinks it would have to be hourly. One potential solution is to
convert Lot 9 to a $3 lot just like Lot 2.
Commissioner Helmberger stated he doesn’t disagree, but he thinks a lot of the reason the
south lots fill up is that they are the first lots people see. 80% of the traffic comes in from the
south end.
Chair Pelletier commented that the impact of the bridge is still unknown. We don’t know if
visitors will come back.
Community Development Director Turnblad stated perhaps the solution is to raise monthly
permit rates to help the shortfall. Based on the input gathered over the past week, there is
some willingness to pay a higher permit fee. He will look at what monthly permit increases
could generate and bring back this information for the next meeting.
Downtown Parking Commission February 19, 2015
Page 5 of 5
Motion by Chair Pelletier, seconded by Commissioner Helmberger, to 1) table the purchase of
parking lot equipment for pay lot conversions to some future year; and 2) recommend increasing
the cost of monthly business parking permits from $10 to $15; and 3) recommend increasing the
cost of downtown resident parking permits from $10 to $20 per month; and 4) recommend
increasing the fine for parking violation citations from $15 to $20. All in favor, 6-0.
Acquisition of new vehicle for Parking Enforcement Officer
Chief Gannaway requested approval of a five-year lease for a small pick-up to replace the
current eight-year-old vehicle. The estimated total lease cost is $16,643.40.
Motion by Commissioner Helmberger, seconded by Commissioner Lettner, to approve the
purchase of a small pick-up for the Parking Enforcement Officer at a lease cost of $16,643.40.
All in favor, 6-0.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion by Commissioner Helmberger, seconded by Commissioner Hopfe, to adjourn at 10:42
a.m. All in favor, 6-0.
Respectfully Submitted,
Julie Kink, Recording Secretary
TO: Downtown Parking Commission
FROM: Bill Turnblad, Community Development Director
DATE: March 10, 2015
RE: 2015 Downtown Parking System Maps
BACKGROUND
Over the last several months the Parking Commission has been working through various
elements of the downtown parking system including which lots should allow the use of parking
permits and which lots should be pay lots. The matters seem to be settled now, at least for the
near future. The result of all this work is that the maps for the downtown parking system need to
be revised to reflect the changes.
Attached are two maps for the downtown parking system. One map is intended for the use of
parking patrons, the other for Parking Commission use.
It is City staff’s goal to have them approved and officially adopted by the Parking Commission.
COMMENTS
The “Public Parking Lots” map is a fairly simple map intended for use by our parking patrons. It
shows which lots are free or pay, the parking time limits in free lots, and in which lots the
business and downtown residential permits are valid. This map also shows other useful
information like the location of public restrooms; the location of the City’s off-street trail and
pedestrian walkway that interconnects (or will interconnect) all of our lots east of Main Street;
the location of the river walk, and the location of downtown parks and non-commercial points of
interest.
The “Municipal Parking” map is a larger format map intended to be used by City staff and the
Parking Commission. It includes the base tier of information found in the Public Parking Lots
map, plus much more detail. For example, this map also includes lot numbers, the number of
spaces in each lot, the location of each handicapped space in the parking lots, all time limited on-
street and handicapped on-street parking spaces, and on-street loading zones.
The 24 hour lots are all identified on these maps as 18 hour lots. This is to emphasize the fact
that overnight parking is not allowed in these lots, or any lot for that matter (without a
2015 Parking System Maps
Page 2
Downtown Residential Parking Permit). If 24 hours is printed as the time limit on these maps,
then people will mistake that to mean overnight parking is allowed.
Also, Lot 11 was approved by the Parking Commission (at staff’s suggestion) on December 18th
as a lot where business permits would be valid. But, it is an 18 hour lot. So, it makes no sense to
label this for business permit validity (i.e. you can park for your whole shift for free already
since it is an 18 hour lot; so you don’t need a business permit). Instead, I’ve shown Lot 11 as a
residential permit lot, since there will be a large demand for its use by the marina slip owners.
