body,date,page,text,path
TransportationCommission,2015-04-22,1,"Transportation Commission
May 27, 2015
Item 4B
Action
Transportation Commission Special Meeting Minutes
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Commissioner Michele Bellows called the Transportation Commission to order at 7:00 p.m.
1.
Roll Call
Roll was called and the following was recorded:
Members Present:
Michele Bellows (Chair)
Eric Schatmeier (Vice Chair)
Christopher Miley
Thomas G. Bertken
Gregory Morgado
Members Absent:
Michael Hans
Jesus Vargas
Staff Present:
Virendra Patel, Transportation Engineer
Gail Payne, Transportation Coordinator
Alan Ta, Assistant Engineer
2.
Agenda Changes
None.
3.
Announcements/ Public Comments
Staff Payne said this year's Earth Day Celebration would be held on Saturday, April 25 from 10
am to 3 pm and Bike to Work Day would be held on Thursday, May 14.",TransportationCommission/2015-04-22.pdf
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May 27, , 2015
Item #4B
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4.
Consent Calendar
4A. Approve Meeting Minutes - March 25, 2015
Staff Payne stated that Commissioner Vargas wanted to add an additional statement under item
5C. at the bottom of page 6. He referenced the City documents and NACTO guidelines relative to
placing a cycle track in an industrial area and he expressed concern over the quality of the technical
document supporting the recommendation.
Jim Strehlow, Alameda Resident, stated that he would like the Commission to read page 11
concerning the motion made by Commissioner Miley. He said that what was in the minutes was
not what occurred in the meeting. The minutes stated that Commissioner Miley requested to
consider removing parking from the north side of Clement Avenue and that did not happen. He
said the Commission could view the motion on the video starting at the second hour and forty-
three minute mark. Furthermore, he said that Commissioner Schatmeier spoke about the fact that
he did not want to vote without having a parking study involved and he wanted to at least have
parking studies included with the application. There was nothing in the motion about removing
parking on the north side of Clement Avenue.
Commissioner Bellows replied that she would rescind the motion for the April 22 meeting minutes
and listen to the video where the statement took place.
Commissioner Miley stated that from his recollection, there was a discussion on parking data and
the lack of data, but he does not recall making a case of that in the motion.
Jim Strehlow replied also in the minutes Commissioner Bellows replied that the truck radius should
be considered and that was part of the motion.
Commissioner Schatmaier moved to approve the minutes pending a review of the correction and
then bring the correction back to the Commission. Commissioner Miley seconded the motion. The
motion was approved 5-0.",TransportationCommission/2015-04-22.pdf
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May 27, , 2015
Item #4B
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5.
New Business
5A. Approve Harbor Bay Ferry Area Parking Recommendations
Staff Payne presented an update and introduced Alan Ta, Engineer with Alameda Public Works,
and Kevin Connolly of Water Emergency Transportation Agency (WETA) who then presented.
Commissioner Miley asked how many parking spaces are located at the ferry building.
Kevin Connolly replied 208 parking spaces.
Commissioner Schatmeier said when the Commission looked at Adelphian Way they were looking
at the land side and shying away from the bay side because it was more difficult to get permission
from the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC). Nevertheless,
the current proposal showed parking not on the land side, but on the bay side. He wanted to know
if that would be difficult to pass when the City asks for permission from BCDC.
Staff Ta said he was not aware of BCDC's stance on Adelphian Way, but the street configuration
is 36 feet wide and has a curve. This street does not contain enough room to provide parking on
the bay side. Regarding Harbor Bay Parkway, he explained the business side was in support of it
and there already was parking on the bay side just after the driveway. Therefore, if BCDC was
consistent with their thought process, he did not believe they would have a problem with placing
parking on the bay side.
Commissioner Bertken reaffirmed with staff that the width of the street precluded the City from
providing parking on the bay side of Adelphian Way.
Staff Ta showed the curvature of the street through the PowerPoint slide and explained that it was
impossible to provide two travel lanes and two parking lanes on Adelphian Way.
Commissioner Schatmeier said he understood that we were considering parking on one side of the
street. However, he felt that placing parking on the bay side would create fewer impacts along
Adelphian Way. BCDC would be less likely to approve a change with view impacts so we favored
the land side of Adelphian Way for parking additions.
Staff Payne replied the parked cars could not obstruct views of the park so it is specific to the park.
In regards to Harbor Bay Parkway, she said parking along the bay side is already available in that
location so when extending the parking spaces BCDC would be consistent.
Commissioner Bertken asked staff if they approached the neighbors.
Staff Ta replied that the Harbor Bay Parkway was developed after the March Transportation
Commission meeting.
Chair Bellows confirmed that the question was about Adelphian Way and if we ever investigated",TransportationCommission/2015-04-22.pdf
TransportationCommission,2015-04-22,4,"implementing the temporary solution will not change the status quo appreciably because it is
insufficient to meet the capacity needs. We are willing to stay with the status quo until a long-
term solution is considered.
Commissioner Bellows asked Bill Pai if he had a long-term suggestion in mind.
Bill Pai replied that creating another parking lot could be an option. He was not sure of the
feasibility of the parking structure, but there is land available so should have discussions for it.
Commissioner Bertken asked Bill Pai if he had a suggestion of where available funds would come
from to build a parking structure.
Bill Pai replied a parking structure may not be necessary, but a parking lot could be feasible. Yet,
he does not know how to acquire funds to build the parking lot.
Staff Ta replied the recommendation for Harbor Bay Parkway is not a temporary solution, nor did",TransportationCommission/2015-04-22.pdf
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May 27, 2015
Item #4B
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they say it is temporary in the report.
Jim Strehlow thanked Alan Ta for his presentation and found that City staff was listening to the
community. He asked for clarification on why the Commission is having this meeting. He said
for some reason there was some sort of delay and he does not understand why there was a delay
due to someone living within a certain area. Furthermore, he said the item was pulled from last
month's agenda and he wanted to understand the rationale because if one of the Commissioners
had a vested interest in the land then they should recuse themselves.
Commissioner Bellows replied the California Fair Political Practices Commission's (FPPC) rules
are if a Commissioner lives within 500 feet of an action item he or she may not participate or be
present in the discussion. She said the rule came up very close to the meeting time and the
Commission did not understand the rules. So, the City Attorney was pulled in and was clear about
the fact that the item had to be pulled until clarification was given.
Jed Otton, Board of Director for Creedon Circle Headlands Association, said he wanted to make
the Commission aware that another ferry trip from San Francisco to Harbor Bay Ferry Terminal
was being added at 6 pm starting May 1. He explained that it means more and more people are
coming and he was unaware that there was another ferry being added. He felt that what was
proposed was possibly a temporary solution, but the parking problem would only get worse and
be more impactful to the neighborhoods. He urged the Commission to walk the area and be aware
of the problem before they decide on the solution. We need to look at acquiring the adjacent land
for a long-term solution and not parking on Adelphian Way or Harbor Bay Parkway.
Daniel Reidy, Corporate Secretary and Consul for the Harbor Bay Business Park Association, said
a committee of the board met with Alan Ta and he clarified the proposal. He stated that his
organization polled their board members and learned that they were in support of staff's plans, but
there was a concern about overflow parking in the private parking spaces owned by the property
owners who reside closer to the ferry terminal. Additionally, he said there is a master agreement
between Harbor Bay Isle Associates and BCDC that states there will be no additional permits
required around Harbor Bay Parkway except at the ferry terminal. He attended the meetings
between HBIA and BCDC in 1989 and 1990 when the agreements were handled before the ferry
was begun. So, HBIA would be willing to amend the agreement if staff receives static from BCDC.
Also, he stated that the organization agreed that the long-term solution should be a parking lot. He
noted that the adjacent lot is owned by SRM Ernst and WETA could appropriate funding and
purchase the additional land. Moreover, he encouraged the City and homeowner associations to
consider an additional shuttle to pick up people since Harbor Bay Business Park Association
provides a free shuttle that goes to BART and meets the ferry.
Commissioner Miley asked Daniel Reidy how frequently does the shuttle run.
Daniel Reidy said he was not sure, but the shuttle runs during commute hours to meet BART and
then to meet the ferry, and there are people who reverse commute from San Francisco.
Commissioner Bertken stated that the discussions and reading material presented does not show",TransportationCommission/2015-04-22.pdf
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May 27, 2015
Item #4B
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how an increase in ferry patronage will ever solve the problem with the neighborhood and that has
caused negativity with the public. He felt they needed a plan or commitment that looks for a long-
term solution because funding is not immediately available. He also brought up the fact that there
was no commitment to a long-term solution for a viable ferry service in the Bay Farm Island area.
Commissioner Schatmeier thanked the community for coming out and thanked staff for their
report. He said that he lives within a seven minute walk of the Harbor Bay Ferry, so he has an
interest in how this comes out. He said he was excited by the staff proposal and he believed they
deserved credit for listening to the community and coming up with a proposal that represented a
positive look at all points of view. He was prepared to offer a motion to approve the staff
recommendation. However, he wanted to include in the motion the issues presented by the
Commission and they would be in three parts: (1) The Commission support the maintenance of
the ridership increases that have taken place and the enhancement of ridership overtime for the
health of the Harbor Bay Ferry. (2) The City needed to identify adequate parking in the short term
and the long term. (3) The City must minimize the disruption to the surrounding residential
neighborhoods by monitoring parking in the neighborhoods both before the short-term solution is
implemented and afterwards.
