HomeMy WebLinkAbout5/14/2024 Item 4a, Russo
Chris Russo <
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Subject:Fw: Parking questions ahead of the 5/14 meeting
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I know I'm rather late in my feedback so my apologies in not being more proactive. I read the parking study and have
some feedback which I've shared with the Dixon consultant, but I wanted to get it in front of the city council as well prior to
the 5/14 meeting.
The first email at the bottom is my analysis of the presentation and recommendation. The follow-up email higher up cites
some possible experiments that the city could undertake.
The future of downtown hangs in the balance given what I've heard from residents as well as the number of businesses
exiting the area (most recently Mama's Meatballs Restaurant). We need to make the right decision to ensure our
downtown viability.
----- Forwarded Message -----
From: Chris Russo <russoc01532@yahoo.com>
To: SLO@DixonResourcesUnlimited.com <slo@dixonresourcesunlimited.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 11, 2024 at 03:37:15 PM PDT
Subject: Re: Parking questions ahead of the 5/14 meeting
I think it might be worth doing some trials to see how the public reacts to the pricing levers to see if occupancy can be
increased enough to lower the rates. To do this I would suggest you do some forecasting using historical data with a time
series ML model to identify potential days. If that is not possible (e.g. not the right skill set), then some suggestions
include:
1) Non-peak weekday and peak weekend day at a flat rate (e.g. Wednesday and Friday at $2 per hour for all
locations). This would simplify any confusion regarding the cost and give you metrics for different demand curve types to
see how the public reacts. I would run this over a period of a month leveraging the local merchants to publicize it.
2) Free parking during a specific time period (e.g. after 5 PM, before 5 PM). This would enable you to see what time
periods the public is willing to accept paid parking.
There are a host of other options that could be discussed.
On Friday, May 10, 2024 at 02:27:31 PM PDT, Chris Russo <russoc01532@yahoo.com> wrote:
To introduce myself I'm Chris Russo andI live at 191 Earthwood Ln in San Luis Obispo. I was looking at the recent
parking study. I wanted to send my questions prior to the review so you can consider them as part of the meeting prep.
One question to consider is to have a solvent parking structure really the end goal? I would think the parking structure is
a means to a desired outcome rather than in isolation. For example, one could ask why do we need a strong parking
structure downtown? Is it not to ensure the downtown stays vibrant? How is vibrancy measured? Could include sales tax
revenues, vacancy rates and parking occupancy.
1) It looks like the occupancy rate of downtown parking has been reduced from 62% to 50% or 58% to 51% for the time
periods measured. Is this correct?
2) Have you looked at the financials if the occupancy was raised back to 2022 levels or even further back prior to the
pandemic? For example, how much additional revenue would be raised if on-street paid parking would be raised to the
2022 numbers?
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3) If the occupancy was raised. to the 2022 numbers, how would that affect the recommended option C hourly rates to
keep the same financial position result?
4) Not under you specific scope, but has sales tax revenues been considered as a metric in comparing 2022 to 2024
(including inflation)? In other words, is the reduced occupancy also affecting sales tax revenues such that the city is
taking a loss there as well?
5) There was a question raised during one of the zoom calls regarding other sources of revenue to be used to lower
parking rates. Has that been considered? For example, could a 0.25% visitor tax on hotels been considered?
6) It might be good to share the algorithm used to calculate the options to the residents to see if there might be options not
considered. You could state any result must be $200K cash positive on average per year to be considered.
6) I don't know how the survey results were incorporated into the presentation? Could you include an appendix with the
results of the survey for transparency?
Thank you!
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