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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - CC - 1973.03.14416 Burlingame, California March 14, L97 3 CALL TO ORDER A special meeting of the Burlingame order on the above date at 8:I0 p.m. presiding. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Counc i lman Al1eg iance ROLt CALL City Council was called to , Mayor Victor A. Mangini Amstrup, Crosby, Cusick, Mangini, Martin None Crosby, at the Chair's invitation, Ied the Pledge of to the Flag. Pre sent : Absent: Councilnen: Councilmen: HEARING: PARXING STUDY Mayor Manqini announced that this was the time and place selected by the Council to hold a special meeting and to initiate a series of public hearings on the Burlingarne Avenue Area Parking Study prepared by the consultinq firm of De Leuw, cather & Company at the direction of the City CounciI. Vice-ftayor uartin, the Council's representative in all matters dealing with parking in the city will act as Chairman during the course of the hearings. Vice-Mayor Martin referred to the absence of both the City Attorney and the bond counsellor for the Parking District and explained that, pending their arrival, and on the assumption that the pro- ceedj-nqs are legal-, the hearincr will continue. The Chair qave a background report on the Parking Distrj.ct, stating that the first effort to form a district failed in.!953_) as did succeeding efforts, until a drive spearheaded by mernbers of the Chamber of Conuflerce resulted in the successful formation of a Parking District that is, in general, the District that exists today. Petitions were circulated and the committee was able to obtain the required signatures of more than 60t of the oh,ners ofproperties to be assessed with one compromise that assessments would be levied against land on1y, inprovements to be excluded. Later, changes and modifications in the program due to lack of funds eliminated the post office Iot, a walkway and the Lot now owned by Peninsula National Banki because land costs proved to be considerably higher than original estimates, it became neces- sary to make new assessrrents. Again, new assessments were made in 1970 to acgui.re the old city hall 1ot, a r,{alkway and the post office 1ot; the vralkway ylp abandoned but unsold bonds can be used should the post offic6lEecome available. Total cost of the District to the property ol^/ners approximates $1,500,000.00;the city contributed $640,000.00 from the general fund and an additional $83,000.00 plus in 1964 to meet a deficit. The Dis- trict paid $110,000.00 for the city haII site. Chairman l{artin stated that the Council has been made aware that some members of the downtown business community feel there is an inadeguacy in lono-term parking and that corrective measures rnust be taken. In their report, the consultants indicate that short-term parking is probably adequate but long-term deficient by 300 to 400 spaces. The purpose of the hearing is to determine if additional long-term facilities can be provided and by vrhat method. It was the original concept of the Parking District that all off-street parking should be free to conform tb pclicies adopted in neighboring communities; however, the consultants recommend meterj-ng of lots and increased meter fees. In keeping with the Council's decision to hold the hearings in units, each dealinq with a specific issue, the present meeting will concern metered parking. L I 417 Frank Ingersoll, Chairman, Citizens Parking Study Committee, expressed gratification at the decision to proceed with thehearings, commenting that resolution of the parking situationis essential to continued success of the downtown business area. He recommended that all long-term parking be metered for the reasons that the property owners will never realize the parking they are paying for unless the lots are metered, Employees,clients of business establishments and local residents use thelots but do not contribute their fair share. The way to financeadditional parkino is to reguire these people to pay for the space they occupy. In addition to rneterirg, restriping recom- mended by the consultants should be implemented wherever possible and reasonable. Concerning shoppers' parking, Iqr. Ingersoll agreed that theprimary consideration is not to initiate changes that will harmthe merchants; on the surface, it would appear that short-termlots should be metered except where the merchants can prove thiswill have an adverse effect on business. For years property owners have subsidized parking in the downtown area; perhaps the time has come for the merchants to make a financial contribution. I,ii1liam F. Orr, Chairman, Parking Commission, reported that the Commission favors the idea of meters on long-term lots and dis- cussed the practicalities of partial metering on an eight toten-hour basis combined with some rental spaces where parkingstickers miqht be purchased on a monthly basis. Concerning short- term parking, the Commission heard an impassioned plea from a representative of the Avenue merchants that on-street meter feesnot be increased and the two-hour lots continue to provide freeparking, because of competition generated by neighboring shopping areas where aI1 of the parking is free. Douglas Beetlestone, representing Levy Bros., reported that at a recent merchants association meeting the consensus appeared to bethat nothing be done to aggravate customers; the merchants do not want meters on short-term lots, competition is the factor here;additionally, it was felt that the present meter fees should remain unchanged; there are people who enjoy parking for a penny. Ivleters are proper on lonq-term lots and at 5C per hour several hours of parking will be possible at a modest rate. Anotherpoint that was made was the expected improvement in policing ofshort-term lots when the meter-maid program is initiated; this,in turn, should force all-day parkers out of these lots. Councilman Amstrup ouestioned whether a system of metered parking in one part of the city and free parking in another can be success-fu1. Presently, those who park for several hours in a two-hourIot manage to evade citations by moving their cars or erasing chalk marks left by the officer, and the practice undoubtedly will continue. Mr. Beetlestone explained that neither the merchants nor employeeslike the situation but there appears to be no alternative; all- day lots are filled to capacity when employees who start work at 10 : 00 a.m. atternpt to park. Councilman Crosby asked about the former Market Street Railway right of way, acguired by the city in the original Parking Districtfor the sole purpose of all-day employee parking. Mr. Beetlestone stated that employees who have