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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Report - March 2, 2005 K-02AGENDA ITEM 4v 7. - CITY OF LODI COUNCIL COMMUNICATION TM AGENDA TITLE: Report and Appropriate Action Regarding the Downtown Lodi Business Partnership's Requestfor Eliminating Parking Between 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. (School, Sacramento and Church Streets between Lodi Avenue and Locust Street) MEETING DATE: March 2,2005 PREPARED BY: Public Works Director RECOMMENDEDACTION: That the City Council review the requestfrom the Downtown Lodi Business Partnership (DLBP) to eliminate parking between 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. everyday (School, Sacramento and Church Streets between Lodi Avenue and Locust Street), and provide direction to staff. BACKGROUND INFORMATION: The City has received the attached request from the DLBP to essentially prohibit overnight parking in the downtown area. (See letter and map, Exhibits A and B.) The request is for no parking between the hours of 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., everyday. Benefits of the parking restriction are described in the request which also suggests that towing be one of the enforcement mechanisms. Although staff is sympathetic to the residential parking problems described by the DLBP, we are not fully supportive of the requestfor the following reasons: 1. The request cites street cleaning as one of the reasons for the parking restriction. However, street cleaning in the downtown does not start until after 4:00 a,m. and is done by the large sweeper only three days per week. Starting earlier than 4:00 a.m. would add additional cost per our labor agreements, and budget constraints may lead to frequency reductions. Forthe few number of parked vehicles we encounter (fewer than 20 in the entire area), the ease -of -cleaning benefit would be minimal. And, on the portions of streets with treewells in the parking zone, the large sweeper does not cover these areas anyway. They are done with the small sweeper or by hand later in the morning. We are concerned that the restriction and potential signage for street cleaning purposes would create an expectation for service that we cannot meet. 2. Enforcement by towing would require additional work on the part of the Police Department at a time when their staffing is minimal. Even without towing, there will be an enforcement expectation that may not always be met. 3. A significant reason for the request is to prevent downtown residents, particularly those with disabled person placards, from taking up on -street parking. While such a restriction would apply to these vehicles during the hours prohibited, they would not be affected at other hours. APPROVED: Blair King, City Manager J 1COUNCIL1051Downtown0vernightParking doc 2/2312005 Report and Appropriate Action Regarding the Downtown Lodi Business Partnership's Request for Eliminating Parking Between 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. (School, Sacramento and Church Streets between Lodi Avenue and Locust Street) March 2, 2005 Page 2 4. We note interest in longer term residential uses in the downtown area, which, depending on the location, could be adversely impacted by this restriction. 5. There may be employees adversely impacted by this restriction 6. There has been discussion about promoting tourism and overnight stays in the downtown area, and again, depending on location, this could be detrimental to these efforts. Section 22507.6 of the California Vehicle Code (CVC, Exhibit C) provides for parking restrictions specificallyfor street cleaning. CVC Section 22507.5 also permits the City to adopt a parking restriction as requested for general purposes. Ironically, it also allows for (but does not require) a permit/exception system for disabled persons or residents. Should the Council wish to approve this request as made or with some variation, staff suggests that direction be provided on the following suggestions/questions, and we can return to the Council with a specific resolution for final adoption: 1. The restriction should be adopted per CVC 22507.5, not specifically for street cleaning. 2. Enforcement should be by citation, not towing. 3. Should one or both sides of the border streets (Church Street, Locust Street, Sacramento Street, and Lodi Avenue) be included in the restriction? 4. An option would be to reduce the restricted area to portions of School Street, say between Oak and Elm and perhaps Pine Street between School and Church Streets. Staff would be supportive of this option. 5. The cost of sign installation (roughly $5,000 for the entire area) should taken into consideration and either paid by the DLBP or additional city funding providedfor the street maintenance budget. FUNDING: Not applicable at this time. LJIN Richard C. Prima. Jr. Public Works Director RCPlpmf Attachments cc: Jerry Adams, Police Chief Pamela Hayn. DLBP Darrell Didreckson, DLBP Parking Committee Chairman J:ICOUNCIL1051DowntownOvernightParking.doc 2/2312005 DOWNTOWN LORI BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP I WEST PINE STRFFr P.O. BOX 1565 LODI, CALIFORNIA 95241-1565 PHONE: (2091369.8052 FAX: (2091369.!053 EMAIL: *Omindsp 9.cam EXHIBIT A Mr. Richard Prima City of Lodi - Public Works Dept 221 W. Pine Street PO Box 3006 Lodi, CA 95241-1910 Dear Mr. Prima, Per your request, this letter serves as the DLBP's written approval of the proposed parking resolution submitted to you by our Parking Committee Chairman, Darrell Didreckson, in November 2004. The DLBP has discussed this issue at great length, subsequently resulting in a unanimous vote of the Board of Directors to present the City of Lodi with the attached document for review. We look forward to your comments, feedback and suggestions, as well as final approval of the resolution by the City Council in the coming months. a -AV no I