pages: TransportationCommission/2008-12-10.pdf, 2
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TransportationCommission | 2008-12-10 | 2 | 3. AGENDA CHANGES There were none. 4. COMMISSION COMMUNICATIONS No task forces met since the last meeting. 5. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS. - NON-AGENDIZED ITEMS There were none. 6. OLD BUSINESS 6A. Parking Management Strategy for the Park Street and West Alameda Business Districts. Eric Fonstein, Development Services Department, summarized the staff report and detailed the background and scope of this item. He noted that West Alameda Business Association and the Park Street Business Association expressed concerns that the Alameda Municipal Code did not reasonably take into consideration the type or size of the business, or its location, when applying the minimum parking requirements. The members also believed that the City's in lieu fees were burdensome and expensive, especially for small businesses. The third concern was raised by residents in the neighborhoods regarding lack of adequate on-street parking. He noted that in response to those concerns, the City hired Wilbur Smith & Associates to conduct a parking study, which measured occupancy, turnover and duration of both on-and off-street parking in the two districts. He noted that the study was completed before the completion of the new Civic Center parking structure and Movie Theater, although those facilities were included in the future parking demand calculations. Mr. Fonstein advised that the study found high on-street occupancy levels several times during the day; City-owned parking lots A and C were also highly used, and that many of the private lots were highly underused; and there were high occupancies in the residential areas near the downtown area. Similar findings were found in the West Alameda district. He noted that the goals of the parking strategy were: 1. Management of the existing supply should be enhanced, and that the bargain hunters and employees should be moved from the on-street parking spaces and into the private and public lots through pricing mechanisms, and to open up the on-street parking for the shoppers, which benefit the district; and 2. Lower the barriers to private investment and business expansion in the districts. Staff Fonstein noted that the infrastructure and supply were in place, but that the resource management tools must be sharpened. He noted that on-street parking was an underpriced, finite resource, which was capable of being exploited or sold out. He noted that an appropriate price point for on-street parking should be found, so that merchants and employees did not monopolize the on-street parking; parking structures and off-street lots would be preferable. He noted that by appropriately pricing the on-street parking, the turnover rate would be optimized. He noted that 2 | TransportationCommission/2008-12-10.pdf |