HomeMy WebLinkAbout5/14/2024 Item 4a, Harris
Wilbanks, Megan
From:LeBren Harris <lebren@downtownslo.com>
Sent:Friday, May 10, 2024 4:06 PM
To:E-mail Council Website
Subject:5/14/24 City Council Meeting: Agenda Item 4.a.
Attachments:DSLO Letter to Council - Parking (1).pdf
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Re: City Council Meeting on Tuesday, May 14, 2024
Agenda Item 4.a.
Dear City Council,
My name is LeBren Harris and I'm representing Downtown SLO. Please see the letter attached for your review.
LeBren Harris (She/Her)
Chief Executive Officer, Downtown SLO
805-234-9677 |DowntownSLO.com |LeBren@DowntownSLO.com
1135 Chorro St, San Luis Obispo CA 93401
1
The mission of Downtown SLO is to foster an economically vibrant downtown. We help people and business grow and thrive; We
foster a feeling of belonging; We create community; We like to bring people together; We celebrate diversity; We practice optimism;
We are resilient; We actively promote a walkable, bike-able, accessible community; We cultivate sustainability; We value the
outdoors and respect our natural environment; We believe that a thriving economy depends on authentic connection.
Dear City Council,
We would like to thank you for giving Downtown SLO your support and encouragement to
create a Parking Task Force and dive deep into all things related to parking while representing
the voices of Downtown Business. It is clear that the swift changes to the parking experience
and increased cost of parking have impacted the community’s desire to come downtown, and
we hope to see a more thoughtful approach to parking going forward as we work together to
address this issue.
The Task Force has worked closely with City Staff and Dixon Consulting throughout the Parking
Rate Study process. The survey results were telling and emphasized the strong desire of the
community to see parking rates reduced across the board as well as the parking experience
improved overall. We appreciate that the Council temporarily gave back the first hour free and
free Sundays in the structures to soften the impact of the much higher on-street rates.
However, after evaluating various options with City Staff and the Consultant, and after
evaluating the survey results, it’s clear that prioritizing a reduction in on-street rates is of highest
importance.
Therefore, the Downtown SLO Board of Directors, Parking & Access Committee and Parking
Task Force strongly recommend and are in support of Option B. This is based on Dixon
Unlimited’s Community Survey with more than 2,800 responses, in which the community
identified lowering rates as the #1 priority. We also support City Staff’s recommendations in the
following areas:
● Permit Rates
1. Reduce Structure permit rates to $45/month
2. Maintain 10-hour On Street permit rates at $60/month
3. Increase the number of permits issued each month/quarter
4. Streamline the process of purchasing a permit (online instead of in person)
● Expand On-street Core Time Limits from 2 to 3 hours
● Move from four separate App’s to one Mobile Payment App to simply the user
experience and prioritize improved technology implementation
● Validation Program Enhancements
1. Reduce cost to $1 per hour
2. Prioritize validation for residents seeking public services (i.e. visiting Library, City
Hall, etc.)
● Transition to improved Gated Technology in all structures to provide a consistent user
experience and “Play, then Pay” user experience
The mission of Downtown SLO is to foster an economically vibrant downtown. We help people and business grow and thrive; We
foster a feeling of belonging; We create community; We like to bring people together; We celebrate diversity; We practice optimism;
We are resilient; We actively promote a walkable, bike-able, accessible community; We cultivate sustainability; We value the
outdoors and respect our natural environment; We believe that a thriving economy depends on authentic connection.
The Downtown SLO Board of Directors, Parking & Access Committee and Parking Task Force
additionally recommends the following:
● We understand that Option B does eliminate First Hour Free and Free Sundays, and that
it is not financially feasible to reduce rates as recommended in Option B AND offer First
Hour Free. It is our strong desire to see the Council subsidize the Parking Enterprise
Fund to the degree that adequate promotional opportunities for free parking may be
coordinated with Downtown Businesses.
● The City’s General Fund should pay for construction costs associated explicitly with the
rooftop event space for the Cultural Arts District garage. It is our understanding that
these costs are estimated at approximately $880,000; we would recommend that the
Parking Enterprise Fund be subsidized in an equal amount.
● We strongly recommend that City Staff and the DTSLO Parking Task Force continue to
work closely together through year end as changes are implemented and promotional
opportunities are considered and rolled out. We’d ask City Staff to be prepared to keep
the Parking & Access Committee up to speed on the financial impacts of these changes
for the purpose of getting ahead of any further changes or tweaks that may need to be
made going forward.
Our vision is to have a Downtown that has convenient parking and offers options that enable
people to access Downtown in a variety of ways. This includes, but is not limited to, closely
tracking parking data and the health of the Parking Fund to find opportunities for decreased
enforcement hours, return of free parking promotions, and other accessibility improvements.
Given the significant impacts that rate increases, and technology changes (from July 2023)
have had on both business owners and patrons, it is imperative that we work together to
address these concerns and implement solutions to ease their burden.
We thank you for considering our recommendations and look forward to continuing our
partnership for the benefit of Downtown SLO businesses and the Community at large.
Respectfully,
LeBren Harris Stephen Patrick
LeBren Harris, CEO Downtown SLO Stephen Patrick, Board Chair Downtown SLO