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C I T Y OF SAN LUIS O B I S P O .
FROM: Mike McCluskey, Director of Public Works
Via: Tim Bochum,Deputy Director of Public Works
Prepared By: Robert Horch,Parking Manager
SUBJECT: ESTABLISHMENT OF RESIDENTIAL PARKING PERMIT DISTRICT
CAO RECOMMENDATION
Adopt a resolution establishing a residential parking permit district on the 800 block of Murray Street
(Chorro to Santa Rosa) from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM,Monday through Friday.
DISCUSSION
Council gave direction to staff, during the Alta Vista District Expansion hearings, to overhaul parking
district formation polices and procedures prior to bringing another proposed Parking District to the
Council for consideration. However, prior to that direction, staff received a request to form a single
street parking district on Murray Street. This created a dilemma: should we wait until new policies
and procedures are in place (and run the risk of upsetting the petitioners) or use the existing policies
and procedures (and run the risk of ignoring the Council)? We chose a middle ground; i.e. use
proposed policies and procedures (coming from the appointed task force) on the request and thus use
the Murray Street request as a test case.
The Request
Staff received a petition from residents living on the 800 block of Murray Street seeking to establish a
residential parking permit district in accordance with the provisions of Municipal Code - Section
10.36.170 (Designation of residential parking permit areas), which requires the support of a 60 %
majority of residents living in the affected area in order to create a residential parking permit district.
The petition requested that parking be restricted to 1-hour time limit, between the hours of 8:00 AM
and 5:00 PM,Monday through Friday, except for vehicles displaying a city issued residential parking
permit.
The original petitioners represented a majority group (26 out of 32) of residents living along the 800
block of Murray Street(Attachment 1). According to the petition, there are a number of concerns that
justify a parking district: the street is congested with vehicles parked by persons not residing in the
area, the traffic congestion creates a burden in gaining access to their residences, they are concerned
with the safety of their families, and they wish to preserve the quality of life in their neighborhood.
The petitioners believe the proposed parking measures would have a positive effect on their street.
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Murray Street Parking District Page 2
Current District Formation Requirements
The current Municipal Code (Section 10.36.170) requires certain criteria to be met in order to
designate an area as a preferential parking district. A district can now be formed under two options:
Option One
I) the area is predominately residential;
2) streets in the area are congested with vehicles parked by persons not residing in the area;
Option Two
3) limiting parking in the area to bona fide residents is necessary in order to preserve the
quality of life of persons residing in the area.
Under Option One the entire proposed area is residential except for the Tri-City Blood Bank and thus
the first criteria can be met. In order to ascertain the second criteria, staff performed a parking
occupancy study. Our occupancy study (Attachment 2) of this area determined that there are
potentially 57 on-street parking spaces on the 800 block of Murray. The occupancy fluctuated from a
low of 40%occupied(23 vehicles parked)to a high of 74%occupied(42 vehicles parked)at different
times of day. As a comparison, the 700 block of Murray fluctuated from a low of 39% occupied to a
high of 42%occupied at the same times.
Based on the occupancy study of the proposed area, some level of parking was available for the
residents to park on their particular block at all times. Moreover, most of the residences within the
petition area have short off-street driveways and/or 1-car garages, which enhance the availability of
resident parking. As a result, the required congestion level would appear to be insufficient to warrant
establishing a preferential parking district based solely on parking availability. Although this does
not mean that at some time during the day there may be more of an impact, it's just that staff could
not verify the petitioners' claim of non-resident, all-day parkers impacting the street and denying
access to their homes.
Therefore, similar to recent district requests, staff cannot make a finding that both components for
Option One can be justified and thus, Option Two must be the key to the decision making process.
Option Two sanctions the limiting of on-street parking to bona fide residents in order to preserve the
quality of life for people living in the area. However, there is no definition of quality of life in the
ordinance and it is highly subjective. Therefore,staff has no means of saying one way or another if
this criterion is met. As stated in the original petition, the residents believe it is a quality of life issue.
Based on that belief, staff is recommending approval of the district. However, after taking public
testimony, Council must decide whether this requirement is fulfilled before granting final approval
solely on the basis of quality of life issues.
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Murray Street Parking District Page 3
Trying Something New
Staff, at Council direction, is working with a citizen task force to develop improved processing of
residential permit district requests. Staff utilized the Murray Street request as a "test" case for some
of the key issues. While the full recommendations of that process will come before Council in the
near future, a brief description of the issues should be presented as part of this report.
The majority of the task force believes the City should take a more dominant role in assisting in the
processing of the requests. A City run independent survey that is anonymous should be conducted to
remove neighbor versus neighbor issues. This was done for the Murray request and appears to have
removed some of the problems experienced in the past..