Commissioner Miley thanked the community and staff. He stated that he lives within a ten minute
walk from the ferry terminal. He asked Kevin Connolly about the parking demand projections.
Kevin Connolly replied WETA has experienced growth averaging nine percent annually for four
years. He expected parking demand to grow between five and seven percent, if they keep the same
mode split.
Commissioner Schatmeier asked Kevin Connolly about the additional 6 pm ferry trip.
Kevin Connolly replied that WETA planned the service expansion for a while ago because the 5:30
pm boat typically goes over capacity and the overage has been happening 30 percent of the time.
Also, WETA would be considering an additional morning trip.
Commissioner Bellows replied the evening ferry addition will most probably not add to the parking
load because those people are just picking up their cars at another time. However, the morning
ferry addition could possibly increase parking demand.
Kevin Connolly replied the 208 space parking lot is generally at capacity before the 8:30 am
departure.
Commissioner Schatmeier stated that Kevin Connolly cited that although ridership has gone up the
percentage of customers driving alone has gone down. As he remembered, the statistics showed a
percentage increase of people walking to the ferry and bicycling, which means the ridership
increase was from people living close to the terminal.
Kevin Connolly replied that was correct, roughly 93-98% of their riders are within a three-mile
radius.",TransportationCommission/2015-04-22.pdf
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May 27, 2015
Item #4B
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Commissioner Bertken asked Kevin Connolly what it would take to get a study going to forecast
ridership demand further down the line and to acquire funding for it. He asked if WETA has any
funds to do that type of planning.
Kevin Connolly replied that they do have the analysis for future ridership demand and he can come
back to the Commission to present the information. He said they have been successful with adding
more bike racks, which have many funding programs, but there was no funding to a build parking
structure or parking lot.
Commissioner Bertken replied that this is an integral part of the ferry transportation system.
Commissioner Miley said the City was looking at conducting a broader study of traffic and transit
and looking at a citywide shuttle. He proposed that staff look at the service that exists on Harbor
Bay Parkway and what type of improvements and connections could be made with the existing
shuttle service and AC Transit service. He asked staff about potential interim solutions on
Adelphian Way particularly between Harbor Bay Parkway and McCartney Road next to the dirt
lot. He said Alan Ta mentioned that parking could not be added due to the width of the street, but
he felt Adelphian Way would not work as a one-way street because issues would be created on
McCartney Road and other streets. He asked Alan Ta if there was a possibility of widening the
road because it contained a dirt lot.
Staff Ta replied the property is private and staff would have to review that when it becomes
developed.
Commissioner Miley said if the parking lot were to be developed in the future the area should be
conditioned to make the road adequate width with two lanes of travel, parking and bike lanes.
Commissioner Morgado said he lives on Thompson Avenue and he berates motorists who park in
front of his house. He said the City cannot fix the issue tonight, so they need to find the best thing
to do right now.
Commissioner Schatmeier moved to endorse the staff recommendation and include in the
endorsement a sense of the Commission resolution, which comes in three parts: (1) The continued
maintenance and enhancement of ferry ridership. (2) The provision for adequate parking in the
short term and long term. (3) The City should seek to minimize the disruption to the surrounding
residential neighborhoods. Commissioner Miley seconded the motion. The motion was approved
5-0.
Staff Payne said moving forward with the Ad Hoc Committee regarding ferry terminal access there
will be a similar process for the Main Street Ferry Terminal because they also have high ferry
demand and parking issues. She explained that staff will continue to meet again with the Ad Hoc
Committee about ferry terminal access and then will have public outreach for that ferry terminal.
She said staff would also continue the discussion of the Harbor Bay Ferry Terminal.",TransportationCommission/2015-04-22.pdf
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Item #4B
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6.
Staff Communications
6A. Update on Ad Hoc Transit Committee
Staff Payne stated that they are working with AC Transit to schedule the Ad Hoc Transit
Committee meeting.
6B. Potential Future Meeting Agenda Items
1. On May 27, staff will bring back the Clement Avenue bike lane proposal
2. Review Central Avenue Complete Street Project
7.
Announcements/Public Comments
Commissioner Schatmeier stated that he got off the Fruitvale BART Station and took the bus into
the meeting. He noticed that there were changes to the bus stop configuration that particularly
affect Alameda and he was disturbed by them because he does not remember seeing public notices
posted or mailed and that change was particularly disruptive. He said there are four lines that serve
residents and the routes #20 and #21 are no longer close to the BART station.
Jon Spangler, Alameda resident and a League of American Cycling Instructor said the
Commission was cordially invited to League of Women Voters event ""Meet the City's Public
Officials"" next Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the Harbor Bay Isle Community Center.
8.
Adjournment
8:15 pm",TransportationCommission/2015-04-22.pdf