{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2015-04-22", "page": 1, "text": "Transportation Commission\nMay 27, 2015\nItem 4B\nAction\nTransportation Commission Special Meeting Minutes\nWednesday, April 22, 2015\nCommissioner Michele Bellows called the Transportation Commission to order at 7:00 p.m.\n1.\nRoll Call\nRoll was called and the following was recorded:\nMembers Present:\nMichele Bellows (Chair)\nEric Schatmeier (Vice Chair)\nChristopher Miley\nThomas G. Bertken\nGregory Morgado\nMembers Absent:\nMichael Hans\nJesus Vargas\nStaff Present:\nVirendra Patel, Transportation Engineer\nGail Payne, Transportation Coordinator\nAlan Ta, Assistant Engineer\n2.\nAgenda Changes\nNone.\n3.\nAnnouncements/ Public Comments\nStaff Payne said this year's Earth Day Celebration would be held on Saturday, April 25 from 10\nam to 3 pm and Bike to Work Day would be held on Thursday, May 14.", "path": "TransportationCommission/2015-04-22.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2015-04-22", "page": 2, "text": "Transportation Commission\nMay 27, , 2015\nItem #4B\nPage 2 of 8\n4.\nConsent Calendar\n4A. Approve Meeting Minutes - March 25, 2015\nStaff Payne stated that Commissioner Vargas wanted to add an additional statement under item\n5C. at the bottom of page 6. He referenced the City documents and NACTO guidelines relative to\nplacing a cycle track in an industrial area and he expressed concern over the quality of the technical\ndocument supporting the recommendation.\nJim Strehlow, Alameda Resident, stated that he would like the Commission to read page 11\nconcerning the motion made by Commissioner Miley. He said that what was in the minutes was\nnot what occurred in the meeting. The minutes stated that Commissioner Miley requested to\nconsider removing parking from the north side of Clement Avenue and that did not happen. He\nsaid the Commission could view the motion on the video starting at the second hour and forty-\nthree minute mark. Furthermore, he said that Commissioner Schatmeier spoke about the fact that\nhe did not want to vote without having a parking study involved and he wanted to at least have\nparking studies included with the application. There was nothing in the motion about removing\nparking on the north side of Clement Avenue.\nCommissioner Bellows replied that she would rescind the motion for the April 22 meeting minutes\nand listen to the video where the statement took place.\nCommissioner Miley stated that from his recollection, there was a discussion on parking data and\nthe lack of data, but he does not recall making a case of that in the motion.\nJim Strehlow replied also in the minutes Commissioner Bellows replied that the truck radius should\nbe considered and that was part of the motion.\nCommissioner Schatmaier moved to approve the minutes pending a review of the correction and\nthen bring the correction back to the Commission. Commissioner Miley seconded the motion. The\nmotion was approved 5-0.", "path": "TransportationCommission/2015-04-22.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2015-04-22", "page": 3, "text": "Transportation Commission\nMay 27, , 2015\nItem #4B\nPage 3 of 8\n5.\nNew Business\n5A. Approve Harbor Bay Ferry Area Parking Recommendations\nStaff Payne presented an update and introduced Alan Ta, Engineer with Alameda Public Works,\nand Kevin Connolly of Water Emergency Transportation Agency (WETA) who then presented.\nCommissioner Miley asked how many parking spaces are located at the ferry building.\nKevin Connolly replied 208 parking spaces.\nCommissioner Schatmeier said when the Commission looked at Adelphian Way they were looking\nat the land side and shying away from the bay side because it was more difficult to get permission\nfrom the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC). Nevertheless,\nthe current proposal showed parking not on the land side, but on the bay side. He wanted to know\nif that would be difficult to pass when the City asks for permission from BCDC.\nStaff Ta said he was not aware of BCDC's stance on Adelphian Way, but the street configuration\nis 36 feet wide and has a curve. This street does not contain enough room to provide parking on\nthe bay side. Regarding Harbor Bay Parkway, he explained the business side was in support of it\nand there already was parking on the bay side just after the driveway. Therefore, if BCDC was\nconsistent with their thought process, he did not believe they would have a problem with placing\nparking on the bay side.