In addition, the task force favors the use of"households"as opposed to "residents"as the unit vote to
determine support for a district request. This approach was also used in processing the Murray
request and seems to have removed some of the individual versus individual conflicts experienced in
recent requests.
Following one of the recommendations, staff resurveyed the households on the street to allow for
confidential voting and to determine how many households supported a parking district, and of those,
how many would support one without the one-hour time limit. Staff does not have sufficient
resources to enforce a single, isolated street, every hour to ensure vehicles do not park beyond the
limit. Staff determined that the Tri-Counties Blood Bank on the corner of Murray and Santa Rosa
could be a contributor to the parking impact, but since the Blood Bank is moving this summer there
may not be a need for the one-hour time limit. There were 22 households who responded resulting in
73% (16) in favor and 27% (6) opposed to a parking district. Nine additional households did not vote
in the city survey for some reason or another and may be for or against the district. We struggled
with how to "count" the non-votes. Counting them as "no" votes makes less than 50% in favor,
while counting them as `yes"votes make an overwhelming majority in favor. In the end, we decided
they should not be counted either way. The enclosed map (Attachment 3) shows which households
responded to the formal survey.
Staff Recommendation
Based on the results of the formal survey, staff is recommending that Council approve this parking
district, Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM without a time limit. We simply do not have
the resources to adequately enforce hourly parking restrictions in areas other than the downtown. All
parking districts formed thus far have much simpler time restrictions that can be enforced. Typically,
residential parking districts require significant enforcement the first few weeks of each Cal Poly
quarter and then compliance levels normalize and enforcement activities stabilize at a lower level.
This will be the first District that will be potentially impacted year around by business and hospital
personnel; so at this time we cannot estimate the impact on staffing resources. However, we feel that
the staff proposed hours, with early and sufficient enforcement, would accomplish the goals of the
petitioners. The staff proposed hours (as opposed to the original petition) are supported by the City's
survey(Attachment 4) since 10 of the 16 households in favor of the parking district voted for no time
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Murray Street Parking District Page 4
limit. However, staff will record complaints and review the necessity of a time limit after 12 months
at the staff level.
Under the current procedures, there could not be a finding that the district should be formed based on
Option One of the ordinance as significant congestion could not be found. The decision would have
to be solely based upon public testimony on the nebulous concept of"quality of life". Using new
criteria, developed by the citizen and staff task force, less emphasis is placed upon congestion and
more upon household agreement that a problem exists and a parking district is a viable solution.
Using that criteria on a test case basis, staff is recommending the approval of this request.
Enforcement
If the proposed district were established, the City would have seven districts requiring enforcement at
various times and days of the week throughout the City. The proposed hours of 8:00 AM to 5:00
PM, Monday to Friday would predominately be enforced by the Public Work's parking staff that
patrols the downtown area and other parking permit districts. It should be noted that the more
districts to patrol and respond to specific complaints, the less time to patrol downtown or other areas
of the City. If the one-hour time limit was established this would greatly increase the demand on our
resources.
Parking District Process Revisions
As discussed above, as a result of the recent Alta Vista parking district expansion request in 2003,
Council directed staff to review the existing district request process and make suggestions for
improvement. Council sought to limit the problems that occurred with recent requests. Staff is
currently finalizing those recommendations to bring back to Council in the next 30 to 45 days.
FISCAL IMPACT
Creation of the parking permit district would have some direct costs to the City. Sign and pole
installation would cost approximately $600. Additional permits and materials and processing would
cost approximately $700. Since there is no formal budget for creation of this particular parking
district; if approved, the monies would have to come from unappropriated working capital or the
current budget for parking operations. Conversely, there is a potential for producing parking fine
revenues of approximately $1,00043,000 annually depending upon the level of enforcement and the
number of citations issued. The negative side to more patrols in outlying residential areas is less
time devoted to patrolling downtown meters, which translates into lost meter and citation revenue.
ALTERNATIVES
1. Enact a one-hour provision as initially requested by the neighborhood. Staff does not
recommend this due to the problem with adequately enforcing this time restriction with current
staffing levels. Further, with the relocation of the Tri-Counties Blood Bank, staff believes that the
one-hour limit may not be needed.
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Murray Street Parking District Page 5
2. Do not enact a residential permit district at this time. Staff does not recommend this option
because there is sufficient support of more than 60% of the affected households in favor of a
residential parking district on the 800 block of Murray.
