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Home My WebLink About02/21/2006, PH5 - PARKING TASK FORCE REVENUE ENHANCEMENT RECOMMENDATIONS (2) �=?=:D FILE RECEIVED L;`;EETING AGENDA FEB 2.1 200E 2/21/2006 SL-QTY CLERK Dear Members of the Council, I am writing this letter to inform you of my concerns of adding parking meters to the 1000 block of Pacific Street. In the Parking Task Force Review it states that the 1000 block of Pacific is predominantly "zoned" as offices. The area is zoned as offices, but there are also many residences the council may be unaware of. There is an apartment complex, a four plex and several single- family homes on the block. The offices in the area have their own parking lots leaving most of the street parking for residents. As a resident of this area I feel adding parking meters to the area is unfair to the residents. I also feel by adding parking meters the street will lose its neighborhood charm. In addition the home my husband and I live in shares a 1 car garage and driveway with my neighbor. This leaves only street parking for us and my neighbors. I believe there are better areas in the core downtown area to generate revenue. f' r� Denise Lamed 1060 Pacific St San Luis Obispo CA 93401 19 COUNCIL CF;D DI.: CAO !'FIN ACAO Z*-FIRE CIIiEF } ATTORNEY PW DIR I CLERK/ORIG POLICE CHF ❑ DEPT HEADS �t- REC DIR SoUTIL DIR `77,-M r;fl council mcmoizanbum Qt 'san•lois•odds .:o aam� isttzattQn:aE :aatrn�nt r, u' .: " FLED FILE DATE: February 21, 2006 EETIN GENDA RECEIVED Fr9 TO: City CouncilI OOTBA #� FEB 2 1 2006 FROM: Ken Hampian, CAO KW SLO CITY CLERK SUBJECT: Sunday Parking: A Tough Decision With Many Considerations The question of whether or not to institute parking meter charges on Sundays creates a tough and emotional issue. This is understandable. Clearly, people attending church on Sunday's are doing a good thing, for the right reasons. No one involved in this process wishes to discourage church attendance. Indeed, some people involved in this process attend the same churches that are expressing concerns about the proposed meter charges on Sundays. When it comes to public policy making, however, we must keep the issue of equitable treatment at the forefront of our considerations, and in this respect, the following should be said: People use downtown San Luis Obispo to support innumerable good causes and to perform innumerable good deeds every single day of the week—but we do not waive parking meter charges for parkers promoting these other good purposes. People use the downtown during the week for church business or to attend funerals. People park downtown in order to serve as volunteers at the Library, the Children's' Museum, the Historic Museum, the Little Theater, and many special events. People come downtown to meet in support of important human service causes, such as homeless services, cancer prevention or child abuse. People visit the downtown to participate at public meetings, like the Board of Supervisors, the Human Relations Commission or the City Council. The list of good causes hosted within Downtown buildings or in public places is very long, indeed. In fact, it is not uncommon for staff to be asked to waive parking tickets because the parking violation was incurred while the driver was visiting the downtown for a"good cause." However, our parking policies are not designed to judge one parking purpose as more worthy than another; they are simply designed to create appropriate parking turnover in support of all downtown users, services and businesses. On Sundays, however, we have terrible parking turnover and individuals are dominating parking spaces to the detriment of the downtown overall. To deal with this problem, the Task Force has recommended the initiation of parking meter charges on Sunday's—but with a"twist" that does not rigorously adhere to "perfect equity." Instead, by recommending all-day free use of nearby parking structures, the Task Force is promoting an approach that is more sensitive to one particular group of parking users: those who attend Sunday services at the Mission,Presbyterian and Grace churches. Staff concurs with this recommendation and believes that it holds the added benefit of getting downtown employees "off the street" and into the structures (rather than further into the surrounding neighborhood). C Sunday Parking CAO Memo Change is always difficult, and for many years parking has been free ori Sundays. It is understandable that people would not be happy about that practice changing. The Council, as usual, is in the difficult role of making the decision. The decision, in my opinion, must strongly consider three main things: 1. Equity with respect to other downtown parking meter users (which includes church services that take place on other days of the week); 2. Your level of satisfaction with the status quo in terms of Sunday parking meter turnover; and 3. Your comfort in waiving an important component of the funding needed to support our next parking structure. - Given these considerations, it is my recommendation that the Council adopt the compromise put forth by the Parking Revenue Task Force. This compromise does create some change, but it also assures that over 1,100 parking spaces remain free on Sundays — a number that will climb even higher, if we have the resources needed to complete another structure in the future. One final, related closing note: The Council has directed the staff to,reactivate study of an Old Town Parking District after 919 Palm is open and our new baseline better understood. 