parked there com-plain of drippings from the eucalyptus trees damaging the carsi furthermore, for some it is a three to.four-block walk, depending on where the car is parked and job location. Chairman Martin suggested that one-half or two-thirds of the meters on the Avenue might be increased and the remainder stay atthe present rate to accommodate shoppers wishing to make onequick stop. 418 Irlayor l,langini asked if there had been direct conversation between merchant and customer about hicrher meter fees. IIe stated that the I0 or so shoppers with whom he spoke indicated that going from IC to 5f vrould rnake no difference but they would resent a change from 5C to 10C. The Mayorrs sugqestion of personal dialogue was accepted with interest by l,lr. Beetlestone. Councilman Cusick stated that women on a one-stop, brief errand roi1l object to paying a 5f meter fee. She favored free lots for shoppers and agreed with Councilman Amstrup that where both pay and free lots are available problems will be created by some long-term parkers who, rather than pay for parking, will attempt to use the free lots. Mr. fngersoll suggested that decked lots at each end of the down- town area could be restricted to permit parking allocated to business establishments. For example, every business with two or three employees would be required to pay for one staIl, PaY- ment predicated on eonstruction cost. This would help with policino of employee parking, provide a method of financing additional parkinq, and guarantee parking to those who pay for it. At the Chair's request, Mr. Ingersoll agreed to attempt to work out a formula as to number of stalls per business establishment. Ecron Torru, in business at 240 Park Road, stated that all of the lots should be two-hour and that curb parking in residential areas adjacent to the business district should be chanqed from restricted to unlimited. Lawrence H. Putman, President, Chamber of CommerC€r stated that the merchants' position that meters not be changed is supported by the Broadway Merchants and Plaza Merchants Associations. The Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors decided to support the concept of free parking on two-hour lots and recommends 9 to I0-hour rneters, eguipped to accept 25C for five hours or tvro coins for 10 hoursr on long-term lots. Bruce Kirkbride, property owner in the District, relayed a mes- sage from one of the rnerchants who has one private parking space at his disposal, and whose employees park in the two-hour 1ot adjacent to the post office , objecting to a $4.00 fine for over- time parking on ttro-hour 1ots. Personally, FIr. Kirkbride endorsed a program of metering long-term lots and restriping as recommended by the consultants to gain additional parking; furthermore, if sufficient revenue can be gained by metering, the prooram should be extended to short-term lots. Iie guestioned the loqic of raising on-street meter fees, unless by so doing revenue will increase noticeably. As a property owner, he objected to further bond issues to finance improvements, explain- ing that parking assessments represent approximately 338 of real estate tax biIls. Chairman l,lartin acknowledged the presence of the City Attorney and Kenneth I. Jones, bond counsellor for the Parking District. The latter, respondinq to the Chair, advised that the Council may sit as either the City Council or the Parking Authority in matters relating to parkincr and he gathered from the notice of the present proceedings that they were to be conducted by the City Councj-l; when the topic for discussion and resolution is financing of new improvements, the Council can then convene as the Parking Authority. John Chiapolone, representing Burlingame Garden Center, Chapin Avenue, favored five-hour meters on long-term lots, objected to raeters on two-hour lots and to raising meter fees. Ue requested that facilities be provided away from the center of the business district for employee parkino. --r -119 Lawrence P1agmann, owner of Burlingame Drug, Burlingame Avenue, stated his employees have no objection to paying for parking; their primary concern is availability of parking. Presently, they arrive at the lots 30 to 45 minutes before they are due at h'ork to assure a space in one of the lonq-term lots south of Hot ard Avenue. He suggested it is management's responsibiJ-ity to inform employees where they can park 1ega1ly. He favored metering of lonq-term lots, maintaining existing meter fees on Burlingame Avenue and free tvro-hour lots. Robert Simpson, owner of Simpsonts Mens Shop, Burl-inqame Avenue, reported he personally contacted 13 business establishments; all concurred that revenue should come from long-term lots and that charging for parking on two-hour lots and increasing street parking fees, rather than producing any qreat increase in revenue, will aggravate customers and drive them away. PauI Constantino, member of the Parking Connission, recornmended a sticker system for long-term parking at a monthly fee of S10.00. He considered 5C a reasonable street-meter fee and suggested that an effort be made to create a cooperative long-term parking area with Southern Pacific Company. Councilman Amstrup asked for the merchants' reaction to a the railroad property, assuming an arrangement can be rnade Southern Pacific, with perhaps bus service between the lot dbwntown. lot on with and SUIqI,IARY From comments during the discussion, Chairman Martin stated the consensus appears to be (1) no meters on two-hour (shopper) lots;(2) neters on long-term Lots, suqgested fee of 50C for 10 hours appears reasonable; (3) no increase in on-street parkinq rates, retain 1C meters. The next meeting was scheduled for April 9 to discuss the con- sultant's recommendations for increasing long-term spaces. The City uanager was reguested to arranqe for a projector so that the consultantrs proposals can be shown, and also to inform the City Engineer that he or his representative should be present. Chairman Martin mentioned that some business fj-rrns on the peritneter indicate they are in need of two-hour parking. He asked the Chamber of Commerce and Merchants Association to investigate. ADJOURNMENT The neeting adjourned at April 9, 1973, at 8:00 p 9:55 p.m., to reconvene on l4onday, m., in the Council chambers. Respectfully submitted, APP D Victor A i,1 1nl-,llayor Ilerbert 9rh 1 te, c I ty C1erk Mr. Beetlestone reported that parking is a maj.n topic of conversa- tion among employees with whom he has contact. They would welcome the newd,o f available a1l-day parkinq. The City Manager was reguested to obtain cost estimates of metering long-term space s- -approx imate costs of meters, installation and other charges that miqht be involved.