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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 6a. Adopt a Resolution on Public Notification for Long-term Construction Projects in the Downtown Area Item 6a Department: Public Works Cost Center: 5010 For Agenda of: 12/5/2023 Placement: Public Hearing Estimated Time: 30 Minutes FROM: Matt Horn, Public Works Director Prepared By: Adam Fukushima, Active Transportation Manager SUBJECT: ADOPT A RESOLUTION ON PUBLIC NOTIFICATION FOR LONG-TERM CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA RECOMMENDATION 1. Adopt a Draft Resolution entitled, “A Resolution of the Council of the City of San Luis Obispo, California, approving policy regarding City Capital Improvement Projects and Right of Way Encroachment in the Downtown Area”; and 2. Provide direction to staff on whether the Council has an interest in pursuing the development of a “Public Inconvenience Fee”, which would assess a fee for private construction that requires extended closures of public sidewalks, roadways, and parking lanes. POLICY CONTEXT The City of San Luis Obispo supports downtown businesses during the busy holiday season by limiting long-term, City-led construction projects in the downtown and provides prior notification to local businesses when construction activities are necessary. These City policies were adopted through Resolution 9487 (Attachment A). Since long-term construction projects led by the City or private parties can be disruptive to downtown businesses at any time of year, staff recommends the adoption of an amended resolution (Attachment B), which would bring policy consistency to both City- led and private-led construction projects regarding notification procedures as well as limiting all downtown construction projects during the busy holiday season regardless of leading party. The City is enabled to impose this policy via San Luis Obispo Municipal Code Section 12.04.060 concerning the City’s authority to approve or deny an encroachment permit application. DISCUSSION Page 297 of 325 Item 6a Background In 2003, the Council adopted Resolution 9487 (2003 Series) Agreement (Attachment A) to support downtown businesses during the busy holiday season by limiting long -term, City-led projects in the downtown between Thanksgiving Day and New Year’s Day. When construction activities are necessary and unavoidable, the policy requires the City to provide ample notification to neighboring businesses and to Downtown SLO (then known as the Downtown Association) to minimize the disruption. This policy has been received favorably by downtown businesses. However, there has been increasing input from local businesses that the policy needs to apply any time of year as well as include private -led construction projects that may cause similar long-term inconveniences to the public. Proposed Policy Changes Staff recommends the adoption of a resolution (Attachment B) to: 1) Support downtown businesses during the busy holiday season by limiting long- term, City-led and private-led projects in the downtown between Thanksgiving Day and New Year’s Day. 2) Require ample notification of any construction projects (both City and private led) proposed in the downtown area that have the potential to create long-term inconveniences for the public at any time of the year. Notification will be the responsibility of the party leading the construction. Therefore, with the adoption of the proposed resolution all City-led projects will require notification by the City and all private-led projects will require notification by the private property owner or contractor. Proposed policy changes for both City-led and private-led projects include the following elements: Conditions Requiring Notification – All projects that would require the closure of a sidewalk, bike lane, parking lane, or vehicular lane of traffic in the downtown for 10 business days or more. Required Notification – All projects would require 30 days written notice sent to all businesses within 300 feet of the impacted area as well as the Downtown SLO Association. Forms of written notice could include mailers, doorhangers, as well as email correspondence (when available). Expanded Area of Downtown – Currently, Resolution 9487 (2003 Series) defines the downtown area to which the policy applies as the Downtown SLO boundary. Staff proposes to expand the “downtown” area bound by this policy to the Downtown Planning Area and Core that is defined in the Land Use Element of the General Plan (Attachment B) given that these additional areas can also be impacted by long -term construction projects. Page 298 of 325 Item 6a Potential for Public Inconvenience Fee for Long-Term Construction Impacts At this time, staff proposes that notifications for private -led projects be the responsibility of the private property owner or contractor. However, the potential to bring that responsibility under the City to be offset by a fee is currently under explora tion and could be tied to a potential public inconvenience fee. With several large construction projects taking place in the downtown over the past several years, including construction of Hotel SLO, Hotel Cerro, and the Anderson Hotel, there have been several construction projects that required long -duration closures of traffic lanes, bicycle lanes, on-street parking, and sidewalks. This can be particularly challenging with private construction projects, where the City has limited control over work schedules and duration of impacts once an encroachment permit and traffic control plan has been approved. In addition to exploring enhanced