Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - TSP - 2009.06.11 Page 1 of 6 The City of Burlingame CITY HALL - 501 PRIMROSE ROAD CALIFORNIA 94010-3997 www.burlingame.org TRAFFIC, SAFETY AND PARKING COMMISSION Meeting Minutes - Approved Thursday, June 11, 2009 Commissioners Present: Michael Bohnert, Chair Jeff Londer Jerry McDonnell Caroline Serrato Commissioners Absent: Mark Noworolski, Vice-Chair Staff Present: Augustine Chou, Traffic Engineer, Public Works Sgt. Don Shepley, Police Department Joanne Louie, Administrative Secretary, Public Works Visitors: Pat Giorni, 1445 Balboa Alix Lindblom, 355 Primrose Road #2 Richard Steffen, 1420 Howard Avenue Denise Baggiani, 2649 Martinez Drive Dean Treft, 136 Myrtle Road Doris Mortensen, 124 Myrtle Road Don McGrath, 130-132 Myrtle road Jan Bunzel, 927 Howard Avenue Dorothy Church, 140 Myrtle Road Karen Olden, 1541 Burlingame Avenue 1. CALL TO ORDER. 7:00 p.m. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG. 3. ROLL CALL. 4 of 5 Commissioners present. (Vice Chair Noworolski absent) 4. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS None. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - Motion: To accept the minutes of May 14, 2009 as submitted. M/S/C: Londer, Bohnert; 3/0/2 (McDonnell – abstained, Noworolski – absent) Page 2 of 6 6. PUBLIC COMMENTS Ms. Giorni stated that the new placement of the bicycle rack outside City Hall is an improvement and requests that the second rack also be placed so that it c an accommodate more than one bicycle. 7. CURRENT BUSINESS 7.1 City Parking Lot X – Conversion to free parking to pay parking Mr. Chou presented a staff report seeking concurrence not to consider conversion of City Lot X from free parking to pay parking at this time. Chair Bohnert opened the floor for public comment. Ms. Giorni stated that she disagreed with the staff report considering the budget cuts the City is facing. Mr. Chou stated that this matter will be sent with this Commission’s recommendation to the City Council for the final decision. Motion: Concur with staff not to consider conversion of City Lot X from free parking to pay parking at this time and to re-examine this matter in the future. M/S/C: Londer, Serrato; 4/0/1 (Noworolski – absent) 7.2 Myrtle Road – 2 hour parking limits Mr. Chou presented a staff report recommending the Commission continue to gather public input and comment on whether to consider a time limit for on -street parking along the 100 block of Myrtle Road. The City received a request to examine the feasibility of designing some portion of the street for limited time parking. The purpose of the request was to see if shorter-term parking may be made available for the businesses during working hours. Mr. Chou stated that the best approach to addressing this request was to have the Commission hold one or more public meetings with the neighborhood stakeholders to work cooperatively for a solution that addresses a majority of the neighborhood needs. Chair Bohnert opened the floor for public comment. Ms. Mortensen is a resident of the 100 block of Myrtle Road and presented a letter to the Commission expressing her concerns. Due to the number of businesses and Caltrain commuters parking on the street and limited resident garage spaces, Ms. Mortensen requested that all residents of this block be excluded from any posted time restrictions. Page 3 of 6 Mr. Treft stated that the parking on this block has gotten worse and worse. By 8 a.m. the parking spaces are taken often times by dealership employee parking. Mr. Trent expressed his concern that metered parking would create a problem for everyone and push the problem further out and feels time restrictions will hurt everyone. Ms. Giorni suggested that residential permits be considered for this block. Chair Bohnert closed the public comment period. Discussion occurred amongst the commissioners regarding the concerns raised by residents and the pilot residential permit program. Chair Bohnert requested Mr. Chou to have staff do s tudies and analysis for further discussion. Mr. Chou said that he would speak with the dealerships to voluntarily have their employees park on their premises. Mr. Chou stated that the solution would have to balance the needs of the residents and busines ses. He also said that he could meet with each group separately. 