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10-05-04 Item 2bTo: City of South Miami Mayor and Commission CC: City Manager From: Parking Committee Date: 9/20/2004 Re: Status request On June 8th Parking Committee presenting recommendations were presented to the Commission via a dommunent entitled REVIEW OF PARKING MANAGEMENT PLAN HOMETOWN OVERLAY DISTRICT. The committee respectfully requests a status on the report recommendations and discussion of the report to be placed on the next Commission agenda for full review. A summary of our recommendations is hereby attached. While it is clear all the recommendations need priority with some recommendations requiring longer implementation schedules then others it is prudent and most critical to the committee to have these recommendation addressed so as to further facilitate the committee's work. . As an example; recommendations regarding signage may be prudent during the current construction phases of the downtown area. Expenditures to implement a Uniform signage plan most definitely will need budgetary consideration during the current budgetary planning processes. Failure to properly budget this recommendation into this year's budget will delay implementation and further exasperate one of the clearly identifiable and known parking problems in the downtown area. Your review of the June 8th report and feedback is requested. Members of the committee shall be available at the next commission meeting or for discussion, as you feel best. The committee thanks you for your in put. 1 September 20, 2004 1. Replace all parking signs with an improved version 2. Encourage all garages to offer low monthly rates to accommodate employees 3. Keep parking fees low 4. Address lighting on 73rd with the completion of Plaza 57 5. Construct additional municipal parking spaces 6. Revise Parking regulation in the Land Development Code 7. Include report's design elements in a garage design 8. Investigate a special taxing district to finance garage projects %7 �2 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Summary--=----------------------------------------------------------- - - - - -- 1 Parking Management --------------------------------------------- - - - - -- 3 Parking Signs ----------------------------------------------- -- - - -- 3 Regulation For On- Street Parking ---------------------- - - - - - 3 Parking Fees and Tickets -------------------------------- - - - --- 4 Street Lighting ----------------------------------------------- - - - - -- 4 Pedestrian Access To The District -------------------- - - - - -- 5 Restricted, Parking Near Residential Areas -------- - - - - -- 5 Hometown District Data Base -------------------------- - - - - -- 6 Parkin g Supply Su l ----------------------- -------------------------------- 6 Current District -Wide Parking Need ------------------ - - - - -- 6 Future District -Wide Parking Need -------------------- - - - - -- 8 Municipal Parking Garage Construction -------------------- - - - - -- 9 Garage Design Elements -------- ---- ------------------------ 9 Construction Financing ----------------------------------- ----- 10 Attachments Parking Utilization Table Appendix -A, Existing and Recommendened Parking Signs' I There is a serious parking problem in the district. The major problems include: • Current parking management is inadequate because of poor parking signs, prime on- street spaces being occupied by long -term parking, high parking fees and the prevalence of ticketing discourages patrons, poor street lighting in some areas. • There is a current shortage of district-wide shared parking spaces. Future development could create an additional need for municipal district -wide shared spaces. • There is anecdotal evidence that many people will not visit the district due to the difficulty in parking. Recommended solutions to improve parking management are: • Replace all parking signs with an improved version as described in this report. • Encourage all garages to offer low monthly rates to accommodate employees. When sufficient new district -wide shared garage spaces are added by the Plaza 57 building, reduce the time limit for on- street meters in front of stores from the current four hour limit to a one hour limit. • Keep parking fees for municipal facilities low compared with other nearby locations that have fees, which may pressure privately owned parking facilities to also keep fees low. Continue the parking meter key program with a half price discount for city residents and include municipal garages when constructed. Have a relaxed ticketing policy and do not rely on ticket revenue for general revenue. • When sidewalk construction and the Plaza 57 building are completed make an — ,faluation of the lighting on all streets in the district especially south of 73rd street and improve lighting where needed. Recommended solutions to manage the need for additional district -wide shared parking spaces are: • Construct additional municipal parking spaces. if this is done at the 73rd Street municipal lot, the number of net new spaces needs to be maximized to take best advantage of the site. • Revise parking regulations in the Land Development Code to allow the payment in -lieu of parking program to be strictly controlled by the City and only be considered for redevelopment of existing buildings in areas where construction of on -site parking is not feasible because of space constraints. All other new construction should include their own parking facility. Both the 73rd Street and 71st Street municipal lots should be secured for possible garage construction. • Include the garage design elements recommended in this report. • investigate the possibility of creating a special taxing district to assist in financing municipal garage projects. 