public noticing policies, which are the focus of this staff report, staff have also been investigating potential options to incentivize private construction projects to reduce the duration of work that requires closure of public streets and/or sidewalks. One potential strategy could be to explore the development of a “Public Inconvenience Fee”—a fee assessed for the extended temporary occupancy of public streets and sidewalks. Before investing further resources or staff time in developing the policy framework for such a fee, staff would first like to present this concept to the Council for discussion purposes to see if there is interest in pursuing it further. Several other U.S. cities, including Washington, D.C., and San Antonio, Texas, have some form of financial mechanism to incentivize private encroachment projects to restore the use of streets and sidewalks to the general public in a timelier fashion, or to serve as a catalyst for projects that exceed the number of working days originally agreed upon per their approved encroachment permits. For reference, the general framework for Washington, D.C.’s Public Inconvenience Fee1 is summarized as follows: 1) A fee is assessed for private construction projects that occupy public roadways and/or sidewalks for more than 30 days. The fee is assessed with a daily rate based on area of impact. 2) Within the Central Business District (CBD), the typical fees are as follows: a. Closing one block of traffic lane (including bike lanes) costs $200 per day, with a maximum fee of $2,250 per 30-day period. b. Closing one block of sidewalk costs $84 per day, with a maximum fee of $3,000 per 30-day period. No sidewalk fee is charged if a temporary pedestrian walkway is provided. c. Occupying one metered parking stall incurs a fee equal to the minimum daily paid parking rate for the stall. d. Occupying one non-metered parking stall incurs a fee of approximately $5 per day. 3) Outside of the CBD, fees are 25%-30% lower, except for use of parking lanes, where the fee is the same as within the CBD. 1 Source: https://ddot.dc.gov/publication/public-inconvenience-fee-faqs Page 299 of 325 Item 6a If Council has interest in developing a similar fee in San Luis Obispo, it could be structured similar to Washington, D.C.’s fees, which are applied for all projects that exceed 30 days, or similar to San Antonio’s fees, which have similar rates, but are only applied for each day that a construction project exceeds its approved number of working days as per an encroachment permit. The primary advantage of introducing a Public Inconvenience Fee would be potential to reduce duration of construction impacts to public access and circulation. The primary disadvantages of pursuing a fee of this type wou ld be (a) additional impact to City resources to develop and administer this fee, and (b) potential increases in construction costs for private encroachment projects. There is no formal recommendation from staff on this topic. Staff is simply asking that the Council provide preliminary direction and input on whether there is interest in exploring this concept further, in which case staff would return to Council at a future date with more specific recommendations. The following are some preliminary questions to help guide this discussion further: 1. Is the Council interested in pursuing a Public Inconvenience Fee at this time or should this topic be shelved for the foreseeable future? 2. If the Council is interested in pursing a Public Inconvenience Fee, should t his fee be assessed within the downtown only, or throughout the city? 3. If this fee is pursued, does the Council have input on an appropriate duration of construction activities that would trigger assessment of this fee (i.e., where auto/bike/parking lane or sidewalk closures exceed 30 days in duration, etc.)? 4. If Council is interested in pursuing a Public Inconvenience Fee, are there any other specific policy considerations you would like staff to evaluate in developing the framework for this fee? Based on current staffing resources, if Council is interested in pursuing a Public Inconvenience Fee, staff would most likely return with specific recommendations and a draft ordinance for Council consideration in spring of 2024. Public Engagement Staff presented the proposed changes for notification of construction projects to Downtown SLO’s Parking and Access Committee in September 2023, where the committee expressed general support for the proposed changes. The proposed changes were also provided to members of the Developers Roundtable, an informal group of local developers that provide input to city staff. In addition, the City invited input to the proposed changes in a news release in October of 2023. No public engagement has yet been provided on the potential for a public inconvenience fee for long-term construction impacts. If Council considers this as a potential benefit, public engagement for this activity would occur prior to returning to Council for consideration of adoption. Page 300 of 325 Item 6a CONCURRENCE Staff in Public Works, Community Development and Public Communications have provided input on the proposed resolution amendments. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW The California Environmental Quality Act does not apply to the recommended action in this report because the action does not constitute a “Project” under CEQA Guidelines Sec. 15378. FISCAL IMPACT Budgeted: No Budget Year: Ongoing Funding Identified: No Fiscal Analysis: Funding Sources Total Budget Available Current Funding Request Remaining Balance Annual Ongoing Cost General Fund $ $ $ $ State Federal Fees Other: Total $ $ $ $ Since notification is already provided for city-led projects, there is no fiscal impact. The proposed changes to private-led construction projects will not require additional budget expenditures other than staff time to verify the completion of notifications. However, it is hoped that the notifications for private -led projects will also reduce the burden on staff to respond to public inquiries. ALTERNATIVES 1. Council could decide not to adopt the proposed Resolution or could adopt an amended Resolution. 2. Council could also decide not to pursue the potential for a Public Inconvenience Fee at this time. ATTACHMENTS A - Resolution No. 9487 (2003 Series) B - Draft Resolution approving the policy regarding City Capital Improvement Projects and Right of Way Encroachment in the Downtown Area Page 301 of 325 Page 302 of 325 Appendix LPage 303 of 325 Appendix LPage 304 of 325 Appendix LPage 305 of 325 Page 306 of 325 RESOLUTION NO. _____ (2023 SERIES) A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO, CALIFORNIA, REQUIRING ADVANCED NOTIFICATION FOR LONG-TERM CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS AND RIGHT OF WAY ENCROACHMENT IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA AND A RESTRICTION OF CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE DOWNTOWN CORE DURING THE HOLIDAYS THAT IMPACT THE PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY WHEREAS, it is essential to maintain and upgrade City infrastructure in order to provide reliable municipal services and to maintain a healthy local economy; and WHEREAS, prolonged construction impacts associated with traffic detours and vehicular, sidewalk, and bike lane closures, as well as materials and equipment deliveries, can be disruptive to the flow of traffic in the downtown area and affect access for consumers to the downtown retail core; and WHEREAS, most businesses and residents are willing to accept a level of inconvenience, provided that projects are coordinated and managed carefully, and that the need for anticipated impacts to public circulation and access is communicated; and WHEREAS, Downtown SLO has requested improved coordination in the coordination of capital projects in the downtown core, and in the level of communication between the City and Downtown SLO regarding project purpose and status; and WHEREAS, long-term construction projects can be disruptive to the success of Downtown merchants and businesses; and WHEREAS, the City Council adopted Resolution 9487 (2003 Series), titled: A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO APPROVING POLICY REGARDING CITY CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS AND RIGHT OF WAY ENCROACHMENT IN THE DOWNTOWN AREA; and WHEREAS, Resolution 9487 (2003 Series) only restricted construction activity during the Holiday period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day, but there is also a need to mitigate long-term disruptions in the downtown at all times of year via advanced notification to affected businesses; and WHEREAS, the area bound by this policy should expand to include all areas of the downtown core as defined in the Land Use Element due to the businesses located there; and WHEREAS, Resolution 9487 (2003 Series) only imposed noticing requirements on City-led construction projects but noticing should also be imposed for private -led construction projects; and Page 307 of 325 Resolution No._______(2023 Series) Page 2 R_____ WHEREAS, pursuant to City Municipal Code Section 12.04.060, upon receiving an application for an encroachment permit, the City Engineer shall either approve, conditionally approve, or reject it and the permit shall include all the conditions required by City Code and conditions set by the Public Works Director (Director). NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Council of the City of San Luis Obispo that the following policy is to be followed in the completion of capital improvement projects and the issuance of Encroachment Permits in the downtown area: SECTION 1. Resolution No. 9487 (2003 Series) is hereby repealed and replaced by this Resolution. SECTION 2. Unless necessary for emergency access or maintenance, construction activities that affects City Streets in the Downtown Area shall not occur between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day and shall be restricted by the Public Works Department through the project specifications and through the Encroachment Permit issued pursuant to Municipal Code Section 12.04.060. SECTION 3. For purposes of this policy the “Downtown Area” shall include the Downtown Core as defined in the Land Use Element of the General Plan (Exhibit A). SECTION 4. For purposes of this policy, “long-term” shall be defined as ten cumulative business days or more. SECTION 5. The Public Works Director shall have discretion in allowing long-term construction projects to commence or to continue between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day if it is adequately demonstrated that the project is necessary for emergency access or maintenance, or that the delay to new construction or suspension of ongoing construction activities would be overly burdensome to the project proponent while also minimally disruptive and impactful to downtown businesses and the general public. SECTION 6. The City shall be bound by the following requirements for Capital Improvement Projects in the Downtown Area: a) Provide ample notification to businesses and residents within an area of at least 300 feet of the impacted area, either directly or through its