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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 17 - Follow-up direction on the Dana Street Parking DistrictDepartment Name: Public Works Cost Center: 5101 For Agenda of: December 8, 2020 Placement: Business Estimated Time: 45 Minutes FROM: Matt Horn, Public Works Director Prepared By: Alexander Fuchs, Parking Services Supervisor SUBJECT: FOLLOW-UP ON DIRECTION PROVIDED BY CITY COUNCIL AS PART OF THE DANA STREET PARKING DISTRICT APPROVAL RECOMMENDATION 1.Receive requested information for the Dana Street Parking District; and 2.Direct staff to survey Multi-Family Properties along Dana Street to ensure a majority of these properties wish to be included in the Dana Street Parking District; and 3.Direct staff to return to Council with municipal code amendments and an update to the Dana Street Parking District Resolution based upon Multi-Family Properties survey results. DISCUSSION Background At the requests of residents, the Dana Street Residential Parking District (District) was established by Council on January 14, 2020 and encompasses the majority of Dana Street from Nipomo Street to the easterly end of the Dana Street (See Figure 1). Dana Street can accommodate 78 on-street parking spaces and 58 are included in the current District. This area of Dana Street serves 41 residential properties, five multi-family properties, and two commercial properties. At this time, neither the multi-family nor the commercial properties are included in the District because the Municipal Code section that governs parking districts limits participation in the formation process and restricts eligibility to receive permits to residential properties with four or fewer units. Dana Street is located just west of the downtown area and has long been used by visitors and employees for their downtown parking needs. In recognition of those uses, the District includes a pilot two-hour timed parking overlay, which allows non-District vehicles to park for up to two hours without being immediately subject to citation. The timed parking restrictions are only in effect during district enforcement hours. Figure 1: Existing Parking District Item 17 Packet Page 433 Council January 14, 2020 Direction Upon establishment of the District, Council directed staff to analyze the following possible revisions to the District (Attachment A - January 14, 2020 Council Meeting Minutes): 1. Explore the concept of providing one parking permit for each unit of a Multi -Family Property when the property has eight units or less; 2. Explore expanding the District to include the entire length of Dana Street from Nipomo Street to easterly terminus of Dana Street; and 3. Explore the formation of a special event process that addresses reoccurring events that increase parking demand. Analysis of Council’s Direction Item 1: Explore the concept of providing one parking permit for each unit of a Multi- Family Property when the property has eight units or less Staff analyzed issues with providing permits to the multi-family properties with eight units or less. The issues identified included availability of on-street spaces within the District, adherence to the Municipal Code section that governs permit issuance and implications of approving permits for properties that would otherwise not be eligible, and the one multi-family property that contains more than eight units which would not qualify to receive parking permits. The City’s Municipal Code Section 10.36.170 that governs the residential parking district process limits participation to residential properties of four dwelling units or less. The District excludes five multi-family properties of which four have between five to eight units with one exceeding eight units. Currently, consistent with the Municipal Code, no residential parking permit district in the City allows for residential properties with more than four units to participate in the process or to be eligible to receive permits. This limitation is based on the City’s zoning regulations, which require residential properties with five or more units to provide on-site parking for residents as well as guests. Inclusion of multi-family properties on Dana Street could lead to other multi- family properties petitioning to be included within existing and future residential districts. There is one multi-family property on Dana Street consisting of more than five units (sixteen units) that would continue to be ineligible to receive parking permits and be solely reliant upon off-street parking spaces for their parking needs. The property included the required number of on-site spaces at time of construction but staff did not analyze whether the spaces provided on- site are sufficient to meet the needs of the current tenants. The Municipal Code would need to be amended to allow for multi-family properties with eight units or less to be eligible for permits. This action would impact other districts and would add more residential properties into the District. Item 17 Packet Page 434 Item 2. Explore expanding the District to include the entire length of Dana Street from Nipomo Street to easterly terminus of Dana Street (see Figure 2). The existing District was implemented to provide one contiguous permitted area while preserving open parking locations for multi-family and commercial properties. Extending the District to the entire street would eliminate open on-street parking for residents and visitors that do not possess a valid parking permit see Figure 2. Expanding the District boundaries without including some provision for permitted parking for multi-family properties could create hardship for properties outside of the District while providing more on-street parking for current permit holders. Figure 2: Expanded Parking District If included in the District, the four eligible multi-family properties, would result in 28 additional permits being issued to the district. As currently comprised, the District has 41 qualifying units for a total of 82 permits available. The number of on-street parking spaces within