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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/15/2000, C11 - MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO STATING OUR JOINT INTENT TO PURSUE JOINT PLANNING FOR PARKING SOLUTIONS IN THE NORTHERLY EXTENSION OF THE DOWNTOWN NORTH OF SANTA ROSA STREET. council OR -1 j acenaa uepont 'Cli C I T Y OF SAN LU I S O B I S P O FROM: John Dunn, City Administrative Ice SUBJECT: MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN THE CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO AND THE COUNTY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO STATING OUR JOINT INTENT TO PURSUE JOINT PLANNING FOR PARKING SOLUTIONS IN THE NORTHERLY EXTENSION OF THE DOWNTOWN NORTH OF SANTA ROSA STREET. CAO RECOMMENDATION: Approve the Memorandum of Understanding between the City and the County for a joint pursuit of parking issues northeast of Santa Rosa Street. DISCUSSION: As the City Council is aware, for some months the City Administrative Office (CAO) and the County Administrator, and other staff members of both jurisdictions, have engaged in discussions concerning our respective future plans in the northeasterly end of the downtown. Current pursuits of both the City and the County include: 1. The County is in the planning and design stage for a new County Administrative building in the area from the Fremont Theater to Santa Rosa Street. Part of the impetus for this planning is the need for additional County/Court facilities, which could then be provided in the area of the current administrative office space. In the process, the County has looked at various parking options: (1) to provide a substantial portion of this parking on site; (2) to provide one or two underground levels of parking on site; (3)to provide all of their parking needs off- site. Their current thinking favors the latter two options. 2. The City is currently engaged in a study of off-street transit faculties, and the consultant has looked most closely at the block including the former Toyota Motors site and the Bank of America/Old French Hospital block. 3. With City Council and Board of Supervisor approval, the City, or the City and the County, will soon be retaining a parking consultant to look at the general area described in No. 2 above as a location for a parking structure, perhaps in conjunction with the off-street transit facility. Such a parking structure might serve the parking needs of County employees, commuters, transit system users, County Court system jurors, and downtown employees. 4. The City has been engaged for some months in discussions with representatives of the Copeland family regarding their proposal for a mixed-use development of the Court Street C11-1 Council Agenda Report—MOU Between the City and County Page 2 parcel and the Palm/Morro area ("Chinatown Historic Area"). What was pointed out during the recent public presentation of July 20' is that the parking needs for this development, both for replacement parking and for the new development, can only be partially accomplished in the Palm/Morro area, and the balance has to be accomplished elsewhere. 5. The City's Downtown Physical Concept Plan shows the future desirability of a special pavement treatment area for the street area between the County Court House and the Fremont Theater, and provision for occasional blocking of automobile traffic, in order to use the area for public, ceremonial and civic events. The County has expressed interest in exploring this concept with us. It is important to point out that no definite agreements, other than to work together, have been made to date, and that the current situation is fluid and exploratory. The MOU is a statement of intention, and is not legally binding. Any agreements that result from this mutual effort would have to be previewed and approved by the City Council of the City of San Luis Obispo and the Board of Supervisors of San Luis Obispo County. It is also recognized that this joint planning effort, should it proceed to a certain point, would also involve cooperative discussions with the San Luis Obispo Council of Governments (SLOCOG), the San Luis Obispo Regional Transit Agency(SLORTA) and other appropriate parties. For these and other reasons set forth in the proposed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), it is apparent that both the City and the County have a substantial stake in the northeasterly end of the downtown, and that our view of this area should be holistic and coordinated, rather than separate and fragmented. It is for this reason that County Administrator David Edge and I join in making this joint recommendation to you: The two agencies would work together in a coordinated and cooperative fashion in an attempt to provide the best mutual solution to our respective concerns. CONCURRENCES: City and County staff have worked together and jointly support this cooperative and coordinated approach. The County Board of Supervisors will be asked to take action on the MOU at a forthcoming meeting. FISCAL IMPACT: The adoption of the MOU will not have any fiscal impact. However, subsequent work efforts resulting from the MOU will have impacts (i.e., the joint City-County Study). These impacts will be specifically described as each task proceeds. ATTACHMENTS: Memorandum of Understanding C11-2 ATTACMAENT 1 MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING Between the County of San-Luis Obispo and the City of San Luis Obispo Relating to the Creation of Additional Parking Facilities in the Area Northeasterly of Santa Rosa Street August 2000 The General Situation 1. It is mutually agreed between the two parties that there is a parking shortage in the northeastern portion of the downtown. 2. This parking shortage is caused by a lack of adequate parking facilities and a large parking demand caused by the shoppers and users of the downtown,the employees of the downtown, the employees of the County, and others seeking parking in this area. 3. The result of this shortage creates a negative impact on the residential and commercial neighborhoods in the northern end of the downtown, as commuters/all-day employees fill parking spaces that residents and shop owners would like to preserve for family/friends and customers. The Present and Forthcoming Situation The County is currently facing certain situations: 1. The County is in the process of planning a new County Administrative Building in the area north of the Fremont Theater(former Mel Smith Chevrolet and the present Sunshine Donuts properties), and their tentative conclusion is that the building would function best if primarily used for administrative office space,with at least part of the parking to serve the building to be placed at another off-site location. 