2 Detailed descriptions of these problems and recommended solutions are contained in this report. Recommendations to revise parking regulations in the Land Development Code are given in a separate report. ii)ARKING MANAGEMENT Elements of parking management include parking signs, regulation of on- street parking, parking fees and tickets, street lighting, pedestrian access to the district, restricted parking in adjacent residential areas, Hometown district parking data base. The best and easiest way to improve parking is to better manage existing parking so that it is used efficiently. Only after good management techniques are applied to efficiently use existing parking should construction of municipal garages be considered. ** *Parking Signs * ** Parking signs need to be improved. All parking facilities will not be fully utilized unless patrons readily know they are available. Existing parking signs for district-wide shared parking are not extensive enough and are not prominently visible, as shown in Appendix -A. Therefore: On- street parking in front of stores is best utilized as short -term parking for patrons of those stores. Methods to manage on- street parking include providing sufficient garage parking and adjusting the time limit for on- street meters. Currently, the metrorail and "Sunset Place" garages offer low monthly rates for employee parking. New garages that will offer district -wide shared parking, such as Plaza 57 and possibly a municipal garage could also offer low monthly rates. This would provide a number of locations where employees could get economical parking. Another factor involved is the time limit for on- street meters. Currently, the time limit is four hours because in the evening (especially on the weekend) the "Sunset Place" garage tends to fill up and some patrons going to the movies and dining must park on the street. As more district -wide shared garage spaces are added to accommodate longer -term parking, the on- street meter time limit can be reduced to one hour at locations in front of stores to accommodate short -term parking and discourage employees and other long -term parking from using on- street spaces. Therefore: 4 ***Street o fighting ** Street lighting needs to be improved in some areas. Good street lighting is essential for many reasons including parking utilization. All parking areas will not be fully utilized unless patrons can safely walk to their destination after parking, especially since there is a large amount of district-wide shared parking, with the district operating as a park once and walk area. The City is currently widening sidewalks and placing street lights on 73rd street. The Kimley -Horn and Associates study reports that on- street parking south of 73rd Street was not well - utilized during the weekend evening, possibly due to poor lighting. In addition to making on- street parking south of 73rd street more viable in the evening, better lighting may enhance pedestrian traffic entering the district from the residential neighborhoods to the south. Therefore: When sidewalk construction and the Plaza 57 building are completed make an evaluation of the lighting on all streets in the district especially south of 73rd street and improve lighting where needed. 5 ***Pedestrian Access To The District ** Pedestrian access to the district from the north side of US -1 needs to be improved. US -1 runs through the city's urban core. This is good in that business usually thrives where the cars go. US -1 is a problem in that it effectively separates the Hometown district and TODD. Pedestrian facilities need to allow easy and safe access to the district, and there needs to be an effective pedestrian connection that links the metrorail station on the north side of US -1 to the Hometown District on the south side of US -1. Good pedestrian access to the district across US -1 and a good connection to metrorail could somewhat reduce the parking demand by supporting alternative transportation modes. A good connection to metrorail would also allow easier use of the metrorail garage for overflow parking. The planned connection from metrorail to the district is a pedestrian bridge. The County has taken over the effort to get a pedestrian bridge built. The City has requested to be allowed to give input concerning this project. There also needs to be better pedestrian crossings of US -1 at Red Road and 62nd Avenue. Therefore: The proposed pedestrian bridge across US -1 should have entry / exit points that allow pedestrian traffic from both the TODD streets and metrorail station to easily access the bridge, and on the Hometown district side it should be at a public location rather than on private property. Emphasis needs to be placed on the architectural features of a pedestrian bridge because it would be a prominent feature and the architecture could have a profound effect on the image of the South Miami Downtown. If a pedestrian bridge is not built then improve the pedestrian path from metrorall and the crosswalk at Sunset Drive. Also, improve the cross -walks across US -1 at Red Road and 62nd Avenue. ** *Restricted Parking Near Residential Areas' ** Residential districts adjacent to the Hometown district need to be protected from intrusion by Hometown district parking. Parking problems in nearby residential areas can develop as motorists seek additional or cheaper parking. This has previously occurred in the residential district immediately to the south of the Hometown district. Restricted parking signs were placed on these streets and have worked well Therefore: 6 on 74th Street. The current parking restriction signs in the multi- family districts to the south of the Hometown district should remain in place. ** *Hometown District Parking Data Base * ** The City needs to keep track of how and where businesses in the district are satisfying their parking requirement, Within the district, businesses can satisfy their parking requirement with their own parking facility, off -site parking contracts, or payment to the Parking Infrastructure Fund. All businesses must reapply for an occupational license each year. A new application form has been created that requires information that will help track how businesses are meeting their parking