the current district boundaries is approximately 58. Without the multi-family properties, there are 40% more permits issued than on-street spaces for use by permit holders in the District. Adding 28 permits would represent an increase of 34% above current available permits. This increase could be addressed by extending the District to the entire block and adding 20 more spaces to the on-street availability bringing the percentage of permits to on-street spaces back to current levels. The addition of proposed multi-family permits and expansion of the District to the whole street would result in the same capacity issue with about 40% more permits issued for the spaces available. This analysis did not consider the 16-unit multi-family property because the direction provided by Council was limited to multi-family properties with eight or fewer units. Item 3: Explore the formation of a special event process that addresses reoccurring events that increase parking demand. The direction to explore the formation of a special event process was in recognition that there are two non-residential properties on Dana Street that may have business events disrupted by expanding the District to the entire length of Dana Street. Item 17 Packet Page 435 Municipal Code Section 10.36.200(D) allows for district residents to receive special one-day temporary permits for events. However, there is no provision that allows special event permits to be issued to non-residential properties. This would require a new procedure be established that includes limits on the number of special event parking permits provided and frequency of special events. Establishment of a special event process for Dana Street Residential Parking District could also require significant work to establish and manage new processes for the two Commercial Properties on Dana Street. Pursing this is not recommended since there are only two commercial properties within the expanded District boundaries and there is ample metered parking one block away on Nipomo Street and in surface parking lot 14. Another Item for Discussion - Timed Parking Overlay Evaluation The Dana Street District request presented to Council on January 14, 2020 also included a recommendation by staff to implement a pilot two-hour timed parking overlay on top of the district. The purpose was to allow visitors and employees of the downtown area to park within the District without being immediately subject to citation. Residents were initially supportive of the idea during discussions throughout the district formation process; however, a meeting held on October 27, 2020 with District residents where residents stated that the timed parking overlay has not been effective at deterring vehicles from parking within the District beyond the two -hour time limit and requested that the timed parking restrictions be removed. No Council action is required to remove the timed parking overlay as Municipal Code Section 10.40.010 authorizes the Public Works director or their designee(s) to determine the location of timed parking areas in the City. Staff anticipate this action will reduce parking demand on Dana Street and increase the success of this District. Next Steps and Council Comment Sought 1. Does Council want staff to poll the Dana Street Residential Parking District multi-family properties of eight units or less to determine if a majority wish to be included in an expanded District? 2. Does Council want to direct staff to pursue changing the Municipal Code to allow multi- family properties of five to eight units to participate in the district process? Policy Context The request to establish the Dana Street Residential Parking Permit District was processed in accordance with the provisions of Municipal Code Section 10.36.170, which states that the Council, should, by resolution, designate an area of the City as a residential parking permit area if the Council finds that: 1) The area is predominantly residential; 2) The streets in the area are congested with vehicles parked by persons not residing in the area and the designation is supported by a majority of the affected households as indicated by a city survey of the affected households in which a sixty percent majority of participating households is required; or 3) Limiting the parking of vehicles along the streets in the area to vehicles registered or controlled and exclusively used by persons residing in the area is necessary in order to preserve the character of the existing neighborhood as defined in resident petition and approved by a sixty Item 17 Packet Page 436 percent majority of households in the area. Households will be determined using the City’s address database (there may be more than one household per parcel) and will be limited to non-family units of less than five dwelling units. The section in bold above is reason why multi-family properties of five units or more were not able to participate in the district formation process and are not currently eligible to receive parking permits. As noted above, a change to this would be required to expand the parking allowed on Dana Street. Public Engagement Staff met with Dana Street residents on Tuesday, October 27, 2020 to discuss Council’s direction to staff at the Council meeting on January 14, 2020 as well as to discuss the effectiveness of the two-hour timed parking overlay. Residents are in support of expanding the district to the entire street, issuing permits to multi-family properties of eight units or less, and of removing the timed parking overlay. The residents did not have a consensus on the formation of a special event process for the non-residential properties on Dana Street. CONCURRENCE Based upon feedback received from the Dana Street Parking District representatives that met on October 27, 2020, the Dana Street Parking District concurs with these recommendations. FISCAL IMPACT Budgeted: Yes Budget Year: FY 2020/21 Funding Identified: Yes Fiscal Analysis: Funding Sources Current FY Cost Annualized On-going Cost Total Project Cost Parking Fund $0 $0 $0 Total $0 $0 $0 There is