Attachments Attachment 1-Proposed District Map
Attachment 2-Occupancy Study
Attachment 3-Map of Murray Street Responses
Attachment 4 City Survey Results
Attachment 5-Proposed Resolution
I lCouncil Agenda Reports\2004 agenda reports\Transportation and Development Review (Bochum)\Parldng
(Horch)\Murray Residential District original.doc
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Attachment 5
RESOLUTION NO. (2004 SERIES)
A RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO ESTABLISHING
THE 800 BLOCK OF MURRAY STREET AS A RESIDENTAL PARKING PERMIT DISTRICT
AND ESTABLISHING DAYS AND HOURS OF OPERATION OF SAID DISTRICT AND
TIME OF RENEWAL FOR A PARKING PERMIT
WHEREAS, the Council of the City of San Luis Obispo has received a petition from the
majority of the households on the 800 block of Murray Street; and
WHEREAS, the Council of the.City of San Luis Obispo has determined that the quality of
life for the residents of this area has been adversely affected by non-residents using the
neighborhood streets for excessive parking; and
WHEREAS, the Council of the City of San Luis Obispo has determined that the restriction
of non-resident parked vehicles on the neighborhood street will improve pedestrian and vehicular
safety and allow residents to gain proper access to their households; and
WHEREAS, the Council of the City of San Luis Obispo has held a public hearing to
consider the establishment of a residential parking permit district and determined the parking permit
district will improve the quality of life for the residents of the district.
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of San Luis Obispo
as follows:
SECTION 1. Pursuant to Section 10.36.170 et seq. of the San Luis Obispo Municipal
Code,the residential parking permit district is hereby established as shown in Exhibit A.
SECTION 2. No other vehicles other than vehicles providing services to the area or having
a residential parking permit clearly displayed.between the front windshield and the rear-view mirror
shall park in the area from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday.
SECTION 3. The Public Works Department shall be directed to post the district with signs
clearly indicating these parking restrictions.
SECTION 4. The Parking Services Division shall issue residential parking permits on
demand as permited in Section 10.36.220 of the San Luis Obispo Municipal Code. Parking permits
shall be issued for a year effective September 15`h of each year.
On motion of seconded by
And on the following roll call vote:
AYES:
NOES:
3-/v
Resolution No. (2004 series)
Page Two
ABSENT:
the foregoing Resolution was passed and adopted this day of 2004.
MAYOR David F. Romero
ATTEST:
Diane Reynolds, C.M.C.
Deputy City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
JALh.aWf. Lowell, City Attorney
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CYONEY HOLCOMB 90S S94 098S 0Sl18/04 04:4Spm P. 001
Residents for Quality neighborhoods
P.O. Box 12604.San Luis Obispo, CA 93406
RED FILE
MEETIN GENDA
DATE: May 18, 2004 DATE-5/1 DrEM #_LL
TO: San Luis Obispo City Council
VIA: Fax: to 781-7109
RE: Meeting Date: May 18, 2004
Item #: BUS 3
Subject: ESTABLISHMENT OF A RESIDENTIAL PARKING PERMIT DISTRICT
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council,
RQN supports the. CAO recommendation to establish a residential parking permit district on the
800 block of Murray Street (between Santa Rosa and Chorro Streets), during the hours of 8:00
AM to 5:00 PM, Monday through Friday.
We are also very supportive of staffs decision to implement (on an experimental basis) some of
the procedural changes suggested by the task force charged with improving the process involved
with the formation of future residential parking districts. We understand from our discussions with
Mr. Bruce Hilton, the petition circulator, that to date the process has gone quite well!
It is our opinion that the parking problems on the 800 block of Murray Street stem primarily from
(a) employees working at the blood bank; and, (b) employees working at Sierra Vista Hospital.
Even though the blood bank is moving, it is very likely that new tenets could perpetuate the
problem. And, until Sierra Vista Hospital manages their parking more effectively, employee.
parking on Murray Street will continue to be a problem.
There are 32 "households" on the 800 block of Murray Street. According to the occupancy study
conducted by staff, up to 42 of the 57 on-street parking spaces are occupied on a daily basis .
between the hours of 8:00 AM and 5:00 PM. While this does not represent total congestion, the
number is significant and is exacerbated by the narrowness of the street.
In asking you to approve this parking district we are cognizant of the fact that each new district
has a potential to impinge on the amount of parking enforcement in the existing districts and the
downtown area. However, this should not be a deterrent. As we have previously mentioned
"parking districts" are one of the very few tools available to the council which actually provide
immediate relief to parking, noise, traffic and safety issues in our neighborhoods. The Murray
Street neighbors have met the criteria set forth in MC §10.36.170. Therefore, their petition to
establish a residential parking permit district should be granted.
Respectfully submitt ,
Cyd ney Holcomb RECEIVED `c.rX.0.L-k9
Chairperson, RQN COUNCIL
CDD DIR
MAY 18 204 1 CAO FIN DIR
c. Robert Horch, Parking Manager ACRO FIRE CHIEF
SLO CITY CLERK ATTORNEY El PW DIR
CLERK/ORIG ❑ POLICE CHF
DEPT HEADS ❑ REC DIR
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