requirement. Therefore: W_��R As the district develops, there will be a demand for additional district -wide shared parking spaces. Proper parking regulations in the Land development Code and construction of municipal garages can be used to manage both the demand and supply of these parking spaces. ** *Current District -Wide Shared Parking Need' There is a current shortage of district -wide shared parking spaces. The parking Committee recommended that a parking utilization study be done. In April 2004 such a study was completed - Downtown Parking Study, City of South Miami, Kimley -Horn and Associates, Inc. (KHA). The data from the study is summarized on the attached Table and is used in the following analysis. Quantification Of Existing Parking S=12ly The district, including the Shops At Sunset Place, operates as a park once and walk district with a large proportion of the parking supply being district -wide shared parking. As can be seen on the attached Table, district -wide shared parking makes up 79 percent and private parking makes up 29 percent of total district parking. The Metrorail garage is considered as over -flow parking rather- than as primary parking for the Hometown or TODD districts, even if a pedestrian bridge over US -9 gets built. The more district -wide shared parking the better because it 7 is more efficient as anyone can use these spaces anytime. An inquiry made by the Committee indicates that when the Plaza 57 project located on 73rd Street is completed next year the parking garage will be operated as district -:wide shared parking on weekends and weekday evenings yielding 200 to 250 spaces. Also, 57 additional municipal spaces that are currently closed due to construction will be available next year. , Weekday Mid -daft Park—ing Utilization. As can be seen on the attached Table, there is some excess capacity of district -wide shared parking during the peak weekday mid! day period. All of the excess capacity occurs in the "Sunset Place" garage. While some may argue that the "Sunset Place" garage does not adequately serve the rest of the district during the mid -day period, it is likely that better parking signs that readily convey that this garage is public parking along with reduced time limits for on- street meters would solve this problem. In addition, there are 57 municipal spaces that are currently closed due to construction that will be available next year Weekend Evening Parkin Utilization. Also shown on the Table is that district -wide shared parking is 90 percent utilized during the peak weekend evening period. Utilization greater than 90 percent is considered full as there must be some slack in the system to allow for finding a space within a reasonable time period. A supply of parking operates at peak efficiency when occupancy is 85 to 90 percent. Private parking was only 48 percent utilized. Most of this parking is small lots scattered around the district so there is no practical way to attempt to utilize more of these spaces. Hence, additional district. -wide shared spaces are needed; but the quantity of additional spaces needed is difficult to estimate because possibly as more spaces are added and parking becomes easier, more vehicles will visit the district. Analysis Without construction Of A Municipal Garage. If 257 additional evening district -wide shared spaces are added (200 from Plaza 57 building and 57 from municipal spaces currently closed due to construction), with the same number of cars looking for spaces on the weekend evening as when the KHA utilization study was done, the district -wide shared parking utilization rate would be lowered from 90 percent to 89 percent, which is a highly functional situation. There is the possibility that the additional parking spaces would draw more vehicles to the district which would increase the demand for spaces. But the extent of this effect, if any, can not be predicted. Hence, a reasonable approach would be to secure the two municipal lots such that garages could be built if needed, but build a municipal garage only when parking utilization surveys show that additional spaces are needed. An annual in -house parking utilization survey of district, wide shared parking facilities can be easily accomplished. Analysis With Construction Of Municipal Garage. If 507 additional evening district -wide shared spaces (200 from Plaza 57 building, 57 from municipal spaces currently closed due to construction, 200 from 73rd Street municipal garage), with the same number of cars looking for spaces on the weekend evening as when the KHA utilization study was done, the district -wide shared parking utilization rate would be lowered from 90 percent to 74 percent. This would be somewhat of an over supply of spaces unless demand were to increase. Conclusion Of Analysis. Based on the above analysis, the proposed 73rd Street municipal garage is needed for the long -term benefit of the district. A municipal garage 8 that produces a large number of net new spaces, even though possibly creating somewhat of a current over supply, in the long term will benefit the district. A garage that produces a relatively small amount of net new spaces will not serve the district well in the long term. KHA Current Demand Estimation. The KHA study attempted to make an estimate of current parking demand in the district based on existing land use and guidance provided in Parking Generation by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE). Their estimated peak parking demand occurs during the weekday mid -day period with a parking demand estimate of 6,000 vehicles. Compared to current total district parking (does not include metrorail garage) of 3,3 10 yields a deficit of 2,690 spaces, which of course is not credible. Also, this estimate conflicts with the utilization survey which shows that the weekend evening period is actually the peak period and that during the weekday mid -day period only 2,284 out of 3,253 total district spaces were actually utilized. Hence, this estimate of parking