no fiscal impact for the recommendations. If approved and the re is sufficient support for the inclusion on Multi-Family residential properties within the existing district, then staff will return with an updated resolution and fiscal impacts for the proposed changes. Item 17 Packet Page 437 ALTERNATIVES 1.Do not survey and leave the status quo. Staff does not recommend this alternative as there is support from the residents on Dana Street to provide multi-family properties of eight units or fewer with parking permits. However, this work effort responsive to residents, will require a code analysis and could have implications on many other districts in the City. 2.Pursue a special event permit process for non-residential properties. Staff does not recommend this alternative because there is sufficient public parking within a block of Dana Street and allowing non-residents to park within the District runs counter to the purpose of establishing residential districts. Attachments: a - COUNCIL READING FILE - City Council Minutes of January 14, 2020 Item 17 Packet Page 438 Dana Street Parking District Follow-upCity Council 12-8-2020 Recommendations1. Receive requested information for the Dana Street ParkingDistrict; and2. Direct staff to survey Multi-Family Properties along DanaStreet to ensure a majority of these properties wish to beincluded in the Dana Street Parking District; and3. Direct staff to return to Council with municipal codeamendments and an update to the Dana Street ParkingDistrict Resolution based upon Multi-Family Properties surveyresults. Background on Dana StreetDana Street is located just west of the downtown area and haslong been used by visitors and employees for their downtownparking needs.Dana Street Residential Parking Permit District (District) wasestablished by Council on January 14, 2020 and implemented inMay 2020.Properties on Dana StreetDana Street is comprised of 41 non-multifamilyproperties, 5 multifamily properties, and 2 commercialproperties.Dana Street can accommodate parking for 78 vehicleson-street; 58 of which are included within the existingDistrict boundaries. January 2020 Direction from CouncilMULTI-FAMILY PERMITS.Explore theconcept of providing one parking permit foreach unit of a Multi-Family Property when theproperty has eight units or less;FULL STREET.Explore expanding the Districtto include the entire length of Dana Street fromNipomo Street to easterly terminus of DanaStreet; andSPECIAL EVENT PROCESS.Explore theformation of a special event process thataddresses reoccurring events that increaseparking demand. Item 1:Explore the concept of providing 1parking permit for each unit of a Multi-FamilyProperty when the property has 8 units or lessAvailability of on-street spaces within theDistrict;Adherence to the Municipal Code section; andOne multi-family propertythat contains morethan eight units and would not qualify toreceive parking permits.Municipal Code Section 10.36.170, that governs the residential parking districtprocess, limits participation to residential properties of four dwelling units or less. TheMunicipal Codewould need to be amended to allow for multi-family propertieswith eight units or less to be eligible for permits. Item 2. Explore expanding the District toinclude the entire length of Dana Street fromNipomo Street to easterly terminus of DanaStreetExtendingeliminates open on-street parkingfor residents andvisitors that do not possess a validparking permitThe addition of multi-familyproperties and expansion of theDistrictwould result in thesamecapacity issue with about 40%more permits issuedfor thespaces available. Item 3: Explore the formation of a special eventprocess that addresses reoccurring events thatincrease parking demand.Municipal Code Section 10.36.200(D) allows for districtresidents to receive special one-day temporary permits forevents. However,there is no provision that allows special eventpermits to be issued to non-residential properties.This wouldrequire a new procedure be established that includes limits onthe number of special event parking permits provided andfrequency of special events.Staff does not recommend pursuing a newcommercial permit process since there areonly two commercial properties within theexpanded District boundaries andthere isample metered parking one block away onNipomo Street and in surface parking lot 14(future site of Palm-Nipomo parking structure) Another Item for Discussion -Timed Parking Overlay EvaluationThe Dana Street District request also included arecommendation to implement a pilot two-hour timedparking overlay on top of the district.Residents were initially supportive of the idea; however,residents have stated that the timed parking overlay has notbeen effective at deterring vehicles from parking within theDistrict beyond the two-hour time limit.No Council action is required to remove the timed parkingoverlayas Municipal Code Section 10.40.010 authorizes thePublic Works director or their designee(s) to determine thelocation of timed parking areas in the City. Next Steps and Council Comment Sought 1.Does Council want to direct staff to pursue changing theMunicipal Code to allow multi-family properties of five to eightunits to participate in the district process?2.Does Council want staff to survey the multi-family propertiesof eight units or less on Dana Street to determine if a majoritywish to be included in the District?3.Does Council want staff to expand the existing District to theentire street if a majority of multi-family properties of eightunits or less wish to be included in the District?4.Does Council want staff to eliminate the timed parking overlayon Dana Street? Recommendations1. Receive requested information for the Dana Street ParkingDistrict; and2. Direct staff to survey Multi-Family Properties along DanaStreet to ensure a majority of these properties wish to beincluded in the Dana Street Parking District; and3. Direct staff to return to Council with municipal codeamendments and an update to the Dana Street ParkingDistrict Resolution based upon Multi-Family Properties surveyresults.