REQUEST
Staff asks the Parking Commission to review the two maps and if they look like they faithfully
and fairly represent the current state of the parking system, to formally adopt the maps by motion
and vote.
bt
attachments: Public Parking Lots map
Municipal Parking map
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Public Parking Lots
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2015
Map produced by
Stillwater Parking Commission
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Legend
City Parking Lot
City Parking Ramp
Tour bus parking
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Lot 1 -- 98 spaces
Lot 2 -- 84 spaces
Lot 3 -- 33 spaces
Lot 4 -- 29 spaces
Lot 5 -- 7 spaces
Lot 6 -- 16 spaces
Lot 7 -- 16 spaces
Lot 8a -- 51 spaces
Lot 8b -- 75 spaces
Lot 9 -- 30 spaces
Lot 10 -- 48 spaces
Lot 11 -- 45 spaces
Lot 12 -- 101 spaces
Lot 13 -- 23 spaces
Lot 14 -- 8 spaces
Lot 15 -- 13 spaces
Lot 16 -- 47 spaces
Lot 17 -- 97 spaces
Lot 18 -- 60 spaces
Lot 19 -- 75 spaces
Lot 20 -- 22 spaces
Ramp -- 248 spaces
Total spaces in lots = 1,226
Map produced for
Stillwater Parking Commission
3/18/15
468 marked on-street parking spaces
148 unmarked on-street parking spaces
1,842 total public spaces
1,412 free spaces (76.7%)
TO: Downtown Parking Commission
FROM: Bill Turnblad, Community Development Director
DATE: March 13, 2015
RE: Main Street Parking – Time Limit
BACKGROUND
During public discussion at the last Parking Commission meeting, the idea of reducing the time
limit on Main Street parking was suggested by a downtown business owner. The reason given
for the suggestion was to create a higher turnover rate in front of retail businesses to allow
customers a better chance of parking closer to stores. The underlying problem anecdotally is that
employees and business owners dominate the Main Street parking spots. But, if the time limit
were shortened, then employees and owners would be inconvenienced enough by moving their
vehicles frequently that they would park in City lots rather than on the street in front of their
businesses.
COMMENTS
Currently a vehicle can be parked for three hours at any marked on-street space in Downtown
Stillwater. A number of years ago parking in the on-street spaces was limited to two hours.
However, that generated complaints from business owners and the City reacted to those
complaints be increasing the time limit to three hours.
Going back to the two hour limit has the potential to generate those same complaints. Any
change will generate complaints. As a matter of fact, leaving the parking limit as it is will
generate complaints.
REQUEST
Staff asks the Parking Commission to discuss the merits of reducing the time limit for parking on
Main Street. If there is enough Parking Commission support for considering a change, staff
would recommend surveying downtown business owners, property owners, and parking patrons
to gauge whether a change would be supported by most people. And, if so, what time limit is
most likely to be received favorably.
bt
TO: Downtown Parking Commission
FROM: Bill Turnblad, Community Development Director
DATE: March 13, 2015
RE: Grand Opening Ceremony
Brown’s Creek Trail
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the City of Stillwater are planning a
grand opening ceremony for the Brown’s Creek Trail on June 6th. The location of the ceremony
is planned to be in Municipal Lot 12, which is the trailhead parking lot.
More details on the ceremony will be available at the Parking Commission meeting on March
19th. It is still not known, for example, whether the DNR will request reservation of the lot for
the event.
bt
TO: Downtown Parking Commission
FROM: Bill Turnblad, Community Development Director
DATE: March 11, 2015
RE: UPDATE ON RECENT COUNCIL DECISIONS
FOOD FOR FINES
On March 3, 2015 the City Council approved the Parking Commission recommendation to
accept non-perishable food items in place of fine payments for parking tickets issued in March.
2015 PARKING RATES
On March 3, 2015 the City Council adopted the Parking Commission recommendations to:
1. Add NO MORE pay parking lots to the downtown parking system.
2. Increase the fine for parking violation citations from $15 to $25.
3. Increase the Downtown Resident Parking Permits from $10 to $20 per month.
However, the recommendation to raise the Business Parking Permit fee from $10 to $15 per
month died on a 2-2 vote. The two dissenting votes believed that it may be fairer if the Business
Parking Permit fee were to rise to $20. Consequently, the Parking Commission was asked to
reconsider this fee.
In terms of increased revenue, if the Business Permit is raised to $20 along with the other two
raises, the total projected revenue increase would be a bit over $32,300 (see attached
spreadsheet). For comparison purposes, if the Business Permit is raised only to $15, the
increased revenue would be a bit over $27,700.
An interesting consequence of raising the Business Permit to $20 a month would be that the
standard monthly pass in the parking ramp would then be less expensive at $15.
The Parking Commission should consider raising the Business Permit to $20 a month and make
a recommendation to the City Council.
bt
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