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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - CC - 1973.09.25CATL TO ORDER Burlingame, California September 25, L97 3 ALL MEMBERS PRESENT The sixth meeting in a series of special study meetings called by the City Council for the purpose of discussing the Burlingame Avenue Area Offstreet Parking District was convened on the above date at 9:00 p.n., by Mayor R.D. Martin. The Mayor apologized for the delay in starting the meeting, explaining that the Council wasin Executive Session on matters relating to commission appointments. Mayor Martin stated that, as the result of discussions at prior meetj.ngs, the decision was made to experiment with "pay" parking on two of on Lot sys tem ind icatto pay rai sesits rep Mr. Frank Ingersoll, Chairman, Citizens Parking Conmittee, reported from personal observation of Lot F, where he has been parking since the ticket dispensers rdere installed, that occupancy aPpears to beincreasing. with reference to Lot A, he stated that a study $ras made prior to metering and after, and it was determined that 32 people who used the lot frequently stopped after the meters wereinstalled. Of these, 10 were from San Mateo, 7, Burlingame, 2, san Bruno, 2, san Francisco, and the remainder from a varietv ofoutlying areas. This indicated that a number of transient PEople are working here; either they are no longer driving to work or areparking in other areas. He conmented that the parking lot adjacentto the Southern Pacific right of vray appears to be used more now than six months ago. Persons with whom he discussed this lot feelit should be developed and made available but some protecflon will be needed to prevent damage to the automobiles from tree drC.ppings. He pointed out that Bank of America will start construction soon on its property at El Camino ReaI and chapin Avenue, forcing the 50 to 75 drivers rrho park there norr to seek other spaces. Further- more, hearsay indicates that many empJ,oyers and employees in the downtown area continue to use the tldo-hour customer lots. He stated there appears to be less aggravation and discussion about theparking charge, which indicates, perhaps, public acceptance. He recommended that the program be continued a little longer and a survey made to determine if occupancy is increasing. Mayor Martin asked if fee parking should be extended to all long- term lots. Mr. Ingersoll felt it might be fairer to everyone if thi.s were done. He recornmended reducing the all-day fee to 25Q, for the reason that some clerical workers and secretaries on fixed incomes cannot afford $10.00 a month for parking. Other Persons recommend parking permits that could be purchased on a monthly rate, thereby eliminating the need for carrying a 'aupply of 25C coins foreither the meters or ticket machines. In response to Councilman Crosby, Mr. Ingersoll stated he, personally, did not object to the 50C fee but felt it his responsibility torelay suggestions and comments he receives as chairman of thecitizens study group. Councilman Crosby conmented that women employees have been observed leaving their places of employment to feed onrstreet meters. Councilman Mangini, commenting on the two experimentaL lots not being used to capacity, stated he received numerous comPlaints vrhen the meters were installed. Hor.rever, to his knowledge, there has not been the perimeter lots in the downtown areai meters were installed A and ticket dispensing machines on Lot F. Since the pay went into effect, neither lot has been used to capacity,ing that the people who formerly used these lots are unwillingfor parking and are finding free spaces elsewhere. Thisthe issue of whether De Leuw, Cather & Company was correct inort that there is a deficiency in long-term spaces. ,5 B'fr oe- B a noticeable increase in the number of comPlaints. Because space along the Southern Pacific property is being used to caPacity, while the two pay lots are not, leads to the question of whetheror not additional parking is needed in the downtown area. Mr. Ingersoll, responding to Councilman Mangini, expressed the opinion that only time will provide the answer, and reconmendedthat the fee system be tried for at least six months. l,rr. !{illian F. orr, chairman, Parking Commission, state Commission's position that the Council attemPt to obtai their jobs. Reference was made to a report prepared by Police sergeant o'Brien on L,ots A and F during a 25-day period between August 9 to September 7, L973. Lot A showed 67 l0-hour meters used to 72* of capacity, 15 2-hour meters, 18* of capacity, and Lot F 71 spaces used to 28t of capacity. Councilman cusick pointed out there is a disadvantage to part-time employees using Lot F. If they arrive late in the morning and stly on for part of the afternoon, they are assessed the fuI1 daily rate of 50C. Douglas Beetlestone of Levy Bros., reported there are employees arriving at 1l:00 a.m., and leavinq at 4:00 p.m. He concurred with Councilman Cusick that this discourages some employees from usingtot F. on Lot A, the meters will accept 25C for five hours. He suggested ticket dispensers on F that would se11 five hours of parking for 25C. In response to Councilman Amstrup, Mr. Beetlestone stated that the lot behind Levy Bros. is alway crottded and he was convinced people were park5.ng there i1IegalIy and moving the cars from one space to another to avoid citations. Councilman Amstrup stated that, hope- fulIy, with an expanded meter maid force and better enforcement,violators can be forced out of the two-hour lots. Lawrence Plagmann, owner of Burlingame Drug company, 1309 Burlingame Avenue, reported his employees