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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-02-20 DTPC MIN DOWNTOWN PARKING COMMISSION MEETING February 20, 2020 Commissioner Johnson agreed to act as chair in the absence of Chairman Anderson and Vice Chair McAllister Acting Chairman Johnson called the meeting to order at 8:32 a.m. Present: Commissioners Glynn (left at 9:44 am), Hopfe, Johnson and Lepage Absent: Chairman Anderson, Commissioners McAllister and Lettner, Council Liaison Junker Staff present: Community Development Director Turnblad, Zoning Administrator Tait, Parking Enforcement Officer Pasket APPROVAL OF MINUTES Possible approval of minutes of January 16, 2020 meeting Motion by Commissioner Glynn, seconded by Commissioner Hopfe, to approve the January 16, 2020 meeting minutes. Motion passed 4-0. OPEN FORUM There were no public comments. NEW BUSINESS 2020 Minnesota Historic Preservation Conference Community Development Director Turnblad stated that the HPC and the City will host the state’s annual Historic Preservation Conference September 16-18, 2020. The main venue will be the Lowell Inn but there will be other venues also. They are requesting free parking in the municipal ramp for attendees. There will be around 200 attendees. There is plenty of parking in the ramp to accommodate regular customers and conference-goers. Staff recommends the conference attendees be given free parking. If the mobile payment system is in place by then, attendees could be issued a code for the free parking. Commissioner Glynn asked if other host cities have given free parking to the conference. Mr. Turnblad replied free or discounted parking for conference attendees is common. Commissioner Glynn asked, is it a state organization or a nonprofit? Mr. Turnblad replied the association is nonprofit. It is associated with the national group. The local organizer is the State Historic Preservation Office. Commissioner Glynn expressed concern for setting a precedent for other clubs hosting national meetings. Mr. Turnblad noted that there are not many state organizations that host conferences. The line of reasoning that may prevent setting a precedent is that the City is the local host for the conference. Commissioner Glynn pointed out that the Wednesday during the conference would be Cruisin’ on the Croix. He wondered if the two events would impact each other. Parking Enforcement Officer Pasket said the City could create a permit for the conference attendees to park anywhere without a citation. Mr. Turnblad added that another option would be to offer a 50% discount for parking. Conference attendees will want to park where it’s convenient which will be in the ramp due to proximity to the Lowell Inn. The Downtown Parking Commission Meeting February 20, 2020 Page 2 of 8 Lowell Inn will have a code for their customers to not pay anyway. They will be considered customers of the Lowell Inn so the City does not have to grant them free parking and the parking question is resolved. UNFINISHED BUSINESS AirGarage contract Jonathon Barkl, AirGarage, was dialed up on a conference call. Mr. Turnblad said the Council is ready to enter a contract with AirGarage for mobile-based payment for the parking ramp. AirGarage reduced their rates to more evenly match what Passport Parking had been offering. Staff recommends approval of the contract. The contract will go to the City Council next Tuesday and AirGarage and the City can then begin transitioning to the new system. Commissioner Glynn asked, what is the term of the contract? Mr. Turnblad replied the contract is annual and will automatically renew, but if either party decides it’s not working there is 14-day notice for either party to get out of it. It would be difficult for the City to replace the system in 14 days, so in that case, a gate attendant would have to be hired. He would prefer 60 days notice. Commissioner Glynn agreed that 60 days notice to terminate the contract would protect both parties. Mr. Barkl said stated it would be fine to change the term to 30 or 60 days. Mr. Pasket commented that the City would probably know more than two weeks in advance that it would like to stop using the service, and would probably have initiated the hiring process earlier than that. Commissioner Hopfe agreed. Commissioner Glynn said he would not want to go under 30 days which is too short in his opinion. Acting Chairman Johnson asked how long it might take to find a replacement company. Mr. Turnblad replied it would easily take three to four months to find a different system. For several months the City would probably have to have people staffing the ramp. Commissioner Hopfe commented if there were significant enough issues to get rid of this system, the Commission would have been talking about it prior to that anyway. Acting Chairman Johnson said he would be comfortable with 30 days notice. Mr. Turnblad said the City Attorney is reviewing the contract now. He will inform her to change the termination notice to 30 days. The goal is to bring the contract before the City Council next Tuesday. Motion by Commissioner Glynn, seconded by Commissioner Hopfe, to recommend that