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Home My WebLink About08/12/2014 Study Session 94 e YAKIMA CITY COUNCIL STUDY SESSION August 12, 2014 City Hall -- Council Chambers 9 a.m. City Council Study Session regarding Downtown Plaza and Parking -- Minutes 1. Roll Call Council: Mayor Micah Cawley, presiding, Assistant Mayor Kathy Coffey, Council Members Maureen Adkison (arrived at 9:27 a.m.), Tom Dittmar, Rick Ensey, Dave Ettl and Bill Lover Staff: City Manager O'Rourke and City Clerk Clear Tee 2. Downtown plaza designs presentation City Manager O'Rourke briefed Council on the objective for the Study Session and introduced Yakima native Kathryn Gustafson, of the Seattle -based landscape architecture firm Gustafson Guthrie Nichol ( "GGN "). Kathryn Gustafson presented a PowerPoint and briefed Council on the focal points. She referenced a survey regarding the downtown plaza and what the community had to say. The survey asked "what's the most interesting thing about Yakima" and the top responses were: agricultural bounty, geology and natural setting, diverse cultures, and history. It also asked what brought people downtown, with dining and events being the top two responses. When asked how far people were willing to walk, the majority answered more than two blocks except in the winter. Respondents to the survey reported they would like to see shade trees, structures, water and events. Ms. Gustafson reviewed the Plaza North and Plaza South sites. Her team studied parking at both sites and added many parking spaces for every option, which included reducing lanes of traffic for angle parking and adding handicapped and senior parking. Brett Baba, Yakima native and a founding principal of Graham Baba Architects ( "GBA "), a Seattle architecture firm and part of the plaza team, spoke about a market hall for flexible space. It is very versatile and includes parking, events, and a farmers market under the same structure. Assistant Mayor Coffey stated she is very pleased and interested in public input. Council Member Dittmar likes how the parking issue has been addressed. Mayor Cawley spoke highly of the options and was pleased with the presentation. He noted this could change Yakima forever. Council Member Lover noted he needs time to absorb the options. Council Member Ettl asked about costs. City Manager O'Rourke stated rough estimates for Plaza North is about $5 million and Plaza South approximately $8 -10 million. Ms. Gustafson noted her favorite option is Y -b. 3. Downtown parking presentation City Manager O'Rourke introduced Andy Miller, with Carl Walker, Inc., a structural engineering and parking consulting firm, who conducted the downtown parking study. Page 1 of 3 • 95 Mr. Miller presented a Powerpoint and explained they specifically focused on the downtown plaza area; however, the study included the entire downtown area, encompassing 29 blocks. In counting parking options, they did not include any area that was not striped and ready for parking. The total off- street parking inventory includes 3,665 spaces. The total on- street parking • space inventory includes 1,035 spaces. There are 4,700 total active parking spaces available downtown. This does not include the Yakima Mall, Tower building underground parking or the Dragon Inn parking buildings, nor any private parking areas they did not have access to. Mr. Miller reported a current parking surplus of 1,861 spaces. His team created "heat" maps, which showed spaces being utilized during different times of the day in various lots. He noted the increase in parking spaces possible by changing from parallel to angle parking on several streets. Mr. Miller reviewed his primary recommendations for immediate and short -term parking. • Reduce time limits in the primary public lots to 2 or 3 hours maximum to provide more short-term customer parking • Work with owners of existing private lots to allow general public parking, especially after 5 p.m. • Convert under -used public lots into no- time - limit/employee parking (lot 5 along 1st street; lot at 3rd and Walnut; smaller lot on 3rd street) • Designate a staff person to oversee and manage parking o Use one point of contact for planning and management o Have enforcement personnel under the direction of a parking manager o Change the ordinance to allow for administrative decision- making authority Mr. Miller stated if the City implements some of these recommendations now, it will eliminate some of the existing parking issues. Mr. Miller reviewed the following primary recommendations • for short-term parking: • Finalize the physical plan to increase on- street parking • Develop a plan for parking - related physical, cosmetic, safety and security improvements for all existing public lots • Develop a multi- tiered special event parking plan: o Capitol Theatre /Hop Festival /other major events • Start to develop a parking marketing and communications plan o Branding /marketing o Signage /wayfinding o Parking map /website Mr. Miller reviewed his primary recommendations for ongoing /mid -term parking issues: • Develop strategies to improve the consistency of parking enforcement o Develop performance metrics o Consider a tiered fine structure for repeat violators o Evaluate current enforcement technology • Implement parking - related repairs, cosmetic improvements, safety and security improvements for existing public lots . Implement an enhanced safety and security plan for public lots and employee lots • Implement a parking marketing and communication strategy • Implement a special event parking plan Mr. Miller reviewed his primary recommendations for long -term parking: • Monetize the public parking system to help pay for required physical improvements and new public parking facilities • Implement a plan to renovate and open the Yakima Mall and Dragon Inn garages • Implement TDM strategies to reduce parking demand as recommended in the Downtown Page 2 of 3 96 Master Plan • Continue to refine parking management plan and marketing strategies • Continue benchmarking, monitoring and ongoing planning o Perform detailed parking study after five years After Council discussion, • Motion: Dittmar moved and Coffey seconded to refer the parking study to the Council Built Environment Committee to bring back to Council. The motion carried by a unanimous voice vote. 4. Audience comments (allow 15 minutes) Russ Tousley, with the Yakima Bindery, asked where the people who live downtown will park. City Manager O'Rourke noted that monthly parking passes will be allowed for tenants at a reasonable rate. Mark Rodriguez, stated he has canvassed the downtown area merchants and the number one concern is parking for employees between 11 p.m. and 2 a.m. This is when most waiters and waitresses are leaving work and the City needs to address safety, better lighting, and possibly shuttle service between those hours. Fred Mercy, Mercy Theaters, asked about parking in front of the Federal Courthouse. He would also like to see more data on the economic benefit for established businesses. Molly Carrol, owner of the Sports Center, mentioned there should not be a charge for parking as ' the downtown merchants are in competition with Union Gap. If the City starts charging for parking, she is afraid people will visit Union Gap instead of downtown Yakima. Laura Rankin, with Gilbert Cellars and co- founder of I Heart Yakima, spoke highly of the plaza designs and is very encouraged by the process and ideas. Council discussed the plaza designs and noted they are in favor of hearing from the community and downtown businesses before moving ahead. 5. Adjournment Motion: Ensey moved and Coffey seconded to adjourn to the next Council Business meeting on August 19, 2014 at 6 p.m. in the Council Chambers. The motion carried by a unanimous voice vote. The meeting adjourned at 11:26 a.m. CERTIFICATION READ AND CERTIFIED ACCURATE BY 41111 1e&i ) 4s B COUN I IL M `IVER\ DATE �I # • v to COUNCIL MEMBER DATE ATTEST: CITY CLERK ,\` xx M OR • I • Page 3 of 3