do not use the fee 1ots, they eLected to park at the lo-hour meters on Iloward Avenue because they consider 50C a day too costly. They indicated willingness to park in the lots providing the daily rate is reduced to 25f. Mr. PIag- mann recorunended lowering the rate to 25C, better surveillanceof the shopper lots and a concentrated effort to convince the merchants that their employees should be discouraged from using short-term spaces. He felt there could be problems with a sticker system, bbcause; there would be no riray of assuring that sPace would be available to every holder of a sticker. Councilman J\mstrup asked about part-time emPloyees. Mr. Plagrmann reported part of his staff arrj.ves at 9:00 a.m., others at 10:00 a.m. Mr. Beetlestone reported ten employees arrive at 11:00 a.m. Lardrence Putman, Chamber of conmerce President, stated there has been no discussion nor consideration to additional short-term parking to benefit the merchants. In the two-hour lots, the same cars have been observed day after day and questions have been raised about adequacy of parking enforce:nent. Theodore B1umberg, developer and owner of commercial proPerties in the downtown area, spoke at length on the advantages of the d it is then right of use of the southern Pacif j.c company property and make it a habitable place for automobiles by installation of some form of cover, which would be considerably less costly than any Permanentstructure. He referred to the Cityrs plan to introduce a 1oca1transit system and suggested that use of the parking Btrip next to Southern Pacific tracks rrould probably be more attractive to the public if a bus were available to offer transPortation to and from s8-c John Cockcroft stated that he can foresee problems in the sale of parking stickers. what rrill be the criteria'for determining who is eligible to purchase a sticker and will there be a limit on the quantity issued to a purchaser. Because the ticket machines have not proved successful, perhaps the anslrer is meters where a person can purchase the parking that he needs. He sup- ported metering all of the 16-hour lots at the same rate existing on Lot A. He reported that Lot G at the rear of his Propertyis nearly fiUed at 8:00 a.m. with women employees who sit in their cars until time to leave for their jobs. He stated that,until it has been established that there is an actual surplus ofparking, he will oppose the sale of monthly tickets at a reducedor full rate to a privileged few. Mayor Martin stated he is not convinced there is a shortage of long- term spaces. cars that r.rere parked in Lots A and F are occullying spaces at other places and an effort must be made to determine where. with respect to reduction of fees, he recommended that the al1-day fee be reduced to 25+ on a trial basis, that one of the ticket dispensers be moved from Lot F to Lot G and that the Police Depart- ment observe the cars in G prior to and after installation of thedispenser. Sale of parking stickers will be held in abeyance, pending results of the experiment on Lots A,F, and G. Mr. cockcroft reported aa attenPt.'Bas made without success to have vlest Coast Savings and Loan open its parking lot to the public duri.ng the holidays. Mayor Martin comnented that on Friday evenings traffic Fargo Bank drive-in window blocks the a11ey that exits from the Safe$ray lot. He asked the City llanager to speofficials. to to ak the wells Primroseto bank councj.lman Amstrup referred to three truck loading zones on Lorton between Burlingame and Bellevue Avenues and suEgdsted, if they are not used for the purpose, they be converted to metered parking sPaces. parking sticker sold at a flat rate of $5.00 per month, thereby assuring a parking space to everyone purchasing a sticker. vlhen the t,ime comes that alt 71 spaces on Lot F have been rented, the decision can be made on expanding the system to an additional lot . Mayor Martin commented that if a sticker system vrere adopted, someprovision would be necessary to acconmodate those desiring to parkfor longer than two hours but less than the full day. Mr. Blum- berg stated that perhaps some of the meters on Lot A could be relocated to Lot F and a certain number of spaces on F metered,the remainder rented on the monthly basis. Councilman Amstrup commented it could be annoying to drive into one of the lots and discover that an empty space was not open topublic use because someone had paid a monthly fee and the space was reserved for that individualrs personal use. Mr. Ingersoll approved of the stickers but not the idea that a sticker entitled an individual to a specific parking sPace. He stated that when it develops there is a greater demand forstickers than spaces available, the council can then exPand the system to one or more=lots. Furthermore, an employer purchasing stickers for his employeeE would assure their not using the shopper lots. Councilman Mangj.ni corunented hb'woutd prefer cards that could be used by all members of a family, as opposed to stickers fixed to one car . SB. D William Hauser, Executive vice President, Chamber of Commerce,reported he conferred recently with wells Fargo Bank about their chained lot and was informecl this is not a local policy but was adopted regionally by the bank on the advice of counsel , becauseof the tiability factor. The City Attorney was requested to prepare legislation for con-sideration at the next regular meeting reducing the cost of parking on Lot F to 25+ per day and fixing the same conditions for parking on Lot G. The meeting was regularly adjourned at 10:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, He ert K te, c yc er APPROVED: ADJOURNMENT