the City Council approve the contract with the change in the termination notice to 30 days. Motion passed 4-0. NEW BUSINESS CONTINUED Main Street turn lanes In response to an inquiry from Commissioner Hopfe about the turn lanes on Main Street, Mr. Turnblad said as part of the Downtown Planning process, the City hired traffic engineers to look at movements and traffic volumes and make a recommendation on how lanes on Main Street might be reconfigured. MnDOT was part of that discussion. At Chestnut and Main, all turn lanes will be removed and there will be two through lanes. There will be pedestrian safety bump-outs at all intersections and between the bump-outs will be a parking bay on each side of the street, creating a net increase in parking spaces. He added that the City also will gain a public surface parking lot on Second and Chestnut where Shorty’s is, so there will be about 30 more parking spaces total. The RFP for design services for the Chestnut Street Plaza and bump-outs is out and proposals are due tomorrow. By December 2020 the design should be done. It would go to bid in 2020 for construction next year. The pseudo-turn lanes, where drivers sneak into a parking spot to make a right turn, will all go away because of the pedestrian bump-outs. Downtown Parking Commission Meeting February 20, 2020 Page 3 of 8 Commissioner Glynn asked about the possibility of opening up left turns onto Chestnut when northbound on Main. Mr. Turnblad replied traffic engineer Glen Van Wormer had previously commented that with reduced volumes, there is no reason to prohibit left turns onto Chestnut. Staff will address this again when doing designs for Chestnut because the signals will be reconfigured at that time. Commissioner Glynn pointed out there should be a public parking sign there directing people to the future parking ramp. Mr. Turnblad added that a light earlier than Chestnut might even be good because there will be a new ramp entrance at Olive as well as Chestnut. Commissioner Hopfe asked, who regulates how long the lights are timed? Mr. Turnblad replied MnDOT does that. When the traffic study for the downtown plan was done, traffic engineers spent a lot of time on that question. The goal is to give priority movements and length of time to pedestrians. Length of cycles will get changed. MnDOT has already acknowledged this. This will be a point of discussion this summer during the design phase. Electric Vehicle Show: event parking Zoning Administrator Tait stated that Sustainable Stillwater MN has made application to organize an Earth Day event in downtown Stillwater at the Water Street Inn. As part of the event the group would like to feature an Electric Vehicle Car Show in Water Street Inn’s parking lot and use Parking Lot 4 to hold test drives of the electric vehicles and to have reserved parking spaces for the event. The test drives include a route on Sam Bloomer Way to Parking Lot 1 where they turn around and return by the same route. 500- 1,000 people are expected. Lot 4 has 29 spaces. Fees for reserving the parking lot will be charged according to the 2020 Fee Schedule. The organizer must provide insurance, coordinate with City departments and pay for City materials. Staff recommends approving the use of Lot 4 for $43.50. Additionally, staff recommends some discussion on a Plan B in case of flooding. Mr. Pasket said his concern is that the application states April 22, 2-8 pm with setup between 10 am - 2 pm. The lot cannot be expected to just be empty without some type of preparation. Barricades will be needed with signs that state the lot will be closed on April 22 to deter people from parking there overnight. Commissioner Glynn agreed a sign the day before closing a lot is standard procedure. Mr. Turnblad said the Commission should decide whether or not the lot should be reserved and then it goes to the City Council. The City Clerk tallies up the other costs such as barricades. There should be barricades put there early in the morning on April 21. Commissioner Hopfe said a backup plan for flooding should be considered. Kevin Tholen, event organizer, acknowledged that flooding could be a concern and they understand Lot 4 could be flooded. Since the majority of people will be in the Water Street Inn lot, the intent of Lot 4 is for dealers to do test drives. That lot is also for Electric Vehicle owners to display their vehicles for the public. They would like to have a sight line so that people can go from the dealer over to the other lot so that would mean using Lot 7 which is next to the Water Street Inn lot. Currently they have 15-20 electric vehicles that will be at the show and they expect a similar number of EV owners’ cars. Commissioner Hopfe said depending on the timing of flooding, if workers are building dikes and there are a lot of trucks going in and out, it’s not a great time to be giving away parking lots. The event might not happen if that would be the backup plan. Mr. Turnblad asked, is it possible to move the event to the Crosby Hotel ramp or the upper level of the municipal ramp if there is flooding? Commissioner Hopfe suggested the government center which is further from downtown