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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-08-15 DTPC Packet DOWNTOWN PARKING COMMISSION AGENDA Thursday, August 15, 2019 8:30 AM Conference Room 213, City Hall 1. CALL TO ORDER 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA 3. APPROVAL OF JULY 18, 2019 MINUTES 4. OPEN FORUM 5. SPECIAL EVENTS 5.01. Harvest Fest 6. OTHER BUSINESS 6.01. Passport Parking demonstration 6.02. Parking restriction request from The Lofts 7. UPDATES 7.01. Lot 4 reconfiguration 8. ADJOURNMENT DOWNTOWN PARKING COMMISSION MEETING July 18, 2019 Chairman Anderson called the meeting to order at 8:30 a.m. Present: Chairman Anderson, Commissioners Glynn (left at 9:45), Hopfe (arrived at 8:40), Johnson, Lettner, Lepage, McAllister, Council Liaison Junker Absent: None Staff present: Police Chief Gannaway (left at 9:45), Parking Enforcement Officer Pasket (left at 9:45), Zoning Administrator Tait, Community Development Director Turnblad APPROVAL OF MINUTES Possible approval of minutes of June 20, 2019 meeting The minutes of the June 20, 2019 meeting were accepted. OPEN FORUM There were no public comments. SPECIAL EVENTS Fall Art Festival Community Development Director Turnblad stated that the Stillwater Area Chamber of Commerce has applied for a special event permit for the annual Rivertown Fall Art Festival October 5 and 6, with set-up on October 4 and clean-up on October 7. The City parking lots involved are Lots 5, 9 and 10 as well as on-street parking on Mulberry Point Circle. Staff recommends approval with the total parking fee of $571.50. Motion by Commissioner Glynn, seconded by Commissioner McAllister, to approve the use of Lots 5, 9, 10 and Mulberry Point Circle for the Rivertown Art Festival, for a total parking fee of $571.50. All in favor, 6-0. Councilmember Junker asked Mr. Turnblad to ensure the Marina is notified of the parking lot usage. OTHER BUSINESS Wolf Brewery Parking Mitigation Community Development Director Turnblad explained that Pat Wolf plans to renovate the building at 204 N Main Street to a micro-brewery with tap room/coffee shop. The micro-brewery will be required to provide on-site parking spaces for the increased parking load (they are 15 spaces short in Downtown Parking Commission Meeting July 18, 2019 Page 2 of 4 the peak season; two spaces short in the off season). However, there is insufficient space to accomplish that. Therefore, the micro-brewery is requesting that the City approve a parking mitigation plan that uses the public parking system to provide the deficit parking spaces. City Code states that if the load is not increased by more than four spaces, mitigation is not required. The micro-brewery owner is requesting approval to use 15 spaces in the public system for the peak season and will pay the standard parking mitigation fee for these spaces. Staff believes that the 20% commitment level for mitigation and residential parking is nearing maximum capacity. However, this property has good access to the municipal parking ramp, which has excess capacity on weekdays and many weekends. Staff recommends approval of the request to use 15 public parking spaces in the high-season to satisfy the required parking for the micro-brewery, with the following conditions: 1) The parking mitigation fee will be invoiced quarterly by the City. 2) The fee is to be paid upon receipt of City invoice. Commissioner Glynn asked if the three on site spots will be for employee parking. Ms. Wolf said they probably will be used for the 1-4 employees of the micro brewery. As a heads up, Mr. Turnblad informed the Commission that next month, they will discuss a similar application for a micro-brewery tap room in what is known as the Farm Store. With possible plans for a rooftop patio, there could be a need for 40 parking spaces there. It may be the Commission’s first test case of demonstrating that the public parking system is at capacity. Councilmember Junker remarked that mitigation issues will come up in the future as building uses change. He doesn’t think the City is anywhere near the point of enacting a moratorium on new use permits for buildings downtown, which would be chaotic and disruptive. Motion by Chairman Anderson, seconded by Commissioner Lettner, to approve the use of 15 spaces in the public parking system by Wolf Brewery for the peak season, with the two staff-recommended conditions. All in favor, 7-0. Parking Capacity Study Proposals Community Development Director Turnblad explained that an RFP for a downtown parking capacity study was distributed and proposals were received from Hoisington Koegler (HKGi) and Stantec. He led discussion of the proposals. One of biggest differences is that Stantec did not want to use the City’s existing inventory and studies, which could partially account for the higher cost estimate. Staff recommends Hoisington Koegler which submitted the lower cost estimate and worked for the City on other projects. Commissioner McAllister said the out-of-the-box thinking in the proposals was refreshing. She would like this to be emphasized in dealing with the chosen firm. The Commission’s consensus was to recommend that the Council enter an agreement with Hoisington Koegler for a downtown parking capacity study. AirGarage Demonstration Mr. Turnblad reminded the Commission that the gate and revenue equipment in the parking ramp is scheduled to be replaced this year. $120,000 has been set aside in the capital program for this purpose. An option suggested by the City’s Facilities Manager, Mick Greiner, was to eliminate the gate equipment and to contract with an internet based revenue management company. To that end, he scheduled a meeting with AirGarage and City staff. It appears that AirGarage can meet the City’s needs at a price similar to that being paid currently to manage revenue. Staff will negotiate a contract Downtown Parking Commission Meeting July 18, 2019 Page 3 of 4 for services that will eventually need to be reviewed by the Parking Commission and approved by the City Council. Jonathon Barkl and Bryan Sbriglia, AirGarage, demonstrated the system. AirGarage is a relatively small company, started in 2017 and based in San Francisco, that works with churches, businesses, hotels, and people who own a parking lot that has value but don’t want to be in the business of running a parking lot. AirGarage does all the advertising, collection of payments, and enforcement of unauthorized vehicles. There would be signs in the ramp explaining how to pay AirGarage by sending a text message to the phone number and it will text back with a link to enter the license number and credit card number. It is not necessary to download an application. They are working on making the system adaptable for older flip phones. Parkers may also purchase parking passes online or at City Hall. Commissioner Johnson asked if the system would still require an enforcement officer. Mr. Barkl answered yes, an enforcement officer will still need to scan the license plates of cars in the ramp but it is a very fast process. They are working toward having the software work by walking past a vehicle. Right now the enforcement officer has to take a photo. They are open to experimenting with new technologies. They also can use crowd source enforcement so users can scan other people’s license plates and be given credit to leave a warning note on their windshield. Parking Enforcement Officer Pasket remarked that many people cannot figure out how to put a ticket into the machine. Getting rid of the tickets would be great, however it may be a lot of work typing in all the license plate numbers. Mr. Turnblad said the City’s arrangement with the Lowell Inn could continue under the AirGarage system. Mr. Barkl explained how the process would work for guests of the Lowell Inn. They would text their license plate number to a separate phone number and have their vehicle validated by the Lowell Inn. The payment page also has a place for a promo code for group discounts for instance for weddings. Councilmember Junker asked, are there any dead spots with service? Mr. Barkl said the City ramp is relatively small, so dead spots will likely not be an issue. Their system compresses the image a lot so it uses a relatively small amount of data to read the image. Mr. Turnblad noted the cost to use AirGarage is about the same as the City is paying now for its revenue equipment and support. AirGarage would be paid a set percent of each transaction - overall it ends up being $18,000-20,000 an average year. The revenue equipment alone annualized costs $15,000 not including staff time. This system would eliminate the potential dispatch calls. Mr. Barkl said AirGarage has 25 active parking lots. This would be their first lot to manage in Minnesota. They would operate under a one year agreement that renews automatically if not cancelled. He demonstrated the system. Mr. Turnblad noted that the City Council requested the Commission look at two such systems, so there will be one other system to review. The goal is to implement a new system by next spring. Lift Bridge Reconstruction - Contractor Parking on Summer Tuesdays Community Development Director Turnblad explained that Kraemer North America, the general contractor for the Lift Bridge restoration project, pays for 20 business parking permits for their work crews, in addition to part of Lot 4. On Tuesdays when Summer Tuesdays reserves all seven spaces in Lot 5, some Kraemer workers are displaced. Although buying a business parking permit does not Downtown Parking Commission Meeting July 18, 2019 Page 4 of 4 guarantee any particular parking space, staff has told them that in place of the seven spaces in Lot 5, they may park up to seven cars in Lot 3 on Tuesdays while the event is scheduled. The Commission should consider approval of the tentative arrangement to allow seven Kraemer work crews to park in Lot 3 on Tuesdays through August 20. The consensus of the Commission was to allow Kraemer North America to park seven vehicles in Lot 3 on Tuesdays through August 20. Definition of “Off Season” for Parking Rate Purposes Mr. Turnblad explained that there is inconsistency within City documents about when off-season parking rates apply: October 1 through April 30 or November 1 through April 30. He led discussion of whether October should be considered high-season or off-season. A recommendation will be forwarded to the City Council. This will not impact any present use permit holders. Current uses will be grandfathered in to whatever dates are delineated in the existing special use permit. Motion by Chairman Anderson, seconded by Commissioner Lepage, to standardize the definition of off season to November 1 to April 30. All in favor, 7-0. UPDATES Ragnar Relay Mr. Turnblad stated that the City Council approved the Ragnar Relay essentially as the Downtown Parking Commission previously reviewed the proposal. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Anderson adjourned the meeting at 10:13 a.m. Respectfully Submitted, Julie Kink, Recording Secretary TO: Downtown Parking Commission FROM: Bill Turnblad, Community Development Director DATE: August 9, 2019 RE: Special Event Parking for Harvest Fest PARKING FACILITY REQUEST Summer Tuesdays, Inc. has made application for an event permit to hold the 2019 Harvest Fest on October 12-13. The organizers hope to use Municipal Lots 5, 9, and 10 as well as Mulberry Circle. If high water occurs, Plan B would be to relocate the park activities to the Water Street Inn lot and Lot 11. Load-in would begin at noon on Friday, October 11th. Load-out and clean-up will occur on Sunday October 13th from 6:00 – 9:00 PM. PARKING RESERVATION DETAILS Harvest Fest is a two day off-season event, with load-in and setup on the afternoon before the event. Therefore, the organizers are requesting reservation of the lots and Mulberry Circle for three days. Lot 10 is planned to be used for the pumpkin growers. This will be show area and weigh-in area. Load-in would begin on Friday and the weigh-in and awards would take place on Saturday. Lots 5 and 9 would be used for vendors on Saturday and Sunday. Some may set up on Friday. Mulberry point is requested to be blocked off for the entire event. Its main purpose would be for the pumpkin drops each day. The public parking facilities requested are consistent with the policy to limit events to the public lots east of the Downtown Trail. Parking fees to reserve the requested parking spaces are given below. The off-season rate (October – April) for all lots used more than three hours on a day is $1.50/day/space. The off- season rate for on-street parking is $3/day/space. Plan A Lot Number Number of Spaces Number of Days Rate Total Fee 5 7 3 $1.50/day $31.50 9 30 3 $1.50/day $135.00 10 48 3 $1.50/day $216.00 Mulberry Circle 21 3 $3.00/day $189.00 TOTAL $571.50 If there is high water, then Plan B would be to move the park activities to Lot 11 and the private lot owned by Water Street Inn. The fees for Plan B are shown in the table below. Plan B Lot Number Number of Spaces Number of Days Rate Total Fee 5 7 3 $1.50/day $31.50 9 30 3 $1.50/day $135.00 10 48 3 $1.50/day $216.00 11 45 3 $1.50/day $202.50 Mulberry Circle 21 3 $3.00/day $189.00 TOTAL $774 RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends approval as requested with the fees shown. bt Attachments: Festival layout Application form City Parking Rampkin Ramp (pay) -- 248 spaces ^ ^ ^ ^ Lot 4 Lot 5 Lot 6 Lot 7 Lot 9 Lot 8b Lot 11 Lot 10 Lot 8a ial A v e rtle S t Mai n St Uni on Al l eyLowel l ParkL iftB rid g ePumpkin G rowe r s Kids’ Activities(inables)PumpkinDropCrane LOT 9 VendorsBeer TentChi l i Cook OMusicStage LOT 5FoodVendors Tipi Pumpkin RegattaFree K idsActiv ity AreaLJersey Barricade Type 3 Barricade Stairs of St i l lwater 5KFin ish Orange ood fence (approx location) Event Border MULBERR Y S T Myrtle Non-food Vendors TO: Downtown Parking Commission FROM: Bill Turnblad, Community Development Director DATE: August 6, 2019 RE: Passport Parking INTRO The gate and revenue equipment in the parking ramp is scheduled to be replaced this year. $120,000 has been set aside in the capital program for this purpose. An option suggested by the City’s Facilities Manager, Mick Greiner, was to eliminate the gate equipment and to contract with a cloud based revenue management company. To that end, AirGarage gave a live demonstration to the Commission last month. And, the Commission asked to have a competitor demonstrate their platform as well. The second demonstration will be this month by Passport Parking. COMMENTS If the Parking Commission finds that either AirGarage or Passport Parking seem to be able to meet the City’s needs, then City staff will begin negotiating a contract for services that will eventually need to be reviewed by the Parking Commission and approved by the City Council. Unlike last month’s live demonstration, this one will be on-line. So, bringing your mobile phone will not be necessary for this demonstration. If you would like to learn a bit more about Passport Parking before the meeting, you can check them out at https://www.passportinc.com/industry/municipalities/ bt TO: Downtown Parking Commission FROM: Bill Turnblad, Community Development Director DATE: August 5, 2019 RE: Reconstruction of Municipal Lot 4 INTRO Upon completion of the MnDOT project to convert the Lift Bridge to a pedestrian facility, Municipal Lot 4 will be reconstructed so that no access will be available from Chestnut Street. Currently the parking lot has a one-way northbound traffic flow. This will change to two-way with access only from Myrtle Street. NOTES The work necessary to reconstruct the lot will include replacing the curbing on the north and south ends of the lot, patching bituminous in the areas with new curbing, and restriping the lot. The current access to Chestnut Street will be removed and replaced with a hammer-head turnaround, grass and a sidewalk. As seen in the graphic to the right, the parking spaces on the west side of the lot will be changed from angled to parallel spaces. And on the east side of the lot they will be changed to “nose-in” spaces. The number of parking spaces after the reconstruction will be roughly the same as today. The lot now has 29 spaces and after reconstruction will have 29 or 30 spaces. It was hoped that the work would be completed this year, so that during the summer of 2020 Downtown could experience a year without public facilities construction. But, with the delay in the bridge project, Lot 4 cannot be rebuilt until next summer. bt