9 COUNCIL DIR ICAO ERIN DIR CACAO ;?-FIRE CHIEF - oTATTORNEY :!� PW DIR 44 CLERKlORIG -r POLICE CHF O DEPT HEADS E�-REC DIR Fr PQ, 2�UTIL DIR T1_TL1P�w,tE ,[zHRDIR I RED FILE 21 2006 MEETING AGENDA [FEBSLO CITY ^ i . �►TEM #TSS CLERK C 2/20/06 Dear City Council Members, My name is Linda Hampton. I am 101 years old. Due to rimy advanced age I am unable to attend the meeting in person, but do want my feeling on adding parking meters known. I own the house at 1060 Pacific Street and have owned it since the 1940's. The residences on this block use the street to park because of limited garage and lot space. I have seen many many changes to the downtown area good and not so good. Adding parking meters this block would fall under not so good. I understand the need to raise funds to provide more downtown_ parking. However, the residents of my block will be providing an unfair share of cost for future parking structures if you install meters. Please target downtown shoppers and not (� community residents for your parking revenue needs. Please look for revenue solutions in the heart of downtown and not outlying neighborhood and office areas. COUNCIL CDDDIR 10 CAO FIN DIR 9 ACAO FIRE CHIEF J7 ATTORNEY EJ�PW DIR 1125 CLERK/ORIG [POLICE CHF O DEeTHEADS B REC DIR Linda Hampton UTIL DIR l�tu.lF NHR DIR '1;1EETI?t,D3 AGENDA RECEIVED ) ATE ^�a-��Ao k ITEM # —LL�— ' c0U!�C FEB 21 2006 � CAO N� ::IN DiR .2 ACAO k FIRE CHI-c-'- SLO CITY CLERK rR ATTORNEY h PW DIR N CLERK/ORIG Rl POLICE Com: C/ 02-19-06 D DEPT HEADS R E C D I R 9 UTIL D!R k�T2,b�nF — 1)� HRDIR Dear City Council Members, - I can't describe how vehemently I oppose plans to begin charging on Sundays for parking in the downtown core without protecting the surrounding neighborhoods from another day of takeover. Do any of you have any idea what it is like to five with cars coming into your neighborhood,parking all day(and often badly at that, by taking more than one space)and into the night. Yeah...around 7:30am. Now till 12pm., with space availability under 5 minutes during peak demand hours. So I ask why do myself and all of my neighbors have to practice adaptive living skills to function in our neighborhood? Conditions weren't like this.before and have gone from bad to worse. We now have employees of downtown parking a full two blocks out of the metered core and not in the garages where they belong. As you know or may not know 8 years ago The Downtown Neighborhood Association tried to form a parking district encompassing Pismo and Buchon Streets from Toro to Beach Streets with an 89%support rate for the district. We met all the guidelines to form such a district and the city council was shocked. To close to downtown.Let us build another parking garage(Marsh St. expansion built). You've already raised parking rates once or twice. What have you done for us,the residents who have to put up with difficulty in parking in from of our own homes let alone having someone come over to visit or a contractor come for service work. How about the trash and cigarette butts left in the gutters that never get swept. Aggravating car alarms set on hair trigger sensitivity that go off when a car with modified exhaust or a subwoofer pass by. Ever been wedged in so you can't get out or it takes you 8-10 tries. Did somebody park in front of your garbage cans again so they didn't get emptied.Need I go on.Downtown is the problem and I don't believe the City and the B.I.A. are treating us as patrons and supporters of the downtown with the respect we deserve. These feelings are echoed by many of my neighbors. Saturday and Sunday mornings are the one time that we can run errands till about 10am. And still have half a chance of returning to a spot near our residence.By making the meters active on Sundays you will foist more church patrons in the early hours into my immediate neighborhood and that will be followed up by employees and shoppers later in the day. Please give us a break! The Parks desire to rent out the new gazebo in Mithchell Park for weddings and concerts, art in the park, W.O.W. week etc.,Farmers market(which I truly enjoy) only add to our woes. Personally I feel it is time to consider placing parking meters a full two blocks out from where they exist now, issue residential placards allowing residents to park in the metered areas,and take the revenue generated by the neighborhoods and use it exclusively to benefit the community(not downtown)ie keep the library open one night a week,aquire more open space, street trees,park improvements without reducing existing funding levels. I also believe that some sort of monetary incentive program be started to get employees to leave their cars at home,carpool,ride the bus,ride a bike, or walk. In City generated parking literature remind them that parking and tolls are a tax deductable expense. Please paint or sleeve parking meters with different colors to denote their different rate structures. Maybe you should start a shuttle from the railroad parking area to get employees downtown. I can only say;get the all day,everyday people out of our neighborhoods now.We'll take transient shopper traffic,then at least we have a chance to park ourselves. I know what I have just said goes against the B.I.A s stance of wanting employees to park in the neighborhoods leaving parking for their patrons;but all day,everyday and into the night is to much to ask of us on a continuing basis. I for one and my neighbors signed below are residents for residential access � rY + xr pn x at 11 \ 1 j 4t , _ I -- -._........ p' 0�7 _ o _ T .I • 1/ i X Z 1