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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Report - February 19, 1992 (71)00 OCIN OF LO DI COUNCIL COMMUNICATION AGENDA T:TL.E fIEET I PSG DATE : PREPARED BY: RECOMMENDED ACI ION: Discussion and Possible Direction Lodi Downtown Business Association/ Downtown Parking Enforcement February 19, 1992 City Attorney BACKGROUND INFORMATION: Discussion and possiblf, direction Lodi Uowntown Business Associ�;iion/Do,yntown Parking Enforcepient . At the January 22, 1992 meeting between Mayor Jim Pinkerton. Lodi Downtown Business Association renresentatives Dan Batt ilana and J;uhn Borelli, and myself, several questions arose concerning parking enforcement in downtown Lodi. One of the possibilities discussed involved a self-assessment of LDBA members to create a fund which could then be used to reimburse customers who receive parking citations while shopping downtown. There would be several advantages to this approach. First, it would require no procedural changes in how the City handles parking citations. A customer receiving a citation would pay the fine and take the receipt to the store where he or she shopped When the citation was received. If the store verified the person was a bonafide customer, reimbursement would be made. This would also discourage overtime parking by downtown merchants and employees, since the two-hour limit would continue to be enforced and they would not be eligible for reimbursement under the LDBA policy. Overtime parking by downtown business people was one of the major points discussed previously. It was suggested that if this approach was used, that a "two-tier" system of fines be explored. If bail was posted promptly (for example. within 48 hours), a lower bail would apply, and if delayed, the bail would increase. This appears to be feasible. APPROVED TFIOMAS A PETERSON ro Vcloa v.Pt. City Manager J CC -t PARKCC/TXTA.DIV Discussion and Possible Direction Lodi Downtown Business Association/ Downtown Parking Enforcement February 19, 1992 Page Two The Lodi Municipal Court. which sets bail for such violations, already has a "two-tier" bail system in place (see Attachment A) allowing a lower bail if promptly posted. Althougt; i have no knowledge of the logistics under which citations are transmitted to the Cr%irt, I believe it would be possible to coordinate between the Finance n_partment and the Court to allow such expeditious handling. Although the citations have no vehicle owner information on them when issued, this is obtained and added to the citation before it is given to the Court. Having the name on the citation and the bail receipt would help the LDBA tc confirm whether a violator was a customer or an ineligible person. As a side note, information received from the Finance Department shows that of the 55.50 bail now set by the Court for overtime parking, State mandated costs make up about $5.06 of that amount, with the City receiving the other fO.44 per citation. Our past experience with the Court has shown the Judges to be cooperative with any reasonable request from the City in establishing parking fines/bails. However, it should be remembered that the City has no direct control over the bail -setting for such violations and has no control at t M over the amount of State -mandated surcharges imposed. A second option dis .ussed was the use of "stickers" purchased from the City by LDBA which ww-ld then be affixed to parking citations to cover bail or fine. Admitted'i, this is a new cuncept which has not been tried elsewhere to my knowlLoge and it probably wot,ld involve changing the collection procedures. The proposal as discussed would go as follows: 1. The City sells validation stickers to LDBA members. The cost covers at a minimum, the State -mandated costs (presently approximately 55.00) since these fees apply to a I I parking citations issued. even if the City instead of the Court Collects the bail. PARKCC/TXTA.Uly Discussion and Possible Direction Lodi Downtown Business Association! Downtown Parking Enforcement February 19, 1992 Page Three 2. Customers receiving the citation would then take them to the merchants who would affix a validat-ion sticker. 3. The citation is then delivered to the City F inance bepartment and is never processed by the Court. 4. It would probably be necessary to have a strict. lie limit Such as 48 or 72 hours after which the citation, wc.uld be forwarded to the Court for routine processing if the sticker is not used. There are obviously pros an,: cons to this idea. It probably would require the merchants tc pay in advance for a sheet or book of validation stickers. This aright be to the City's benefit because we would get the funds up front. However, these stickers could be lost, stolen, or misused. It would also require the City to establish a new procedure adopted under a new ordinance to handle this process. S t a f f resources needed f o r this program ca n't be predicted at present, and other problems ( such a unforeseen bail increases after stickers are issued) might arise. Anoth.rr possibi I ity discussed involved simply terminating routine parking enforcement in downtown, such as the City of Tracy has done. This is the most drastic option which may not be acceptable to anyone. I n mr discussion with Tracy City Attorney Debra Corbett, she indicated that that their "complaint only" parking enforcement program has not generated a great deal of problem, and she was unaware of specific complaints. However, Tracy i s presently working on a new downtown redevelopment plan which w i I I likely contain a "parking element" that w i I I change the situation entirely. On a related point, it was suggested that lunch hours for Lodi's parking enforcement assistants be staggered so as to provide better coverage around noon. Finance Director Dixon Flynn has said this is PARKCC/IATA.01V Downtown Parking Enforcement February 19, 1992 Page Four possible, but he does not believe this would siynificant3y increase coverage, since the cycles of tire marking and citation issuing do not generally overlap be (ween 12:00 and 1:00 o'clock. A meeting between the LDBA and City representatives is now scheduled for February 13, 1992, at which time LDEA will probably offer its suggestions. Those will be presented to the Council at the meeting of February 19, 1992. FUNDING: Unknown. Respectfully submitted, M clk>l Bob c att City Attorney 8M/YC PAPKCC/TXTA,OtV ATTACHMENT A LODI MUNICIPAL COURT Sail Schedule for Lodi Municipal Code Downtown limited parking violations Effective: Citations issued on or after December 23. 1991. FIRST VIOLATION: 24 Hours S 5.50 After 7 days 10.50 (7 vorking days) Notice 15.50 HOLD 35.00 SECOND VIOLATION: 26 Hours $ 8.50 After 7 days 13.50 (7 vorking days) Notice 18.50 HOLD 18.00 THIRD VIOLATION: 24 Hours $13.50 After 7 days 18.50 (7 vorking days) Notice 23.50 HOLD 43.00