contractors, regarding planned Capital Improvement Plan projects; and b) All reasonable steps will be taken by the City staff to ensure ample communication and coordination relative to planned City projects (non - emergency) in the downtown, including: i. A minimum of 30-days notification to Downtown SLO prior to construction; ii. The preparation of project “fact sheets” for Downtown SLO to fully explain project purpose and other important information; Page 308 of 325 Resolution No._______(2023 Series) Page 3 R_____ iii. Participation in quarterly “project coordination meetings” with Downtown SLO; iv. Attending or conducting community meetings and/or forums and making presentations for larger complex projects when requested by Downtown SLO, or as determined by staff; v. Including in the project specifications requirements that the contractor is responsible for notification, signage, and procedures to minimize impacts on affected businesses to the extent feasible; and c) Downtown SLO shall be responsible for communicating with its membership regarding project plans and status following receipt of project information from the City; and d) The City staff will make every reasonable effort to ensure that: i. All involved staff members share and communicate accurate information; and ii. Projects managed by all departments in the City are properly coordinated. SECTION 7. Pursuant to the authority provided to the Director in Municipal Code Section 12.04.060, Council hereby directs the Director to impose the following conditions on Encroachment Permits issued within the Downtown Area where a travel lane, bike lane, or sidewalk is closed for ten, cumulative business days or more: a) The Contractor will provide ample notification to businesses and residents within an area of at least 300 feet of the impacted area, regarding planned encroachment of the public right-of-way in the downtown area; and b) All reasonable steps will be taken by the contractor to ensure ample communication and coordination relative to planned encroachment permit projects (non-emergency) in the downtown, including: i. A minimum of 30-days written notification to Downtown SLO prior to construction. Contractor shall be required to show proof of communication . ii. Mailers, doorhangers, and email to all businesses or residents within 300 feet of the impacted right of way a minimum of 30 days prior to impact. Contractor shall be required to show proof of communication. c) Downtown SLO shall be responsible for communicating with its membership regarding project plans and status following receipt of project information from the Contractor; and Page 309 of 325 Resolution No._______(2023 Series) Page 4 R_____ SECTION 8. The Council hereby directs staff to return to Council with recommended updates to the Municipal Code to codify the policy contained herein. On motion of Council Member _______, seconded by Council Member _____________ and on the following roll call vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: The foregoing resolution was adopted this _____ day of _______________ 202 3. ___________________________ Mayor Erica A. Stewart ATTEST: ______________________ Teresa Purrington City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM: ______________________ J. Christine Dietrick City Attorney IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of the City of San Luis Obispo, California, on ______________________. ___________________________ Teresa Purrington City Clerk Page 310 of 325 Resolution No._______(2023 Series) Page 5 R_____ Exhibit A Downtown Core as Defined in the Land Use Element of the General Plan Page 311 of 325 Page 312 of 325 1 2 1.Adopt a Draft Resolution entitled, “A Resolution of the Council of the City of San Luis Obispo, California, Approving Policy Regarding City Capital Improvement Projects and Right of Way Encroachment in the Downtown Area”; and 2.Staff is not recommending pursuing a “Public Inconvenience Fee” at this time. 3 Council Resolution No. 9487 (2003 Series) 1. Limits city-led construction projects in the downtown between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day 2.When long-term constructions are unavoidable during the holidays, the city requires itself to provide ample notification to downtown businesses a)Minimum 30-day notification to Downtown SLO b)“Fact Sheets” to local businesses c)Other communication tools to ensure businesses are fully informed 4 1.The holiday construction moratorium does not apply to private-led projects 2.Long-term construction projects can be disruptive any time of year to downtown businesses 5 1.Revise language to make it is clear that the holiday construction moratorium applies to both city-led and private-led projects 2.Require notification of any long-term construction projects in the downtown, throughout the year 3.Notification will be the responsibility of the party leading the construction (Municipal Code Section 12.04.060) 6 Conditions Requiring Notification •“Long-term” defined as 10 cumulative business days or more •Apply to all downtown construction projects that require long-term closure of a sidewalk, bike lane, parking lane or travel lane Who is Notified? •All businesses within 300 ft of impacted area •Downtown SLO 7 Forms of Written Notice •Printed Mailers •Email •Doorhangers 8 1.Adopt a Draft Resolution entitled, “A Resolution of the Council of the City of San Luis Obispo, California, Approving Policy Regarding City Capital Improvement Projects and Right of Way Encroachment in the Downtown Area”; and 2.Staff is not recommending pursuing a “Public Inconvenience Fee” at this time.