but out of the chaos of flooding. Downtown Parking Commission Meeting February 20, 2020 Page 4 of 8 Mr. Turnblad pointed out there is a good chance for flooding in April of this year. Commissioner Glynn agreed it is highly likely that Sam Bloomer Way will be under water in April. Commissioner Hopfe recommended that the applicants relook at the whole situation since Sam Bloomer is usually flooded in the spring. Commissioner Lepage suggested using the top level of the Crosby if available and offering a test drive on Second Street for Plan B. Commissioner Hopfe asked if the organizer feels it’s important to be downtown. Mr. Tholen replied yes. There will be 15 EV shows going on at this time. Downtown Stillwater is a draw and they have been given space inside the Water Street Inn for some of the activities. Mr. Turnblad said he doesn’t think the Commission has a problem with Plan A. Before going before the City Council, the organizers should have a Plan B for flooding. If the upper level of the Crosby Hotel ramp is available (if the Crosby agrees to it), they will still have to flesh out the test route for public safety. If the Crosby doesn’t work out, it could be in the fourth level of the municipal ramp. Since this is a Wednesday there would probably be enough spaces in the public ramp. He asked if the Commission would consider doing a free parking day on that Wednesday in April for Plan B. The other thing to consider is if there is a full blown flood, Lot 8b is the command center and the customers who normally park in that lot would be in the ramp, however they would not fill the ramp, they would take one level. This may complicate things. Mr. Pasket said he feels it would be less confusing to use the top level of the municipal ramp than the Crosby ramp. Staff could determine how many spaces are in the top level and charge for those and post a sign that level is reserved. This would be easier. Motion by Commissioner Glynn, seconded by Commissioner Hopfe, to approve for “Plan A” the use of Lot 4 for a fee of $43.50 and for “Plan B” to include using the top level of the municipal parking ramp at Third and Myrtle at $1.50 per space. Motion passed 4-0. Cruisin’ on the Croix: event parking Mr. Tait said the event proposes to use Lots 8b, 9, 10 and 11 for a total of 198 spaces. This event is every other Wednesday starting June 10 ending September 16. Last year 234 spaces were requested. The DTPC recommended 94 spaces but on appeal, the City Council approved the use of 128 spaces. Staff believes this worked out fairly well, so staff recommends the same arrangements, Lots 9, 11 and 8b for 128 spaces for a total of $192 per event or $1,536 for the season. Mr. Turnblad added that the lot north of Mulberry and east of the trail has a lot of Marina people parking there, who live on their boats in the summer, so if that lot is used it means constantly having to move those people out of it. Therefore staff recommends this event use the lot on the other side of the trail. One of the event organizers stated the only reason they asked for it is that last year at their peak they had 288 cars. The other event organizer added they’re not all there at the same time but it is frustrating to turn people away. Commissioner Hopfe reminded that it is a downtown business district. The event organizer pointed out that almost everyone who attends patronizes the downtown businesses. Commissioner Lepage asked if they have ever considered using Lot 12 by the Zephyr. The event organizer replied attendees sometimes park further north - that is not part of the show. Mr. Turnblad added in some years the owner of the Desch building has allowed use of some of his lot. The event organizer stated they have their own barricades. Downtown Parking Commission Meeting February 20, 2020 Page 5 of 8 Motion by Commissioner Hopfe, seconded by Commissioner Lepage, to approve the use of 128 spaces for eight dates at a total cost of $1,536 for the season. Motion passed 4-0. UPDATES Sustainable Stillwater EV Charging Station Mr. Turnblad said the two spaces being considered for the City’s first Level 2 charging station would be in the upper level of the parking ramp next to the handicapped space. Facilities Manager Mick Greiner is looking into what it would cost to get the proper electrical hookup there. He will bring more information back to the Commission. Commissioner Lepage pointed out that some EV owners have handicaps so he suggested checking out whether one of the cords can be longer to cover two spots. Mr. Turnblad added there are two kinds of Level 2 charging stations: freestanding and wall mounted. Wall mounted units would be better if possible in this location. Parking Study Transportation Planner Lance Bernard from HKGi updated the Commission on the progress of the parking study. In early January the group met with Main Street IBA and the Chamber of Commerce and to present some high level ideas and preliminary recommendations. It is appropriate to expect certain users to walk a few blocks to their parking space. One new graphic being shown to the business community tries to articulate that message by outlining walk radiuses. One to three