DOWNTOWN LODI DOWNTOWN LODI BUSINESS PARTNERSHIP November 2004 Parking/Street Sweeping Resolution On behalf of the Downtown Lodi Business Partnership, this request is to close the public stems in the core downtown area (defined as School, Sacramento and Church Sly between Lodi Avenue and Locust St) to any/all parking from Sam -ham, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Parking violations and fines would be at the discretion of and determined by the Lodi Police Departmentand City Council. The DLBP believes that this resolutionwill provide tYe following benefits • Street cleaning can occur between Sam and Gam without vehicles obstructing or inhibiting the process Crime would decrease since It would make It obvious something was out of place very quickly Residentswho insist on using street parking downtown, ratherthan parking in appropriate areas, would be forced to use correct spaces or face large fines or towing Maintenance issues that might otherwise be a problem with cars parked on the street could be scheduled inthe future when the streetswould be clear Although we recognize that no ordinance or law fits everyone, we have made every effort to consider the needs of those establishments which serve alcohol until 2 am, as well as coffee houses who have early morning hours. While not perfect, the DLBP fe& that the above resolution providesvery little downside, and is the most effective solution for the majority. Submitted by, Darrell Didreckson DLBP Parking Committee Chairman 0!< CITY OF LODI PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT ^ •;may i�, 4 I0:14:II051086V MA0PEN\EXHiBITS105X005.dwg. 2/23/2005:20:06 PM.1Pizzo I EXHIBIT C 22507.5. (a) Notwithstanding Section 22507, local authorities may, by ordinance or resolution, prohibit or restrictthe parking or standing of vehicles on certain streets or highways, or portions thereof, between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m., and may, by ordinance or resolution, prohibit or restrictthe parking or standing, on any street, or portion thereof, in a residential district, of commercial vehicles having a manufacturer's gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or more. The ordinance or resolution relating to parking between the hours of 2 a.m. and 6 a.m. may providefor a system of permitsfor the purpose of exempting from the prohibition or restriction of the ordinance or resolution, disabled persons, residents, and guests of residents of residential areas, including, but not limited to, high-density and multiple -family dwelling areas, lacking adequate offstreet parking facilities. The ordinance or resolution relating to the parking or standing of commercial vehicles in a residential district, however, shall not be effective with respect to any commercial vehicle, or trailer component thereof, making pickups or deliveries of goods, wares, and merchandise from or to any building or structure located on the restricted streets or highways or for the purpose of delivering materials to be used in the actual and bona fide repair, alteration, remodeling, or construction of any building or structure upon the restricted streets or highways for which a building permit has previously been obtained. (b) Subdivision (a) of this section is applicable to vehicles specified in subdivision (a) of Section 31303, except that an ordinance or resolution adopted pursuantto subdivision (a) of this section shall not permit the parking of those vehicles which is otherwise prohibited underthis code. (c) For the purpose of implementing this section, each local authority may, by ordinance, define the term "residential district" in accordance with its zoning ordinance. The ordinance is not effective unless the legislative body of the local authority holds a public hearing on the proposed ordinance prior to its adoption, with notice of the public hearing given in accordance with Section 65090 of the Government Code. 22507.6. Local authorities may, by ordinance or resolution, prohibitor restrict the parking or standing of vehicles on designated streets or highways, or portions thereof, for the purpose of street sweeping. No ordinance or resolution relating to the parking or standing of commercial vehicles in a residential district shall be effective with respect to any commercial vehicle making pickups or deliveries of goods, wares, or merchandise from or to any building or structure located on the restricted street or highway, or for the purpose of delivering materials to be used in the repair, alteration, remodeling, or reconstruction of any building or structure for which a building permit has previously been obtained. No such ordinance or resolution shall be effective until the street or highway, or portion thereof, has been sign -posted in accordance with the uniform standards and specifications of the Department of Transportation, or local authorities have caused to be posted in a conspicuous place at each entrance to the street a notice not less than 17 inches by 22 inches in size, with lettering not less than one inch in height, setting forth the day or days and hours parking is prohibited. As used in this section, "entrance" means the intersection of any street or streets comprising an area of restricted parking for street -sweeping purposes on the same day or days and hours with another street or highway not subject to such a parking restriction, or subject to parking restrictions on different days and hours. Page I of 2 .. Susan Blackston From: Susan Blackston Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2005 4:07 PM To: 'Darrell Didreckson' Cc: City Council; Blair King; Steve Schwabauer; Richard Prima Subject: RE: Parking downtown Dear Darrell E. Didreckson: This reply is to confirm that your message was received by the City Clerk's Office and each member of the City Council. In addition, by copy of this e-mail, we have forwarded your message to the