2. If a major parking facility is to be jointly planned and financed northeast of Santa Rosa,the County would require that a specified portion of the facility be dedicated for exclusive County use. 3. The County is interested in pursuing an idea set forth in the City's Downtown Plan that it be appropriate to have a different surface treatment for Monterey Street between Santa Rosa and Osos Streets and for the County or the City to use this area on special occasions for ceremonial, civic or community purposes. The City shares this interest and desires to work with the County on this issue. C11-3 ATTACHMENT 1 The City is facing certain situations: 1. The City has earlier produced and approved a Conceptual Physical Plan for the City's Center ("Downtown Plan'),which sets forth a desired future for the downtown,which plan extends northeasterly to Johnson Avenue. The County was invited to and fully participated in this downtown planning process. 2. The plan recognizes that both the County and the City are major employers within the downtown, and that their continued growth and expansion should take place in this area. The plan also calls for intensification of commercial and governmental uses in the downtown, and for a series of peripheral parking facilities surrounding the downtown, leaving the "downtown commercial core"free of surface and structural parking facilities. 3. The City has spent a great deal of time investigating and attempting to improve the parking situation in the downtown over the years. The City completed the Wilbur smith Downtown Parking Study in 1977,the IBI Group San Luis Obispo Downtown Parking Study in 1986, the Meyer Mohaides Downtown Parking Report No. 1 in February 1997, the Progress Report No. 2 (same authors) in June 1997,the Draft Parking Downtown Access Plan(same authors) in December 1997, and the EIR for the above draft plan by the Parsons Group in 1999. The City built the Palm Street Garage in 1987,with County financial assistance, built the Marsh/Chonro Garage in 1992, and plans to commence expansion of the Marsh/Chorro garage in the near future. The City adopted its first Parking Management Plan in 1987, and updated the document in 1990 and 1995. 4. The City is on the threshold of performing a"Downtown Strategic Plan"which will look at where downtown San Luis Obispo is today, what its shortcomings and opportunities are, and how best to achieve its appropriate role and future potential. This study is most critical to the future vitality of the downtown. Parking is not the core purpose of this study; however, it is recognized that a limited parking supply which fails to meet the downtown parking needs will act as a constraint to achieving the downtown's future potential. 5. The City Council has authorized negotiations with the Copeland family regarding their proposal to develop the Court Street parcel and the Palm/Morro area. The latter, the "Chinatown area", would have a semi-subterranean(underground at the Palm Street level) parking structure, with a mixed-use development on top of the parking structure. While the outcome of these discussions is not fully known at this date, it is assumed the project will proceed. While the project would undoubtedly increase the attractiveness, intensity and vitality of the downtown, it will also increase parking demand in the area, and call for an increase in the parking supply above what can be satisfied on site. 6. The City, like the County, is facing its own office space shortage, and has been in a planning process for the eventual enlargement of City Hall, which,with increased office space use, will also create the need for an additional parking supply. While there are options available for doing this,none are necessarily easy or economical to accomplish. C11-4 ATTACHMENT 1 7. The City is presently engaged in an analysis to determine the location, cost and feasibility to serve both the City's and the County's regional(SLORTA)bus system passenger transfer needs. At the Council's request,the City is also exploring the feasibility/desirability of establishing an allied parking facility. This study is planned for the near future. Related Planning Concepts Calling for Further Analysis 1. A concern has been expressed that previously-developed and to-be-developed parking facilities "south"of Santa Rosa be primarily reserved for the customers of the downtown commercial core, and that"north"of Santa Rosa is the more appropriate place for commuters into the City, County employees, Court system jurors, and downtown employees. 2. If it were deemed to be more appropriate to relocate Court system juror parking to a"north of Santa Rosa"parking facility, then it is recognized that an appropriate financial accommodation would have to be made between the City and the County. Conclusion Because of the above considerations, it is increasingly apparent that there is an interdependence between the County's and the City's plans and expansion efforts in the northeasterly end of the downtown as it relates to the creation and utilization of parking facilities. Recommendation: It is therefore proposed that the Board of Supervisors of San Luis Obispo County and the City Council of the City of San Luis Obispo recognize the potential mutual benefit of the two general purpose local government units working together in a cooperative fashion, and authorize the County Administrator and the City Administrative Officer and their respective staffs to work together to analyze the feasibility of a location for a parking structure in the northern part of the downtown that can accommodate additional parking spaces,with appropriate cost sharing between the two parties. Any further plans that are developed as a result of this process would be brought back to the Board of Supervisors and the City Council for further consideration. CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO COUNTY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO By BY C11-5