demand is not of much value. Therefore: Construct additional municipal parking spaces. if this is done at the 73rd Street municipal lot, the number of net new spaces needs to be maximized to take best advantage of the site. ** *Future District -Wide Shared Parking Need *** The City needs to exert control over the future demand for municipal parking spaces and have sites available to construct garages to meet this demand. Future development could create an additional need for municipal district -wide shared parking spaces. For future planning purposes it is assumed that any new development south of 73rd Street will include their own parking facilities such as the Plaza 57 project. Development of the First National Bank Of South Miami owned lots between 73rd and 74th Streets could result in a loss of 200 spaces to the rest of the district, although there is the possibility that this development would supply excess parking for district. -wide shared parking such as with the Plaza 57 building that would make up for this loss. North of 73rd Street there are some one story buildings that could be redeveloped into multi -story buildings if in -lieu payment for parking spaces is allowed. Of course if a significant amount of municipal parking spaces are sold for new construction then additional municipal spaces would probably be needed. There are two municipal lots where possibly municipal garages could be built to supply these spaces. Therefore: 9 construction should include their own parking facility. Both the 73rd Street and 71st Street municipal lots should be secured for possible garage construction. OVIUNICIPAL PARKING GARAGE CONSTRUCTION The city has two small surface lots at 58 Avenue / 71 Street and 58 Avenue / 73 Street. These are the only sites available for possible construction of municipal garages. The city had a garage plan made for the 73rd Street site. The plan included a deal to use privately owned property west of the lot and would contain ground floor retail with a parking garage above. In 2002, the City Commission rejected the plan. Currently the city is in negotiations with the private property owner concerning alleged breach of certain contracts. Opportunities to increase parking spaces by adding municipal parking under the Metrorail line was considered and rejected because this M- Path is a dedicated bicycle facility and should be left open and enhanced with landscaping where possible. The amount of ground floor retail space in the proposed 73rd Street mixed -use garage project greatly effects the number of excess parking spaces produced for use by existing buildings either to remedy a parking deficit or for redevelopment. Based on a briefing given to the Committee by the City Manager on the latest version of this project, the Committee calculated there would be a 160 net gain in parking spaces (increase in parking spaces after loss of surface spaces and parking requirement for ground floor retail is subtracted out), or 130 spaces if the alley spaces north of the garage are lost. However, there is a need for a garage project that would mostly produce excess parking spaces for existing buildings, rather than a project that developed allot of new retail floor area with a relatively small surplus of parking spaces, especially considering the limited land available for municipal parking facilities. There are also design elements that make garages easier and safer to use. Therefore: The following design elements are recommended: * The ground floor should contain only enough retail space so that there is not a dead area along the street. ® Should not exceed the district height limit. ** *Construction Financing ** A municipal garage project needs to be financed in a manner that is fair to all tax payers and businesses. The revenue from a municipal parking structure alone would probably not be enough to cover all the costs of developing the structure and additional funding may be necessary, especially if the project contains only a limited amount of ground floor retail space. Options for additional funding for a municipal garage project include money paid to the Parking Infrastructure Fund in -lieu of deficient parking, creation of a special taxing district, and payment from the City's general fund. Not surprisingly, no member of the Committee wants to pay for a municipal garage. Generally, resident members believe that those property owners and merchants that directly benefit from the garage should make up any funding deficit, and merchant members believe that any deficit should be paid out of the City's General Fund. Although the Committee agreed that a special taxing district may be a fair alternative. Therefore: Restructure the payment to the Parking Infrastructure Fund in -lieu of parking program as recommended by the Committee in a separate report. Investigate the possibility of creating a special taxing district. PARKING UTILIZATION HOMETOWN OVERLA`! DISTRICT APRIL 2004 UTILIZATION (°lo) NUMBER WEEKDAY WEEKEND DESCRIPTION SPACES BY TYPE ( °! °l AFTERNOON EVENING ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Municipal Spaces 463 100 84 "Sunset Place 1762 54 94 Off- Street Flat Rate 88 94 44 DISTRICT -WIDE SHARED PARKING 2313 71 65 90 PRIVATE PARKING 940 29 83 48 TOTAL DISTRICT PARKING 3253 METRORAIL -50 -Empty PARKING 1100 ------------ --- ------------ -- ---------------------------------------------------- ------ --------------------------- NOTES _ 1. Off- street flat rate parking is located adjacent to the First National Bank Of South Miami drive - through, and is erroneously reported as private parking in the KHA report. 2. The 57 Municipal spaces that are closed due to construction are not included in the above table. 3. Utilization greater than 90 percent is considered full. 4. Metrorail parking is considered as over -flow parking even if a pedestrian bridge gets constructed. Data compiled from: Downtown Parking Study, Kimley -Hom and Associaes, Inc., April 2004 0 0 r zo- E t � 4s X A„ } MUNICIPAL PARKING LOT e ;S