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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/21/2022 Item 5j, Horn / Hussey - Staff Agenda CorrespondenceCity of San Luis Obispo, Council Memorandum City of San Luis Obispo Council Agenda Correspondence DATE: June 21, 2022 TO: Mayor and Council FROM: Matt Horn, Director of Public Works Gaven Hussey, Parking Program Manager VIA: Derek Johnson, City Manager SUBJECT: ITEM 5j – CULTURAL ARTS DISTRICT PARKING STRUCTURE AND PARKING STRUCTURE MAINTENANCE AND REHABILITATION PROJECTS The purpose of this Agenda Correspondence is to provide additional details and to answer questions provided from the City Council. The questions are below with staff’s response shown in italics: 1. Question: Does the Parking Fund currently have the additional funding that is being requested? Response: Yes. The Parking Fund is budgeted in Fiscal Year 2022 -23 to have $2.9M available in Unreserved Working Capital. Should the requested funding be approved, this would leave the Unreserved Working Capital at $1.5M available which the Fund has planned to use to address unforeseen costs associated with the Cultural Arts District Parking Structure. 2. Question: Why is the funding being requested that exceeds the estimated Total Project Estimate for Phase 1? Response: Estimates provided in the staff report are based upon recent construction costs and include cost escalation from market volatility. Based upon these current estimates, staff projected a balance remaining after completion of Phase 1 construction work. This remaining balance is planned to be used to offset any additional Phase 1 cost increases from construction price fluctuation or will be carried forward to fund Phase 2 construction work. 3. Question: What is the status of the Heyd Adobe? Will the adobe be documented prior to demolition? Response: On July 17, 2018, City Council reviewed and adopted the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the parking structure and SLO Repertory Theatre (Resolution 10923 (2018 Series)). The FEIR included a statement of overriding considerations to remove two Contributing historic properties from the project site, including the Heyd Adobe located at 614 Monterey Street. Parking Garage Phase 1A & 1 B Agenda Correspondence Page 2 On November 12, 2019, the City Council approved the rezone and General Plan amendment (Ordinance No. 1671 (2019 Series)) as well as the architectural design (Resolution No. 11059 (2019 Series)) for the new parking structure and the SLO Repertory Theatre. As a part of the November 12 th approval, City Council directed staff to “immediately begin the process o f advertising for a private partner to relocate the Heyd Adobe” and authorized “the City Manager to use his purchasing authority to incentivize a public/private partnership for the relocation of the Heyd Adobe” (November 12, 2019 Council Minutes). As such, the Council supported the expenditure of $100,000 toward the relocation of the Heyd Adobe. Staff has undertaken extensive efforts toward outreach to advertis e the relocation opportunity and funding available to assist with the relocation of the Heyd Adobe. Advertising took place from April 2020 through January 2021. Below is a description of the various advertising forms: a. Staff created a City website to communicate with the public about the opportunity to relocate the Heyd Adobe: https://www.slocity.org/government/department-directory/community- development/historic-and-archeological-preservation/heyd-adobe. The website was regularly updated with any new information. b. Three advertisements were placed in the New Times over a period of 90 days on April 2, 2020, April 30, 2020, and May 28, 2020 notifying the public that the Heyd Adobe was available for relocation. c. Staff worked with Richardson Properties (real estate company) to advertise the relocation of the Heyd Adobe in real estate magazines and websites. Professional photos were used to create a full-page advertisement in “Homes and Land” May Edition and were also used in an online post on CIRCA Old Houses for one month. Richardson Properties staff gathered 160 contacts who were all contacted, provided additional inform ation, and were directed to the City’s website where they could request to be added to the City’s Interested Parties List. d. On May 14, 2020, the SLO Tribune published an article about the Heyd Adobe and the City’s search for someone to relocate and rehabil itate the house. e. In May 2020, Instagram account “#cheapoldhouses” (with million + followers) picked up (from CIRCA Old Houses) that the Heyd Adobe was available and featured the house on its account. f. The national magazine, “This Old House,” published a f ull-page article about the Heyd Adobe in their September/October 2020 issue. Parking Garage Phase 1A & 1 B Agenda Correspondence Page 3 These various methods of outreach and advertising garnered 44 interested parties. In January 2021, staff created a questionnaire to assist in the selection of those interested parties that were most serious about relocating the Heyd Adobe. Those interested in relocating the house were emailed and requested to respond to a basic questionnaire regarding their plans for the Heyd Adobe. Only one questionnaire response was received from an interested party that requested to relocate the house to Long Beach, CA. Staff has made a concerted effort to obtain a public/private partnership to relocate the Heyd Adobe and no feasible opportunities have materialized to date. The City Public Works Department is now ready to demolish the Heyd Adobe on the site. The construction project timeline calls for the demolition of the Heyd adobe in August 2021 and then the other structures on the site will be demolished at a later date. The Community Development Department is working on appropriate documentation for the demolition of the Heyd Adobe to keep the Palm/Nipomo Street Parking Structure and SLO Repertory Theatre project on schedule. Should you have any questions regarding this project and staff’s efforts to relocate the Heyd Adobe through a public/private partnership please contact Rachel Cohen at rohen@slocity.org. 4. Question: The existing surface parking lot will be closed during the construction of the Cultural Arts District Parking Structure. What is the plan to address lost parking provided by this existing parking lot? Response: Previously, Council members posed a question whether Broad Street should be temporarily transitioned into a one way with diagonal parking on the street to get more street parking during the construction of the Cultural Arts District Parking Structure. A one-way configuration of Broad Street was evaluated as part of the Mission Plaza Concept Plan alternatives. Circulation-wise, the one-way option with angled parking operated fine, although the other alternative (a two -way woonerf with pavers) was the preferred alternative selected. Generally angled parking can provide more parking on a roadway, However; even with one-way traffic it is necessary to maintain a 20’ clear fire access lane. To maintain fire access, angled parking can be provided on one side of the street but would require restricting parking on the other side resulting in a net increase in one to three parking spaces. Lot 14, the site of the new Cultural Arts District Parking Structure, usage is roughly 40 vehicles using the parking lot during the academic year, with higher levels during holidays and long-weekends. To address parking needs during construction of the parking structure, customers will be directed to the 842 Parking Structure. This parking structure can accommodate the displaced vehicle parking.