AGENDA #4d
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TO: |
Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager |
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FROM: |
George Small, P.E., Engineering Director Loris Colclough, Interim Finance Director Brenda Jones, Parking Services Manager Kumar Neppalli, E.I.T, Engineering Services Manager |
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SUBJECT: |
Response to a Petition Requesting On-Street Parking Restrictions in Finley Forest Neighborhood |
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DATE: |
October 22, 2007 |
The following report responds to a petition requesting on-street parking restrictions in the Finley Forest neighborhood. An area map is provided in Attachment 1.
Enactment of Ordinance A would change on-street parking regulations on the public streets in the Finley Forest neighborhood (Brookberry Circle, Finley Forest Drive, Springberry Lane, and Summerwalk Circle) to “no parking during certain hours except by residential permit, Monday-Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm”.
Enactment of Ordinance B would authorize Town Manager to issue “special parking permits” in accordance with Town Code Section 21-27.2.2.
Adoption of the attached resolution would authorize the Town Manager to enter into an agreement with the Finley Forest Community Association to issue permits for residential parking in accordance with applicable Town regulations.
At its September 10, 2007 meeting, the Town Council received and referred a petition from the Finley Forest Condominiums Community Association requesting on-street parking regulations on the public streets in the Finley Forest area (Brookberry Circle, Finley Forest Drive, Springberry Lane, and Summerwalk Circle) to “no parking during certain hours except by residential permit, Monday-Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm”. A copy of the petition is provided in Attachment 2.
In the petition, the Community Association stated that University visitors and students routinely park on the public streets in the Finley Forest neighborhood resulting in unsafe conditions, congestion and reduced parking for neighborhood residents and their guests.
Currently, parking is allowed on one side of all streets in the Finley Forest neighborhood. We conducted field observations at various times on different days and we noted that most of the available on-street parking was occupied Monday through Friday between 8:00am and 5:00pm. Based on our observations and discussions with residents, we believe that a significant number of vehicles parked on Finley Forest neighborhood streets during normal University hours are owned by commuters, not by Finley Forest residents. We noted traffic congestion, blocked driveways and constricted travel lane widths at some times and locations when parked cars fully lined both sides of the streets.
The Community Association surveyed the residents of 372 units using a survey form provided by the Town and 151 survey forms were returned. The results of the survey indicated that 145 supported and 6 opposed the proposed parking-by-permit regulations.
Based on our observations, the neighborhood survey results, and discussions with the neighborhood residents, we believe that restricting on-street parking to “no parking during certain hours except by residential permit, Monday-Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm” as described in Ordinance A would address the neighborhood concerns and would preserve the available on-street parking for use by residents and their guests.
Section 21.27.2.2, Special Parking Permits, of the Town Code authorizes the Town Manager to issue special parking permits. The special parking permits issued for a given residence shall not exceed the number of vehicles registered to the residence’s address. Ordinance B is prepared in accordance Section 21.27.2.2 and would allow eligible residents to obtain applicable parking permits.
The Town normally issues special parking permits at the Parking Services Office. However, in this case we believe it would be reasonable and efficient for the Finley Forest Community Association to issue the necessary parking permits. Several years ago, we successfully used this method of issuing permits under similar circumstances in the Glen Lenox neighborhood. We have included a resolution that would authorize the Town Manager to enter into an agreement with the Finley Forest Community Association to issue parking permits to neighborhood residents in accordance with applicable Town regulations.
We recommend that the Council enact the attached Ordinances A and B that would change on-street parking regulations in the Finley Forest neighborhood (Brookberry Circle, Finley Forest Drive, Springberry Lane, and Summerwalk Circle) to “no parking during certain hours except by residential permit Monday through Friday between 8:00 am and 5:00 pm”; and adopt the attached resolution that would authorize the Town Manager to enter into an agreement with the Finley Forest Community Association to issue parking permits to neighborhood residents in accordance with applicable Town regulations.