\nCommissioner Bertken reaffirmed with staff that the width of the street precluded the City from\nproviding parking on the bay side of Adelphian Way.\nStaff Ta showed the curvature of the street through the PowerPoint slide and explained that it was\nimpossible to provide two travel lanes and two parking lanes on Adelphian Way.\nCommissioner Schatmeier said he understood that we were considering parking on one side of the\nstreet. However, he felt that placing parking on the bay side would create fewer impacts along\nAdelphian Way. BCDC would be less likely to approve a change with view impacts so we favored\nthe land side of Adelphian Way for parking additions.\nStaff Payne replied the parked cars could not obstruct views of the park so it is specific to the park.\nIn regards to Harbor Bay Parkway, she said parking along the bay side is already available in that\nlocation so when extending the parking spaces BCDC would be consistent.\nCommissioner Bertken asked staff if they approached the neighbors.\nStaff Ta replied that the Harbor Bay Parkway was developed after the March Transportation\nCommission meeting.\nChair Bellows confirmed that the question was about Adelphian Way and if we ever investigated", "path": "TransportationCommission/2015-04-22.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2015-04-22", "page": 4, "text": "implementing the temporary solution will not change the status quo appreciably because it is\ninsufficient to meet the capacity needs. We are willing to stay with the status quo until a long-\nterm solution is considered.\nCommissioner Bellows asked Bill Pai if he had a long-term suggestion in mind.\nBill Pai replied that creating another parking lot could be an option. He was not sure of the\nfeasibility of the parking structure, but there is land available so should have discussions for it.\nCommissioner Bertken asked Bill Pai if he had a suggestion of where available funds would come\nfrom to build a parking structure.\nBill Pai replied a parking structure may not be necessary, but a parking lot could be feasible. Yet,\nhe does not know how to acquire funds to build the parking lot.\nStaff Ta replied the recommendation for Harbor Bay Parkway is not a temporary solution, nor did", "path": "TransportationCommission/2015-04-22.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2015-04-22", "page": 5, "text": "Transportation Commission\nMay 27, 2015\nItem #4B\nPage 5 of 8\nthey say it is temporary in the report.\nJim Strehlow thanked Alan Ta for his presentation and found that City staff was listening to the\ncommunity. He asked for clarification on why the Commission is having this meeting. He said\nfor some reason there was some sort of delay and he does not understand why there was a delay\ndue to someone living within a certain area. Furthermore, he said the item was pulled from last\nmonth's agenda and he wanted to understand the rationale because if one of the Commissioners\nhad a vested interest in the land then they should recuse themselves.\nCommissioner Bellows replied the California Fair Political Practices Commission's (FPPC) rules\nare if a Commissioner lives within 500 feet of an action item he or she may not participate or be\npresent in the discussion. She said the rule came up very close to the meeting time and the\nCommission did not understand the rules. So, the City Attorney was pulled in and was clear about\nthe fact that the item had to be pulled until clarification was given.\nJed Otton, Board of Director for Creedon Circle Headlands Association, said he wanted to make\nthe Commission aware that another ferry trip from San Francisco to Harbor Bay Ferry Terminal\nwas being added at 6 pm starting May 1. He explained that it means more and more people are\ncoming and he was unaware that there was another ferry being added. He felt that what was\nproposed was possibly a temporary solution, but the parking problem would only get worse and\nbe more impactful to the neighborhoods. He urged the Commission to walk the area and be aware\nof the problem before they decide on the solution. We need to look at acquiring the adjacent land\nfor a long-term solution and not parking on Adelphian Way or Harbor Bay Parkway.