AGENDA #10
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to: |
Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager |
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from: |
Kay Johnson, Finance Director |
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subject: |
Review of Downtown Parking Citizens Committee Report |
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date: |
March 26, 2007 |
The purpose of this report is to advise the Council on recommended next steps for considering the Downtown Parking Citizens Committee Report submitted to the Council on February 26, 2007 (please see Attachment 1).
The Town Council received the report of the Downtown Parking Citizens Committee on February 26, 2007, and referred the report to the Manager for review and recommendations. The report reviewed and identified key issues of concern within the current downtown parking system, and recommended goals, objectives, and potential strategies/actions, in accordance with the proposed guiding principles needed to achieve an effective and efficient parking plan.
The report identified numerous issues that are needed in order to implement a successful parking plan, including:
The key recommendation of the report is that the Town begin to treat parking as a system to be managed in a comprehensive fashion. The Committee recommended that the Council consider immediate implementation strategies to accomplish this end.
Potential Immediate Strategies
Improving informational signage for parking downtown has been identified as a key immediate implementation strategy. Currently Traffic Engineering is finalizing plans with Council for a program to install informational signs directing to downtown on major arterials as well as signs within the downtown area directing to parking locations and tourist destinations, based on the Council’s actions of November 20, 2006 (please see Attachment 2). These signs will be installed by July, 2007.
If the Council desires to implement an immediate strategy for downtown parking, we offer the following menu of options:
1. Offer free parking Downtown after 6:00 p.m. in May on Friday and Saturday nights. A promotional plan would be coordinated by the Town of Chapel Hill in conjunction with the Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Partnership to make the public aware of the trial program. Estimated revenue forgone after 6:00 p.m. for Friday and Saturday nights for May 2007 would be $2,285 (estimates from Municipal Lots 3 and 5, including ticket revenue after 6:00 p.m., May 2006). Furthermore, we recommend that Parking Services conduct an assessment comparing the changes in attendance before and during the promotion.
After assessing this trial program, the Council could consider implementing a program, in accordance with the Downtown Parking Citizens Committee’s report, to not charge for parking after 6:00 p.m. on all days beginning in September 2007 at all Town lots. Starting in September would allow for sufficient time to assess the trial period in May and to make the necessary operational preparations.
2. Provide the first hour free in the Wallace Deck. Providing a first hour free in the Wallace Deck would encourage both off-street parking and increased use of downtown businesses and restaurants, satisfying the principles set by the Downtown Parking Citizens Committee. This program could also be implemented on a trial basis under a promotional plan coordinated by multiple downtown entities. Feasibility would be eased as signage would only be limited to one parking deck. The costs of a one-month trial program would be $6,100.
3. Provide 15 minutes free parking. This option would be limited to only on-street parking since tokens could not be used in the Municipal Lots or Deck. It should also be noted that providing 15 minute free parking on-street violates the principles set forth in the Downtown Parking Citizens Committee Report to the Town Council. Free 15-minute parking would not readily encourage use of off-street parking in the downtown district.
4. Provide free parking on Saturday and Sunday. This option would be limited due to the nature of student body in the Town of Chapel Hill. Unrestricted parking on Saturday and Sunday would lead to increased student parking downtown and cause an unavailability of parking for downtown customers.
Technical Assistance
We believe the most efficient way to begin managing parking as a system is to seek expert assistance to evaluate the Town’s current parking approaches, including the current parking rate structure, assess the report’s recommendations, and provide the Council with a focused set of implementation recommendations, along with an associated timeline, estimate of implementation costs, and proposed responsible entity. We propose developing a Request for Proposals for services from parking management professionals.
The services requested would be to provide an analysis and assessment of the recommendations of the Downtown Parking Citizens Committee report. While this assessment should include a parking rate structure analysis, it should also convey a general expert review of the Downtown Citizen Parking Committee’s recommendations within the professional judgment as to what plan of action would be best for the Town of Chapel Hill. In addition, these assessments would have to be done within the context of development of Municipal Lot 5 as well as the proposed program to not charge for parking after 6:00 p.m. beginning in September, 2007.
We recommend that the Council consider authorizing $30,000 for professional services to assess the rate structures for parking in the downtown and to review the recommendations of the Parking Committee from funds currently available. The Downtown Service District Fund has reserved $37,300 for solutions to parking issues in the current year’s budget. If the Council authorized the use of up to $30,000 of these funds for professional services, the balance of reserved funds would be available for the Council to consider authorizing one of the parking strategy options described above.
We recommend developing a Request for Proposals and selecting a firm by June 30, 2007. The work would be undertaken over the summer. We anticipate the data for the parking rate study would be collected after the University resumes for fall session the third week of August, 2007. The chosen professionals would complete their review by the end of September 2007. We would then propose the following tentative schedule for Council review:
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October 8, 2007 |
Hold Council Work Session on a draft Implementation Plan |
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October 22, 2007 |
Conduct Council public hearing on a draft Implementation Plan |
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November 19, 2007 |
Consider Council adoption of a Downtown Parking Implementation Plan |
These dates represent an ambitious schedule that we would attempt to meet. The dates are tentative targets that would be refined with the professional chosen in the Request for Proposal process, if needed.
We recommend the Council adopt the attached resolution authorizing the Town Manager to: