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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-07-16 DTPC MIN DOWNTOWN PARKING COMMISSION MEETING July 16, 2020 Chair McAllister called the meeting to order at 8:35 a.m. Present: Chair McAllister, Commissioners Glynn, Lettner, Johnson, Council Liaison Junker Absent: Commissioners Anderson, Hopfe, LePage Staff present: City Clerk Wolf, Community Development Director Turnblad, Zoning Administrator Tait, Parking Enforcement Officer Pasket APPROVAL OF MINUTES Possible approval of minutes of June 18, 2020 meeting Motion by Commissioner Glynn, seconded by Commissioner Johnson, to approve the June 18, 2020 meeting minutes. All in favor. OPEN FORUM There were no public comments. NEW BUSINESS There was no new business. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Parking Study Community Development Director Turnblad provided the final draft of the Parking Study done by HKGi. The study recommends nine strategies that would create efficiencies without major capital investments. After Commission review, staff will present it to the City Council for adoption, then staff will work with the Commission to establish a multiple year work plan to implement the identified strategies. Strategy #1 - Utilization Counts Councilmember Junker pointed out the counts came from 2015 data which was older than he anticipated. In the past five years, patterns and lot usage have changed dramatically. Mr. Turnblad replied the last time staff counted cars in lots was 2015. This strategy recommends that counts be done more frequently to determine if uses have changed. Chair McAllister remarked that the peak seasons and peak times as noted in the study are still relevant. Strategy #2 - Wayfinding Signage Commissioner Glynn commented there is a lot of signage already. He would like to consider all the signs and determine what makes sense overall versus just adding more. Chair McAllister agreed that there needs to be an organized wayfinding system for everything that needs to be found, not just for parking. Mr. Turnblad noted the City would probably hire a consultant to help put together a wayfinding system. Strategy #3 - On-Street Time Restrictions Commissioner Glynn noted that over the past 10 years, the major issues with parking seem to involve enforcement and tickets. It seems whenever the City increases enforcement, complaints increase. Downtown Parking Commission Meeting July 16, 2020 Page 2 of 4 Commissioner Lettner said it will be important to do an advertising campaign, issue warnings, and ease into it, if time restrictions are changed, to give the public time to adjust. Councilmember Junker commented that this strategy is probably the one that involves biggest change in mindset in downtown Stillwater. Commissioner Glynn said that changing on-street time restrictions goes hand in hand with an approach for providing employee parking. Mr. Turnblad asked the Commission’s thoughts on going from1-hour on-street parking to 2 hours. He said there was some reticence on the Council to go all the way to 1-hour. Councilmember Junker said if the goal is truly to get people into the pay lots and parking ramp, then going to 2-hour parking isn’t a big enough initiative. Parking Enforcement Officer Pasket said he feels 1-hour parking would be unworkable for the City. It would be very difficult to enforce and draw many complaints. Even at 2-hour parking, the City would be looking at enforcement three times per day so an increase in personnel would be needed. Commissioner Lettner agreed with Mr. Pasket that 1-hour on-street parking would cause a lot of backlash. Councilmember Junker pointed out there are 416 on-street parking spots that are 3-hour parking. The goal is to create turnover on Main Street and get those who park for a longer time to park in the lots and ramp. There are many others who want to come downtown, park, get in and out quickly. Commissioner Johnson countered that downtown is restaurant-heavy. He questioned how many customers would want to park for under one hour. Commissioner Glynn said he is in favor of going to 2-hour on-street parking. Commissioner Lettner asked, is it too much work to designate a couple of 1-hour spots in each zone? But then the argument would arise about who gets those and where, and it might be an enforcement nightmare. Councilmember Junker asked how many complaints/tickets involve business owners versus visitors. Mr. Pasket said he doesn’t get many complaints on 3-hour parking. Years ago, on-street parking was specifically changed to 3-hour parking for the restaurants. Prior to that, for 15-20 years the City had 2-hour on-street parking. Commissioner Johnson remarked that on-street parking is free, so people want to park on the street. Commissioner Glynn noted that on-street spaces are often full all day. The Commission is trying to encourage more turnover. The consensus of the Commission was to recommend going to 2-hour on-street parking. Strategy #4 - Enforcement & Technology Mr. Turnblad stated that the study recommends using license plate recognition for on-street parking enforcement. The system knows who was there two hours ago and the number of staff required on the street is reduced. Consensus of the Commission was that this is a good strategy. Strategy #5 - Parking Ordinances & Requirements Mr. Turnblad reported that the parking table showing how many parking spaces are required per retail area has been in existence since about 1965. Certain uses require Conditional Use Permits so if a business space is converted from retail to restaurant, it must go through a more elaborate