\nDaniel Reidy, Corporate Secretary and Consul for the Harbor Bay Business Park Association, said\na committee of the board met with Alan Ta and he clarified the proposal. He stated that his\norganization polled their board members and learned that they were in support of staff's plans, but\nthere was a concern about overflow parking in the private parking spaces owned by the property\nowners who reside closer to the ferry terminal. Additionally, he said there is a master agreement\nbetween Harbor Bay Isle Associates and BCDC that states there will be no additional permits\nrequired around Harbor Bay Parkway except at the ferry terminal. He attended the meetings\nbetween HBIA and BCDC in 1989 and 1990 when the agreements were handled before the ferry\nwas begun. So, HBIA would be willing to amend the agreement if staff receives static from BCDC.\nAlso, he stated that the organization agreed that the long-term solution should be a parking lot. He\nnoted that the adjacent lot is owned by SRM Ernst and WETA could appropriate funding and\npurchase the additional land. Moreover, he encouraged the City and homeowner associations to\nconsider an additional shuttle to pick up people since Harbor Bay Business Park Association\nprovides a free shuttle that goes to BART and meets the ferry.\nCommissioner Miley asked Daniel Reidy how frequently does the shuttle run.\nDaniel Reidy said he was not sure, but the shuttle runs during commute hours to meet BART and\nthen to meet the ferry, and there are people who reverse commute from San Francisco.\nCommissioner Bertken stated that the discussions and reading material presented does not show", "path": "TransportationCommission/2015-04-22.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2015-04-22", "page": 6, "text": "Transportation Commission\nMay 27, 2015\nItem #4B\nPage 6 of 8\nhow an increase in ferry patronage will ever solve the problem with the neighborhood and that has\ncaused negativity with the public. He felt they needed a plan or commitment that looks for a long-\nterm solution because funding is not immediately available. He also brought up the fact that there\nwas no commitment to a long-term solution for a viable ferry service in the Bay Farm Island area.\nCommissioner Schatmeier thanked the community for coming out and thanked staff for their\nreport. He said that he lives within a seven minute walk of the Harbor Bay Ferry, so he has an\ninterest in how this comes out. He said he was excited by the staff proposal and he believed they\ndeserved credit for listening to the community and coming up with a proposal that represented a\npositive look at all points of view. He was prepared to offer a motion to approve the staff\nrecommendation. However, he wanted to include in the motion the issues presented by the\nCommission and they would be in three parts: (1) The Commission support the maintenance of\nthe ridership increases that have taken place and the enhancement of ridership overtime for the\nhealth of the Harbor Bay Ferry. (2) The City needed to identify adequate parking in the short term\nand the long term. (3) The City must minimize the disruption to the surrounding residential\nneighborhoods by monitoring parking in the neighborhoods both before the short-term solution is\nimplemented and afterwards.\nCommissioner Miley thanked the community and staff. He stated that he lives within a ten minute\nwalk from the ferry terminal. He asked Kevin Connolly about the parking demand projections.\nKevin Connolly replied WETA has experienced growth averaging nine percent annually for four\nyears. He expected parking demand to grow between five and seven percent, if they keep the same\nmode split.\nCommissioner Schatmeier asked Kevin Connolly about the additional 6 pm ferry trip.\nKevin Connolly replied that WETA planned the service expansion for a while ago because the 5:30\npm boat typically goes over capacity and the overage has been happening 30 percent of the time.\nAlso, WETA would be considering an additional morning trip.\nCommissioner Bellows replied the evening ferry addition will most probably not add to the parking\nload because those people are just picking up their cars at another time. However, the morning\nferry addition could possibly increase parking demand.\nKevin Connolly replied the 208 space parking lot is generally at capacity before the 8:30 am\ndeparture.\nCommissioner Schatmeier stated that Kevin Connolly cited that although ridership has gone up the\npercentage of customers driving alone has gone down. As he remembered, the statistics showed a\npercentage increase of people walking to the ferry and bicycling, which means the ridership\nincrease was from people living close to the terminal.\nKevin Connolly replied that was correct, roughly 93-98% of their riders are within a three-mile\nradius.", "path": "TransportationCommission/2015-04-22.