blocks covers most of downtown. Mr. Turnblad noted that the distances may be the same but people don’t worry so much about walking if they can see the door to a business. Somehow if they can’t see the door, it is perceived as a barrier even if the distance is the same. Commissioner Hopfe stated that people do not park in Lot 2 or further down at night. This study really proves that they want a sight line to where they are going. Mr. Bernard acknowledged there are other factors including safety and lighting. He discussed materials that were presented to the business community. One issue with on street parking is that enforcement ends at 6 pm. Other communities’ use of on street parking was researched. Stillwater is one of only a few that have 3 hour on street parking. Others have 1-2 hours. One of the lower cost/high benefit solutions would be reducing on street parking to 1-2 hours. The business community was pretty receptive to that. There are still always opportunities to look at expanding enforcement times to 8 pm which is typical of other communities. The option of charging for on street parking is very sensitive and probably not something the business community would support so they are not going down that path at this point. Acting Chairman Johnson remarked that lowering the hours for on street parking makes sense. Mr. Turnblad said if the City wants to beef up enforcement for 1-2 hour parking, it could still require people to check in on a mobile app and give them an hour free but it would start the timer so if they don’t move they could get a ticket. Mr. Bernard stated the percentage of self enforcement is pretty low according to studies. They want to look at opportunities to create more turnover. The timer idea is good as a more aggressive technique. Acting Chairman Johnson said with 2 hour parking, people will log in. With 1 hour parking, many people will just not want to log in for that short an amount of time. Commissioner Hopfe pointed out a lot of people in Stillwater probably are not used to logging in so it might take a hit on downtown businesses. Mr. Bernard said the group is trying to shape a lot of these recommendations to start small, for instance just get the signage in place going to 1-2 hours, and monitor it to see if enforcement needs to be stepped up. Technology can continue to be part of the discussion about what best fits Stillwater. Downtown Parking Commission Meeting February 20, 2020 Page 6 of 8 Acting Chairman Johnson remarked he leans toward 1-1.5 hours because if it’s 2 hours they will try to sit down and have a meal and those are the people who should be pushed to the ramp. Mr. Pasket said the City used to have 2 hour parking and it was changed because of this Commission wanting it to be 3 hours because they didn’t feel 2 hours was sufficient time for people to go eat at a restaurant. The City did not have the ramp at that time. Commissioner Hopfe stated if someone is coming to Stillwater to buy a specific item, 1 hour is OK but if they are going to make more of a day of it and visit various shops, 1 hour is not enough. Mr. Bernard said the goal is to balance a lot of different users. Those who want to be downtown for longer periods of time should be in those offstreet lots. Commissioner Hopfe said she feels 1 hour parking would deter the shoppers. Mr. Bernard noted that on street parking for 1 hour takes a lot more energy to enforce and regulate. Mr. Pasket acknowledged that right now, 1 hour parking would be virtually impossible to enforce. Commissioner Lepage asked if transitioning from 3 hours to 1 for instance, really changes behavior. Mr. Bernard replied that in general, there will be more turnover if it is reduced to 1 hour. But there will still be people who take advantage of it. Commissioner Lepage asked if it compromises foot traffic downtown when it is changed to 1 hour. Mr. Bernard said he doesn’t think it compromises it in any way. A lot of people who are extending that 3 hour parking are the employees. Visitors coming to downtown know they need to park in a surface lot if they intend to visit several businesses and eat. Mr. Turnblad said he thinks that visitors downtown don’t expect to find on street parking. There are also some people who will not parallel park especially on a busy street. Commissioner Hopfe noted that the business district has changed significantly. There are a lot of empty storefronts and very few businesses downtown that are a quick stop. The climate is more that people will want to go in more than one shop but they’re not here for the day. To go from 3 hours to 1 is pretty drastic. Mr. Pasket said going back to 2 hour parking would increase enforcement needs. Mr. Bernard said he thinks the consensus is that there is a willingness to go toward 2 hour on street parking versus the 3 hour parking that exists today. Commissioner Lepage asked if there is a particular wording that draws people to the offstreet lots. Mr. Bernard said the group will discuss how to find the right signage. He went on to discuss offstreet parking. Currently it is at or approaching capacity during peak times and underutilized during mornings and off peak