7.3 City Lot H – conversion from free parking to pay parking Mr. Chou presented a staff report seeking Commission concurrence to recommend to the City Council the conversion of City Lot H from free parking to pay parking in line with the other peripheral lots in the Burlingame Avenue downtown business district. Chair Bohnert opened the floor for public comment. Ms. Baggiani, an employee of Lucy’s, expressed the need to have the free parking remain free so that employees can utilize this free lot . Ms. Baggiani also stated that she receives numerous complaints from customers regarding parking issues in the Burlingame Avenue area. Mr. Steffan of a local retail shop stated that employees do util ize the free parking lot and is also used by apartment dwellers. Mr. Steffan stated that paying $40 per month for parking is a lot of money for employees. He said that Lot H is usually packed by 10:00 a.m. and that the parking lots’ usage is balanced right now. Ms. Lindblom expressed her disagreement with converting Lot H to a pay lot. Ms. Lindblom is a tenant with no assigned parking and her residence is not eligible for a residential parking permit. Ms. Giorni stated that she saw no reason not to charge for parking in Lot H. She said that employees of local businesses would only pay $20 per month and that it was a misconception that charging a parking fee would generate revenue due to marking tires, ticketing, etc. Page 4 of 6 Chair Bohnert sought input from the Commissioners. Commissioner Londer stated he saw no reason why it shouldn’t be converted to a pay lot. Mr. Chou clarified that the pay lot would be a pay box not meters. Commissioner McDonnell concurred with Commissioner Londer. Chair Bohnert asked Mr. Chou about the current residential parking permit program. Mr. Chou stated that the Police staff would need to conduct a follow up study on the effectiveness of the pilot residential parking program. He also stated that the Commission would need to go to Council to determine the need to modify or expand the program. Motion: Concur with staff to recommend to the City Council the conversion of City Parking Lot H from free parking to pay parking to be consistent with Lot G. M/S/C: Londer/McDonnell; 4/0/1 (Noworolski absent) 8. INFORMATION/DISCUSSION ITEMS FROM COMMISSION AND STAFF 8.1 Traffic Engineer’s Report 8.1.1 City Parking Lot C “Green Project” Reconfiguration – Verbal Report Mr. Chou reported that Lot C will be restriped and redeveloped which will capture storm drain runoff. Additionally the improvements will add esthetic appeal. 8.1.2 California Drive Signal Controller Upgrade Project – Verbal Report Mr. Chou reported that they were currently waiting for the main signal equipment to be delivered, and that this should occur before the end of this month. Mr. Chou also reported the new service cabinet at Broadway and California Avenue has already been hit. Our street crew will put in bollards to help protect it. 8.1.3 Bayshore Highway Signal Interconnect Project – Verbal Report Mr. Chou reported that staff is going to City Council on Monday, June 15 to reject all bids on this project. The City received two bids which were 50K to 80K higher than the engineer’s estimate due to a misunderstanding about the software licensing. He said the specifications would be rewritten and the project would be re-advertised. 8.1.4 US101 Auxiliary Lane Project – Verbal Report Page 5 of 6 Mr. Chou reported that Caltrans would be doing work at Peninsula Avenue. He added that Airport Road was closed off south of the Humane Society for five days and should be open again by the middle of next week. Traffic Sergeant’s Report 8.1.5 Selective Enforcement Report Sergeant Shepley reported that the Mollie Stone accident has been sent to the District Attorney for review and the investigation is ongoing. Sergeant Shepley reported that during the first full month since the red light camera installation, there were 75 citations written with a break even point at 50. Sergeant Shepley also reported that during the last month t here were 700-800 moving violations and 2,700 parking citations issued. The revenue on parking was down but Sergeant Shepley said he could not provide revenue figures by specific parking lots. 8.2 Commissioners’ Comments and Concerns 8.2.1 Miscellaneous Comments and Concerns The Commission had some discussion regarding the level of input TSPC would have on High Speed Rail. Mr. Chou said that City Council was currently working on this matter. 9. COMMUNICATIONS None. 10. COMMISSION & COMMITTEE REPORTS 10.1 Burlingame Bicycle/Pedestrian Advisory Committee Chair Bohnert reported that the committee did not meet this month. 10.2 Downtown Specific Plans (DSP) Commissioner Londer reported that the committee did not meet this month. 10.3 Website/Communications Subcommittee Commissioner McDonnell reported that he visited the websites of 13 cities within San Mateo county. He reported that many cities did not have a Traffic Commission website. Commissioner McDonnell then briefly described what he found on each website pertaining to traffic, safety and parking. Commissioner McDonnell also said Page 6 of 6 that he would follow up with a phone call or email to confirm th e information he reported on at this meeting. 10.4 Neighborhood Parking Working Group Chair Bohnert and Commissioner Noworolski will be serving on this subcommittee. 11. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS 11.1 City Parking Lot Q – Possible lot re-configuration 11.2 Radar Speed Trailer – Future discussions about city procurement and use 12. ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 8:34 p.m.