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2015-04-22", "page": 7, "text": "Transportation Commission\nMay 27, 2015\nItem #4B\nPage 7 of 8\nCommissioner Bertken asked Kevin Connolly what it would take to get a study going to forecast\nridership demand further down the line and to acquire funding for it. He asked if WETA has any\nfunds to do that type of planning.\nKevin Connolly replied that they do have the analysis for future ridership demand and he can come\nback to the Commission to present the information. He said they have been successful with adding\nmore bike racks, which have many funding programs, but there was no funding to a build parking\nstructure or parking lot.\nCommissioner Bertken replied that this is an integral part of the ferry transportation system.\nCommissioner Miley said the City was looking at conducting a broader study of traffic and transit\nand looking at a citywide shuttle. He proposed that staff look at the service that exists on Harbor\nBay Parkway and what type of improvements and connections could be made with the existing\nshuttle service and AC Transit service. He asked staff about potential interim solutions on\nAdelphian Way particularly between Harbor Bay Parkway and McCartney Road next to the dirt\nlot. He said Alan Ta mentioned that parking could not be added due to the width of the street, but\nhe felt Adelphian Way would not work as a one-way street because issues would be created on\nMcCartney Road and other streets. He asked Alan Ta if there was a possibility of widening the\nroad because it contained a dirt lot.\nStaff Ta replied the property is private and staff would have to review that when it becomes\ndeveloped.\nCommissioner Miley said if the parking lot were to be developed in the future the area should be\nconditioned to make the road adequate width with two lanes of travel, parking and bike lanes.\nCommissioner Morgado said he lives on Thompson Avenue and he berates motorists who park in\nfront of his house. He said the City cannot fix the issue tonight, so they need to find the best thing\nto do right now.\nCommissioner Schatmeier moved to endorse the staff recommendation and include in the\nendorsement a sense of the Commission resolution, which comes in three parts: (1) The continued\nmaintenance and enhancement of ferry ridership. (2) The provision for adequate parking in the\nshort term and long term. (3) The City should seek to minimize the disruption to the surrounding\nresidential neighborhoods. Commissioner Miley seconded the motion. The motion was approved\n5-0.\nStaff Payne said moving forward with the Ad Hoc Committee regarding ferry terminal access there\nwill be a similar process for the Main Street Ferry Terminal because they also have high ferry\ndemand and parking issues. She explained that staff will continue to meet again with the Ad Hoc\nCommittee about ferry terminal access and then will have public outreach for that ferry terminal.\nShe said staff would also continue the discussion of the Harbor Bay Ferry Terminal.", "path": "TransportationCommission/2015-04-22.pdf"}
{"body": "TransportationCommission", "date": "2015-04-22", "page": 8, "text": "Transportation Commission\nMay 27, , 2015\nItem #4B\nPage 8 of 8\n6.\nStaff Communications\n6A. Update on Ad Hoc Transit Committee\nStaff Payne stated that they are working with AC Transit to schedule the Ad Hoc Transit\nCommittee meeting.\n6B. Potential Future Meeting Agenda Items\n1. On May 27, staff will bring back the Clement Avenue bike lane proposal\n2. Review Central Avenue Complete Street Project\n7.\nAnnouncements/Public Comments\nCommissioner Schatmeier stated that he got off the Fruitvale BART Station and took the bus into\nthe meeting. He noticed that there were changes to the bus stop configuration that particularly\naffect Alameda and he was disturbed by them because he does not remember seeing public notices\nposted or mailed and that change was particularly disruptive. He said there are four lines that serve\nresidents and the routes #20 and #21 are no longer close to the BART station.\nJon Spangler, Alameda resident and a League of American Cycling Instructor said the\nCommission was cordially invited to League of Women Voters event \"Meet the City's Public\nOfficials\" next Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30 pm at the Harbor Bay Isle Community Center.\n8.\nAdjournment\n8:15 pm", "path": "TransportationCommission/2015-04-22.pdf"}