HomeMy WebLinkAbout09/16/2014 09 Short Term Parking Recommendations for Downtown DistrictBUSINESS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
YAKIMA, WASHINGTON
AGENDA STATEMENT
Item No. 9.
For Meeting of: September 16, 2014
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ITEM TITLE:
SUBMITTED BY:
SUMMARY EXPLANATION:
Short Term Parking Recommendations for Downtown District
Sean Hawkins, Economic Development Manager 575-6274
Eight short term recommendations for improving retail parking in downtown Yakima were made
by Carl Walker and Associates at a Yakima City Council study session on Tuesday, August
12th. The recommendations were also discussed at the Council Built Environment Committee
meeting on Thursday, August 21st. The recommendations include adding additional angled
parking throughout downtown, changing the hours of the main municipal lots, creating
marketing materials, appointing a parking manager and entering into agreements with private
parking lot owners to make their lots available for after hours parking.
Resolution: Ordinance:
Other (Specify):
Contract: Contract Term:
Start Date: End Date:
Item Budgeted: Amount:
Funding Source/Fiscal
Impact:
Strategic Priority: Economic Development
Insurance Required? No
Mail to:
Phone:
APPROVED FOR
SUBMITTAL:
RECOMMENDATION:
City Manager
ATTACHMENTS:
Description Upload Date
Downtown Parking Memo 9/11/2014
Type
Cover Memo
Memorandum
To: City Manager and Yakima City Council
From: Sean Hawkins, Economic Development Manager
Date: September 10, 2014
Subject: Short Term Parking Recommendations for Downtown District
The following are short term parking recommendations made by Andy Miller from Carl Walker
and Associates to the Yakima City Council for addressing downtown parking issues. These
issues were discussed, in detail, at the August 21, 2014 Council Built Environment Committee
meeting attended by Bill Lover, Kathy Coffey, and Rick Ensey.
1) Finalize Physical Plan to Increase On -Street Parking — Using the Carl Walker &
Associates and Gustafson, Guthrie, Nichol parking expansion recommendations as a
guideline, we plan to convert parallel parking spaces to angled parking in numerous
locations throughout downtown for an anticipated increase of 120 parking spaces. The
project cost will be $90,000 which will be funded from the Central Business District
Capital Fund and the Streets and Traffic Fund. Conversion work will begin in late
October. In the future, there are other streets in downtown that could be converted from
parallel to angled parking to add additional retail parking capacity.
2) Designate Staff Person to Oversee and Manage Parking System - The City of Yakima
has no designated staff person to oversee downtown parking issues. As described by
the organizational chart in the Carl Walker & Associates study session presentation on
August 12th, there are numerous City departments involved in our parking system, but no
point person to ensure that the system is responsive to our evolving downtown. The City
Manager intends to appoint James Dean, the City's Utility Services Manager, as the
point person for downtown parking issues. Sean Hawkins, the City's Economic
Development Manager, will work closely with James and the business community to
address individual issues as they arise.
3) Revise YMC 9.50 to Make Parking Hour, Loading Zone and Residential Permit Changes
an Administrative Decision - When a need arises to change the parking time limit on
certain streets, the desired change requires an update to YMC 9.50. City staff
recommends that administration of parking time limits and loading zones be an
administrative function administered by the Parking Manager with final approval from the
City Manager and advance notice to the City Council. This change in execution makes it
easier for the City to quickly address business and customer parking needs. If this
direction is approved, City staff will bring back a revised ordinance for discussion at the
October 7, 2014 Yakima City Council meeting for discussion.
4) Revise Time Limits in Three Primary Public Lots to Two Hours to Accommodate
Customer Parking Turnover — As documented by the turnover surveys conducted by
Carl Walker, the dominated use of our central parking lots is by employees who often
move their car to another spot after their four hour limit is up. At the same time,
downtown customers often complain about finding a convenient parking spot during our
busiest times. Revising our lots to two instead of four hours will increase turnover and
ensure better parking options for customers. The three primary lots included in this
decision are the lot across the street from the Capitol Theatre, the lot across the street
from the Second Street Grill and the lot on the SE corner of N. 1St Street and Sgt.
Pendleton Way.
5) Work with Owners of Existing Private Lots to Allow General Public Parking After Hours —
Downtown contains numerous privately owned parking lots located next to many
downtown restaurants and entertainment venues. Today, many of these lots are used
without permission for evening time parking. City staff has already spoken with Yakima
Federal Bank and Wheatland Bank about an agreement to make their private spaces
available to the public and signed properly to welcome customers after hours. Staff
recommends contacting Chase Bank, the Sunfair Building, and others to make their
spaces available after hours. Yakima County has already agreed to open up their
parking lot at 2nd and Sgt. Pendleton Way on weekends and evenings.
6) Convert Under -used Public Lots into No Time Limit / Employee and Residential Parking
— Upon changing the hours of the main customer lots to two hours, we need to
immediately convert three lots in downtown to free employee and residential parking for
those that chose not to purchase a monthly permit for the lots. These lots include the
"Barrelhouse Lot" on 1St Street, the "YPAC" lot next to YPAC on Second Street and the
lot across the street from the Police Station on Walnut and S. 3rd Street. These lots
would be all day free parking for employees and residents.
7) Develop Multi -tiered Special Event Parking Plan — This recommendation relates directly
to recommendation #4. Using the Capitol Theatre as an example, there are hundreds of
privately owned parking spaces within two blocks of the Capitol Theatre that sit empty
after hours or on weekends. We recommend working with the private owners and the
Capitol Theatre to develop a communication plan to promote the spaces on theatre
nights. Signage and communication will be important to the success of this initiative.
8) Develop Parking Marketing and Communications Plan — All of these recommended
actions will have little effect if they are not communicated to the business community
and public. The City of Nashville, TN's "Park It" program is a good model for us to follow
as it includes branding of the parking system, way finding signage throughout the
downtown district, a smart phone application, easy to follow parking maps and a
website. The City of Yakima's information technology staff can build a website and we
can hire a local public relations firm to develop the marketing materials. The total cost for
graphic design for this project will not exceed $3,500 and way finding sign fabrication will
be handled in house.