season. There is a lack of way-finding signage that informs people where to park. One idea to explore is how to retrofit some of the City lots to pay lots. Lots 1 and 2 are some of the first people see when they enter downtown and they are pay lots. They want to talk about this from a parking benefit district standpoint to show that dollars are being used to manage the system. They still need to discuss charging for other lots and trying to get people to those lots with better way-finding signage, better technology and mobile applications. Mr. Bernard discussed the issues of employee parking. The bigger demand for employee parking is during the evening hours. Reducing time restrictions of on street parking helps with this effort but the City needs to look at getting more employees into the parking ramp to free up the surface lots. A one block walk radius covers a lot of the core of downtown. Safety perceptions will have to be addressed. This will require collaboration with the businesses, better informational brochures and designating specific lots for employee parking. Downtown Parking Commission Meeting February 20, 2020 Page 7 of 8 Commissioner Hopfe pointed out the offstreet parking for employees has to be safe because a lot of the employees are walking back to their vehicles with money in their pocket, for instance the wait staff. She totally understands the goal but wants to keep safety in mind. Mr. Bernard suggested the ramp is the one location right now that makes sense to help address some of the safety concerns. The group needs to look more closely at appropriate lots. Refining a business permit program gets tricky because of the turnover of wait staff. It’s up to the business owner to manage those parking passes that they would hang in their car. The program can work but takes a lot of coordination and cooperation from the businesses to make it truly work. Mr. Turnblad added that currently, the onus is on the employers to purchase a business pass at $20/month. Maybe it could be reduced and business permit spots could be reserved in some lots like Lot 14 or 15. If reserved for a business permit, chances are they would have open spaces. He suspects that if some spots were designated just for the employees, they would be filled. Maybe employees could buy their own passes at $10-15/month. Commissioner Hopfe responded that in theory that makes sense but she would not want to tell her staff they will have to pay $15 and walk to the ramp from south Main Street. Also, staff members don’t leave until the replacement workers have come so there is parking overlap. She can definitely see the daytime employees parking in further areas rather than the night time employees. Mr. Bernard acknowledged that there will be trade-offs. He went on to address event parking. The group is looking at providing some direction on what Plan B would be for larger events in the event of flooding - some options that event organizers could lean on. Primarily they will look more at event parking offsite and providing shuttle services. They also will look at charging for event parking in some of the surface lots. This is commonly done. Sometimes it helps get people into offsite parking to free up spaces downtown. They also are starting to look at trailhead parking. By the Zephyr Theatre and Brown’s Creek Trail there is a lot of competing interest. HKGi is working on the Aiple master plan so they are also considering that area. They cannot add parking in the area of the Aiple property due to its proximity to the St. Croix River so they will need to find creative ways to handle parking for that site. Commissioner Hopfe asked, is there a plan downtown with the new loop trail opening for bike parking? Mr. Turnblad said that except for the trailhead lots on the north and south end of downtown, any visitor downtown will compete for the same parking spaces. People who come into downtown don’t know what their options are for parking and taking off on their bike. Part of it is providing the information to them. Mr. Bernard concluded that the group is working on drafting the plan and hopes to present final recommendations in April or May. Mr. Turnblad added that part of this study is modeling to help analyze impact of development projects or changing uses of buildings. Event calendar Mr. Turnblad said no new events have been approved by the Council since the last Commission meeting. Rusty Mile patio Mr. Turnblad informed the Commission that the Rusty Mile will be installing a small patio in front of their business, however they still remain under the threshold of required parking, so they do not have to come before the Commission with a parking mitigation plan. Commissioner Hopfe commented that when Wolf Brewery opens and the Rusty Mile opens that will be a busy parking area. Mr. Turnblad acknowledged it will put pressure on the little-used public alleys that go into that block. ADJOURNMENT Downtown Parking Commission Meeting February 20, 2020 Page 8 of 8 Acting Chairman Johnson adjourned the meeting at 10:26 a.m. Respectfully Submitted, Julie Kink, Recording Secretary Jeff Johnson, Acting Chair ATTEST: Graham Tait, Zoning Administrator