public review. The study references a prediction model to show how an increase in use will impact the parking system. Councilmember Junker asked if the renting of dumpsters taking up parking spaces would fall under this strategy. Sometimes dumpsters are in place for 9-12 months. Downtown Parking Commission Meeting July 16, 2020 Page 3 of 4 Mr. Turnblad replied that could be addressed. The engineering department issues permits for construction dumpsters and other obstructions but they are not tied with together with the bigger picture. That needs to change as well. Parking spaces downtown are too valuable to tie up for 9 months. He asked if the Commissioners feel that mitigation requirements should be made more rigorous (increase the price from $10/month). Basically there are two models - the current model, versus creating a parking district and having everyone involved pay into the parking system based upon a formula. That could also be considered but would create a lot of organized push-back. Chair McAllister asked that mitigation discussions include who is paying and who is not - pre-2000 versus post-2000 and consider equalizing costs. Strategy #6 - Customer Service Chair McAllister said she thinks there is an opportunity to be broad in thinking about how people are parking based on use. For example marketing the fact the Commission is discussing electric vehicle charging stations, where to park if you have a bicycle, boat or camper. Commissioner Glynn suggested making a video commercial. Strategy #7 - Employee Parking Mr. Turnblad reviewed the recommended employee parking program principles. Commissioner Glynn said he often hears businesses asking, why can’t you let us use this space - employees are walking to their cars at 3 a.m. with cash - they need to park in a well lit area, maybe with a policeman sitting there. These issues need to be addressed. Councilmember Junker said the City will need to reach out to achieve major buy-in from businesses. A safe environment for employee parking must be created. Chair McAllister suggested maybe different blocks or different business types would prefer different spaces for employee parking. Strategy #8 - Pricing Mr. Turnblad noted that it is the Commission’s belief that more parking should be pay parking and rates should be used as a way to push and pull customers around the system to better balance the system. For example, lots along the river are considered prime so if the City starts charging for the river lots, people who don’t want to pay would move to the Second Street parking. Officer Pasket commented perhaps the Commission should look at a different fine for tickets issued for on- street parking, which would be incentive not to park on the street. Currently the parking ticket fine is $25 anywhere in the City. Commissioner Lettner suggested ticket fines could go up for habitual violators. Mr. Pasket said enforcement no longer uses hand held computers so there is no way to track habitual violators until after they are entered into the system back at the station. Mr. Turnblad said when the City gets license plate recognition technology, a tiered fine structure could be considered. Councilmember Junker noted that Lot 1 costs $5 and Lot 2 costs $3 which is too low. Mr. Pasket explained that previously, the Commission wanted Lot 2 to go down to $3. He feels Lot 2 should cost more than $3 weekdays and more than $5 on weekends. By keeping the ticket cost $3, the City loses almost $30,000 a season in that river lot based on the volume of cars. Strategy #9 - Event Parking Downtown Parking Commission Meeting July 16, 2020 Page 4 of 4 Mr. Turnblad explained the study recognizes the need to find ways to have event attendees park out of downtown if possible. This is creating a toolbox of options for event organizers to put together a parking plan. When someone comes in with an event, they need to provide a parking plan. Motion by Chair McAllister, seconded by Commissioner Glynn, to recommend that the Council adopt the parking study. All in favor. UPDATES COVID-19 Parking Rates Mr. Turnblad stated that in an effort to support commerce, the City Council extended free parking downtown on weekdays through the end of July. Councilmember Junker said he noticed weekends have been very busy downtown. He was hoping lost parking revenue could be reimbursed through CARES Act funding but it is not eligible for reimbursement. At least $200,000 will probably be lost by offering free parking all summer. Mr. Turnblad commented it would be confusing to begin the new ramp system on weekends only, but the City could resume charging for mitigation and residential parking. Commissioner Johnson remarked it is unfair to start charging businesses again for parking mitigation when they are still only allowed 50% capacity by state order. Mr. Pasket added there is confusion when parking is free weekdays and not weekends. Chair McAllister suggested resuming charges for residential and business permits in addition to resuming charging for pay lots and ramps every day. Commissioner Lettner said to ease burden on enforcement and to be less confusing to customers, he would recommend resuming charging for parking seven days per week in the pay lots and ramp. Motion by Commissioner Glynn, seconded by Commissioner Lettner, to recommend that lots be returned to pay parking but that mitigation fees still be waived, effective August 1. All in favor. ADJOURNMENT Chair McAllister adjourned the meeting at 9:52 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Julie Kink, Recording Secretary Heidi McAllister, Chair ATTEST: Beth Wolf, City Clerk