following departments for information, referral, or handling: 1) City Manager, 2) City Attorney, and 3) Public Works. Thank you for expressing your views Isl Susan J. Blackston, City Clerk -----Original Message ----- From: Darrell Didreckson [mailto: Darrell. D@Airgas.com] Sent: Wednesday, March 02,2005 4:03 FM To: Susan Blackston Subject: Parking downtown I hope this finds you before the meeting this evening. I plan on attending, but Sheri and I have a tremendous amount of items on our plate right now. I believe Roger and possibly Mary will be in attendance to represent our needs, but I feel an obligation to elaborate on where this started. I have been pushing for a solution to Hotel Lodi residents parking on the streets, consuming customer parking, not only all night (which honestly is not the problem), but several have handicap placards which allows them to park day and night without regard to the damage done to local business. No amount of working with management at the Hotel has yielded any results, and we have tried to offer them free products, and published flyers to get them out of the parking spaces. The city granted putting 50+ low income people into the Hotel (and many local merchants showed up and expressed extreme reservations about how good this would be), and now there is a parking issue. I know one of the long term goals is to have condominium type of unit's downtown, much like San Francisco and other areas. As merchants, we have zero issue with that, I F parking is taken into consideration. Parking is the absolute lifeblood of all the business units downtown. There are about 250 business units, and all of us to varying degrees have to depend on street parking for our customers to use. The Hotel has ample space behind it, and I believe permits or whatever is 3/2/2005 Page 2 of 2 required should not be an issue. We could have avoided this entire problem if the city would have mandated that the occupants park in a certain area. My understanding is now, either that is not legal, or the city simply has washed its collective hands of the problem it has created. While this resolution to close the streets nightly is far from perfect, it is the only solution we have been able to come up with. I f the city council has a better solution to this issue, the DLBP would be glad to hear it. Also, I am not sure what version of the ordinance request you are seeing. Richard Prima was to submit a revised proposal, and it appears to me this is the original version that I saw posted. I hope I have the opportunity to attend tonight. Sheri's step -dad passed away 2/9, her mom has been in the hospital for the last week, and we are trying to close the purchase of our 3rd store. My request is to make sure 1)you have a chance to review the correct parking ordinance and 2) if this request is not acceptable to the council, what plan might be pursued that is acceptable to keep parking available for customers downtown? This is not going to go away on its own, as the push is to use more and more of the upstairs room for residential use. Iwas talking with Randy Rosa yesterday, and he has purchased and building a 3000 sq. ft. unit in the top of the old Woolworth's building. That is terrific, but where do we expect all these folks to park? There has to be a happy medium available. To put the value of parking in perspective, think about building a 50+ room hotel in Wal -Mart's parking lot, and telling management that 15% (about 7- 8 consistent violators on the street) were going to hog up their best parking spaces every day. Do you suspect that might raise an issue? Without a doubt, as without customers, our downtown will quickly resemble the haphazard look of downtown Stockton, and sooner rather than later. Thanks for your kind consideration on this matter Darrell E. Didreckson (209) 334-2406 Office (209) 365-7983 Fax darrell.d@airgas.com 3/2/2005 CITY COUNCIL BLAIR KING City OHN BECKMAN, MaUSAN HITCHCOCK HCOCK yor CITY OF L O D I SUSAN J. BLACKSTONger S Mayor Pro Tempore PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT City Clerk LARRY 0. HANSEN 0. STEVEN SCHWABAUER BOBJOHNSON CITY HALL, 221 WEST PINE STREET City Attorney JOANNE L. MOUNCE P.O. BOX 3006 RICHARD C. PRIMA, JR. LODI, CALIFORNIA 95241-1910 Public Works Director (209) 333-6706 FAX (209) 333-6710 E MAIL ppww eplodl.gov http:\NwwW.l i.gov February 24,2005 Pamela Hayn, Executive Director Darrell Didreckson, DLBP Parking Committee Downtown Lodi Business Partnership c/o Sheri's Sonshine Nutrition Center P.O. Box 1565 6 N. School Street Lodi, CA 95241-1565 Lodi. CA 95240 SUBJECT: Report and Appropriate Action Regarding the Downtown Lodi Business Partnership's Request for Eliminating Parking Between 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. (School, Sacramento, and Church Streets Between Lodi Avenue and Locust Street) Enclosed is a copy of background information on an item on the City Council agenda of Wednesday, March 2, 2005. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in the City Council Chamber, Carnegie Forum, 305 West Pine Street. This item is on the regular calendar for Council discussion. You are welcome to attend If you wish to write to the City Council, please address your letter to City Council, City of Lodi, P. O. Box 3006, Lodi, California, 95241-1910. Be sure to allow time for the mail. Or, you may hand -deliver the letter to City Hall, 221 West Pine Street. If you wish to address the Council at the Council Meeting, be sure to fill out a speaker's card (available at the Carnegie Forum immediately prior to the start of the meeting) and give it to the City Clerk. If you have any questions about communicating with the Council, please contact Susan Blackston, City Clerk, at 333-6702. If you have any questions about the item itself, please call me at 333-6759. Richard C. Prima, Jr. �Y • Public Works Director RCPlpmf Enclosure cc: City Clerk NDOWNTOW NOVERNIGHTPARKING,DOC