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Home My WebLink About2019-04-18 DTPC Packet DOWNTOWN PARKING COMMISSION AGENDA Thursday, April 18, 2019 8:30 AM Conference Room 213, City Hall 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA 3. APPROVAL OF MARCH 21, 2019 MINUTES 4. SPECIAL EVENTS 4.01. St. Croix Crossing Half-Marathon 4.02. Criterion Bike Race 5. OTHER BUSINESS 5.01. Union Alley parking restrictions 6. UPDATES 6.01. 2019 Flood 7. ADJOURNMENT DOWNTOWN PARKING COMMISSION MEETING March 21, 2019 Chair Anderson called the meeting to order at 8:34 a.m. Present: Chair Anderson, Commissioners Glynn, Hopfe, McAllister and Lettner Absent: Commissioner McAllister and Council Liaison Junker Staff present: Community Development Director Turnblad, Police Chief Gannaway, Parking Enforcement Officer Pasket; Zoning Administrator Tait APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes of February 21, 2019 were accepted as presented. ELECTION OF VICE CHAIR Commissioner McAllister was unanimously elected as vice chair. UPDATE Police Chief Gannaway updated the Commission on flood preparations and their impact upon the public parking system. NEW BUSINESS Crosby Hotel valet fee Community Development Director Turnblad reviewed him memo of March 11, 2019. Motion by Chairman Anderson, seconded by Commissioner Hopfe, to recommend that the City Council charge $9 per day per space during the high season and $3 per day per space during the off season. Motion passed 5-0. St. Croix Crossing Half-Marathon Mr. Turnblad reviewed his report February 12, 2019. Run Stillwater made application for a new half-marathon event that would begin in Wisconsin, cross the new bridge and end Downtown Stillwater. The event would be held on Saturday July 27th from 5 am to 11:30 am. The requested route in Stillwater would be along Hwy 95 to Chestnut Street and end in front of the Lift Bridge concourse. The parking lane would be reserved for the race, Downtown Parking Commission Meeting March 21, 2019 Page 2 of 3 which would result in 17 on-street parking spaces being reserved between Nelson and Chestnut. In addition, the parking spaces on Chestnut as well as on the east side of Main all the way to the Oasis Café would be reserved. This is total of 70 on-street spaces. City policy is to prohibit reservation of on-street parking spaces on Main Street. Consequently staff recommended limiting the number of parking spaces that would be reserved on Main. Stacy Einck of Run Stillwater noted that the running lane cones would be removed by 11:00 to 11:15 am. Parking Enforcement Officer Pasket mentioned that parking spaces on Water Street would also have to be reserved for the shuttle busses. Einck said the busses would run between 5:45 am and 6:30 am. Commissioner Hopfe said that in addition to eliminating Main Street parking during the event, the Downtown Parking lots would be filled by runners and spectators. She asked if there was a parking lot outside of Downtown that could be used together with shuttle service. Parking Enforcement Officer Pasket noted that in order to clear parking spaces for Saturday morning, the parking spaces would have to be posted on Friday. Chair Anderson asked if the trail could be used instead of the parking lane. Especially since reserving Main Street parking spaces is discouraged. Einck responded that using the trail instead of the dedicated race route is not ideal. There was consensus among the Commissioners that they recommend using the trail system, not the street parking lane. The event parking request was tabled until the April commission meeting in order for the organizers to explore a route that does not require the reservation of parking on Main Street. Union Alley Parking Restriction Turnblad conveyed a request by the city’s Public Works Director to consider allowing winter parking restrictions to be placed on Union Alley. Currently parking is allowed on both sides of the alley, and when there is considerable snow accumulation it is very difficult to plow snow and to keep the alley open wide enough for emergency vehicles. Therefore, the Public Works Director would like to see parking on only one side of the alley during the winter. In order to determine availability of nearby parking for residents that use the alley for parking, Commissioner McAllister asked what other parking restrictions were effect Downtown during the winter. Turnblad said that a winter parking restrictions map is available, and that he would bring it to the Commission meeting next month. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Parking capacity study scope Turnblad discussed the scoping document prepared by Lance Bernard of HKGi. The Commission was satisfied with the scope, but asked for review of the 2040 Comprehensive Plan to be added to Task 3.3. Downtown Parking Commission Meeting March 21, 2019 Page 3 of 3 Turnblad said that he would bring the scope to the City Council for approval and then would release it to the parking consultant community for proposals. MISCELLANEOUS Barb O’Neil, a resident of Rivertown Commons, asked the Parking Commission for help with the shortage of parking on their property. She suggested both reserving five spots in the Crosby parking deck on 2nd Street and additional spaces in the municipal parking ramp. Turnblad explained that the Crosby parking deck is owned by the Hotel. The Hotel is required to offer their parking deck to the general public, but is not obligated to provide any reserved spaces to residents in the area. And, since the city ramp was constructed with re- development tax increment revenue, State law limits the non-commercial use of the ramp to 10% of the facility. That is 25 spaces. We issue 25 ramp passes for residential purposes, and have a waiting list. The Commission recommended that Rivertown Commons residents inquire with property owners in the area that have extra parking available, for example Larry’s Floor Covering on Commercial Street. UPDATES Turnblad reported the City Council decisions on the Historic Armory and the event permit for the Cruisin’ the Croix. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Anderson adjourned the meeting at 10:15 a.m. Respectfully Submitted, Bill Turnblad TO: Downtown Parking Commission FROM: Bill Turnblad, Community Development Director DATE: April 8, 2019 RE: St. Croix Crossing Half Marathon INTRO Stacy Einck of Run Stillwater has submitted a permit application for the St. Croix Crossing Half Marathon. It is planned to be run on Saturday, July 27th. The majority of the race would be in Western Wisconsin, but the last leg will cross the new bridge into Minnesota and end Downtown Stillwater. As first proposed, the last leg of the race would make its way down Main Street to Chestnut and turn east to finish in front of the Lift Bridge. This scenario would require the reservation of the 70 parking spaces on the east side of Hwy 95/Main Street for race use until 11:30 am the day of the race. 17 of these spaces would be located between Nelson and Chestnut Streets. In addition to the half-marathon course, on-street parking spaces would also be need on Water Street for shuttle service, and several parking lot spaces would be needed in Lot 2 for porta-potties and a public announcer’s tent. [Lot 4 was requested for the porta-potties, but the bridge restoration work will not be completed by race time, so the porta-potties will need to be in Lot 2.] The Parking Commission did not support reservation of any parking spaces on Main Street and requested the event organizers to consider an alternate finish route. REVISED FINISH The alternate finish route proposed by Run Stillwater can be seen on the next page and in the attached application materials. It accomplishes the Parking Commission’s goal of not reserving any parking spaces on Main Street. But, it does present potential trail use conflicts, which the Parking Commission recognized as possible last month. This includes potential conflicts at the boat docks for the St Croix Boat & Packet, as well as conflicts with other trail users. St Croix Crossing Half Marathon April 8, 2019 Page 2 Alternate race finish Ultimately, the City Council will need to weigh the positive and negative aspects of each route alternative and decide which would be the best for the greater community. RECOMMENDATION Since City policy is to prohibit the reservation of on-street parking spaces on Main Street, and since there appears to be reasonable route alternatives that avoid this, staff recommends a race route that does not require the reservation of parking spaces on Main Street. cc: Stacy Einck attachments: application form bt Use of Loop Trail from Sunnyside to Chestnut, staying on bike path (safest for runners –wider path, straight, minimal decline/incline). Finish Line Public Safety/Race Marshals to control intersections, parking access and trail crossing as needed (TBD) St. Croix Crossing Half Marathon, July 27, 2019 – Downtown approach to finish DRAFT V2, Bike path route Stillwater, MN Prepared by Run Stillwater, Inc. –3/25/19 Use of Loop Trail from Sunnyside to Chestnut, staying on bike path (safest for runners –wider path, straight, minimal decline/incline). Road closed Trail signage 0700-1100 alerting the public Finish line Recovery food and medals Crowd barriers with gaps Portapotties PA announcer (tent, no stakes) Emergency Vehicles (lot east of Water Street Inn) Course Marshals/Public Safety St. Croix Crossing Half Marathon – Preferred Finish Area Layout 1 V2, Bike path route Stillwater, MN Prepared by Run Stillwater, Inc. –3/25/19 •We prefer that the trail be closed for the safety of runners and spectators If council has concerns about closing the trail, we can keep it open and ensure staff will be in place to keep runners and spectators safe. TO: Downtown Parking Commission FROM: Bill Turnblad, Community Development Director DATE: April 12, 2019 RE: Special Events – North Star Grand Prix Lee Stylos has made application for an event permit on behalf of Minnesota Bicycle Festival, Inc. for the North Star Grand Prix, to be held on June 16th. The race in Stillwater is one stage of a multiple stage race. The race route is proposed to be expanded this year to create a 6.2 mile course. The intent is to qualify for a more competitive class of professional racers. At this point event details are still rather vague. The attached application explains the basics, but more detail will be required before a complete review of the event permit is possible. Comments The race route map at the right shows the Downtown Parking District outlined in blue. The requested race route, shown in green, includes Second Street within the parking district, as well as Third and Pine Streets on the perimeter of the district. It is not know yet if any of the public parking lots Downtown are hoped to be used for this event, as in past years. If the Council approves the desired race route, the cost for each reserved on- street space would be $3. Special Event Permits Page 2 The enlarged map below shows the portion of the Downtown Parking District that would be impacted by the race. Requested Action Since there is not enough detail to complete a review or make a recommendation, staff requests that the Parking Commission table the event discussion until the May 16 Commission meeting. bt attachment: Stillwater Criterium application materials TO: Downtown Parking Commission FROM: Bill Turnblad, Community Development Director DATE: April 8, 2019 RE: Winter parking restrictions – Union Alley INTRO This winter has reminded the Public Works Department just how little room is available in Union Alley for snow plowing and snow storage. Plow passage is especially difficult between Myrtle and Chestnut because there is parking on both sides of this one-way alley. And, even though on-street parking is not allowed during the winter between 2 am and 6 am (see attached winter parking restriction map), when we have a winter like this one, cars parked on both sides of the narrow alley even during the day cause a snow removal problem. DISCUSSION Public Works Director Shawn Sanders will be at the Parking Commission meeting in April to discuss winter parking restriction options in this block of Union Alley. bt M u l b e r r y S t C o m m e r c i a l A v e M y r t l e S t C h e s t n u t S t O l i v e S t N e l s o n S tMain StWater StSecond StThird StN e l s o n A l l e yUnion AlleyP i n e S tFourth StLowell ParkLowel lParkL if t B r id g e Te d d y B e a r P a r k P i o n e e r P a r k Overnight Public Parking Downtown Stillwater Nov 1 - March 31 4/1/19 Legend Winter street parking restriction area No on-street parking 2 am - 6 am Winter Overnight Parking Allowed: Free (Nov 1 - Apr 30)* Allowed: Pay ramp City Parking Lot City Parking Ramp * Limited to 3 or 4 hrs (as posted in lot) ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ # # # # # # # ^ # Lot 1 Lot 2 Lot 3 Lot 4 Lot 5Lot 6 Lot 7 Lot 9 Lot 8b Lot 11 Lot 10 Lot 12 Lot 13 Lot 14 Lot 15 Lot 16 Lot 17 Lot 18 Lot 8a M u l b e r r y S t C o m m e r c i a l A v e M y r t l e S t C h e s t n u t S t O l i v e S t N e l s o n S tMain StWater StSecond StThird StN e l s o n A l l e yUnion AlleyP i n e S t Crosby Hotel ramp 3 4 43 3 4 4 24 24 24 4 4 4 24 Lowel lParkLowel l ParkL iftB r id g e T e d d y B e a r P a r k P i o n e e r P a r k 1,247 off-street parking spaces: 1,206 general public 41 handicapped spaces 468 marked on-street spaces: 416 general public 18 handicapped spaces 14 15 minute spaces 7 30 minute spaces 19 Loading spaces 239 unmarked on-street spaces (Includes 91 on 2nd St no. of Mulberry) 1,954 total public spaces 1,451 free public spaces (74.3%) Public Parking Downtown Stillwater 2019 Lot 1 (pay lot)(Free Nov 1 - Apr 30) - 98 spaces Lot 2 (pay lot)(Free Nov 1 - Apr 30) - 84 spaces Lot 3 (free lot - 3 hr) -- 33 spaces Lot 4 (free lot - 4 hr) -- 29 spaces Lot 5 (free lot - 4 hr) -- 7 spaces Lot 6 (free lot - 3 hr) -- 16 spaces Lot 7 (free lot - 3 hr) -- 16 spaces Lot 8a ("private" *) -- 51 spaces Lot 8b (free lot - 4 hr) - 75 spaces Lot 9 (free lot - 4 hr) -- 30 spaces Lot 10 (free all day; overnight by permit) - 48 spaces Lot 11 (free all day; overnight by permit) - 45 spaces Lot 12 (part free all day; no overnight here) - 78 spaces (part permit only; overnight allowed here) - 23 spaces Lot 13 (free lot - 4 hr) - 13 spaces Lot 14 (free lot - 4 hr) - 47 spaces Lot 15 (free lot - 4 hr) - 97 spaces Lot 16 (free after hrs) - 60 spaces Lot 17 (free after hrs) - 75 spaces Lot 18 (free lot - 24 hr) - 22 spaces Public Ramp (pay) -- 248 spaces Public level, Crosby (pay) 52 spaces * Free public lot after 6 PM Map produced by Community Development Dept for Downtown Parking Commission April 1, 2019 3 Legend Downtown Parking District City Parking Lot City Parking Ramp Public - upper level (Crosby Hotel) Trailhead Parking (Lot 12) Private parking only (Lot 8a) Permit parking only (Lot 12) Trailers & large vehicles (Lot 12) On-street handicapped 15 minute parking limit 30 minute parking limit Loading/unloading Valet Bus loading/unloading Bus parking ^Business Permit Valid #DT Resident Permit Valid Free parking lot (year round) Pay parking lot (Free Nov 1-Apr 30) Available to public after 6 PMLotparkingStreetparkingPermitsvalid FreeorPayMonthly Permits (allows overnight parking) Numbers in circles = hour limits on free parking3 On-street parking is free, but limited to 3 hrs unless posted for less