Loading...
sr-110811-11aCity Council Meeting: November 8, 2011 Agenda Item: 11A To: Mayor and City Council From: David Martin, Director of Planning and Community Development Subject: Creation of Preferential Parking Zone CC Recommended Action Staff recommends that the City Council: 1. Establish Zone CC on the following four blocks: ® Ashland Avenue, Oak and Hill Streets between 23`d and 25th Streets, and Pier Avenue between 23`d and Clover Streets. The regulations will be: Two -hour parking from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, except by permit. 2. Approve the attached Resolution establishing Preferential Parking Zone CC and amending Resolution 9344 CCS (Resolution of the City Council of the City of Santa Monica Re- Establishing Various Preferential Parking Zones) by replacing Exhibit A. Executive Summary Residents of the neighborhood to the west of Clover Park have petitioned to establish a preferential parking zone because unregulated non - resident parking is impacting their ability to find parking near their homes. Residents of several blocks in the proposed Zone CC are unable to find parking near their homes because spaces are occupied by students and employees of businesses on Ocean Park Boulevard who park on the residential streets. As required by the Municipal Code, staff pursued alternative measures to improve parking in the neighborhood, but a subsequent survey indicated that many residents still support preferential parking regulations. Staff recommends the establishment of Zone CC to reduce the impact of non - resident parking in this neighborhood. Should Council approve the recommended action, it is estimated that new permit sales would generate approximately $1,500 annually, which would offset the cost to the City of issuing permits to residents. Additionally, new signage would be required at a cost of approximately $2,500. 1 Background Preferential parking is a tool the City uses to manage non - resident parking on residential streets, as authorized by Santa Monica Municipal Code Chapter 3.08 and the California Vehicle Code. Preferential parking regulations are designed to help residents find parking near their home. Only residents who live on a block with preferential parking restrictions are eligible to purchase a permit. Residents may petition to initiate a preferential parking zone at any time. Upon receipt of a petition representing two- thirds of the residential units on a block, a parking occupancy study of the neighborhood is conducted and a community meeting is held. Alternative solutions to address the parking concerns are identified and implemented. If these measures do not prove effective, staff, typically recommends creation or modification of a preferential parking zone, including consideration of pre- approving regulations for a larger neighborhood to streamline and expedite the process for adjacent blocks should some displacement occur. Ultimately, the Council considers the request and can approve creating or modifying the preferential parking zone. Changes to established regulations are achieved by the same process. Discussion Zone CC is proposed for the following four blocks immediately to the west of Clover Park: Oak and Hill Streets and Ashland Avenue between 23`d and 25th Streets, and Pier Avenue between 23`d and Clover Streets (Figure 1). Oak Street is zoned R2 (Low Density Multiple Residential), while the remaining blocks are zoned R1 (Single Family Residential). Zone CC is adjacent to Zone L, Zone Y, and Zone DD. In September 2008, 76% of the households on the 2300 -2400 block of Ashland Avenue between 23rd and 25th Streets petitioned for preferential parking restrictions. As a result of the petition, a parking occupancy study was conducted of the blocks bounded by Ocean Park Boulevard, 25th Street, Pier Avenue and 23`d Street. The study recorded the 2 parking occupancy every hour between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. on a typical weekday and Saturday in February and March 2009. Peak on- street parking occupancies on most blocks in the neighborhood were between 85 and 100 percent, with the exception of 46 to 63 percent observations on Hill Street and Pier Avenue. Goal T22.1 of the Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE) instructs staff to "manage on- street parking in residential neighborhoods so that on average, 15 percent of the spaces are available to residents at all times of day" (p. 4.0 -71). Occupancies higher than 85 percent can make it difficult for residents to find parking near their homes. A map of the peak parking occupancies is included as Attachment B. Full study results are included as Attachment C. Figure 1 Twenty five people attended a community meeting held April 21, 2010. Those in attendance expressed split opinions, with some in favor of preferential parking and others opposed. Students of both Santa Monica College and The Art Institute of 3 California -Los Angeles located at the Santa Monica Business Park as well as employees of Ocean Park Boulevard businesses were identified as frequent users of the residential parking. Clover Park patrons were identified to a lesser extent as well. Complete comments are included as Attachment D. As required by the Municipal Code, staff pursued alternative measures to improve parking in the neighborhood which included: • Adding 35 additional on- street parking spaces by implementing angled parking on the 2300 -2400 block of Oak Street with the support of 58 percent of the residents on that street. • Prohibiting overnight parking on Clover Street to reduce long -term vehicle storage. • Meeting with businesses and commercial property owners of the Ocean Park Boulevard corridor to discuss the feasibility of informal shared parking arrangements and adjustments to parking meter regulations. • Meeting with the Santa Monica Sports Advisory Council which is made up of the various leagues that use public parks to encourage them to reduce parking in residential neighborhoods. Language to this end was also included in the Park Playing Fields and Rules document that is signed by all sports leagues. • Working with the Art Institute to develop a transportation demand management (TDM) plan. After working on these items, staff surveyed residents about the parking situation in June 2011. One third of the households on Ashland Avenue replied to the survey and of this group, 71 percent are in favor of preferential parking regulations, while 14 percent are opposed and another 14 percent are unsure. To provide relief for the residents of Ashland Avenue, staff recommends regulations similar to those recently approved for Zone Y, which is immediately west of 23rd Street: Two -hour parking from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, except by permit. These regulations will prevent students and employees from parking adjacent to residents all day long, without negatively affecting access to Clover Park. Adjacent streets are recommended to be included in the Zone should they choose to petition for preferential parking at a later date. Staff surveyed residents on these adjacent blocks and there was a 9 percent response rate. Of these, 37 percent are in favor, 46 percent are opposed and 13 percent are unsure. Inclusion in the zone will not establish preferential parking restrictions on these blocks at 11 this time; however it simplifies establishing restrictions if residents request them at a later time. Twenty -fifth and Clover Streets are not included in the Zone to maintain some longer -term parking adjacent to the park for non - residents. Alternatives The Council could maintain the existing conditions or adopt different hours and types of restrictions than recommended. Additionally, Council could direct staff to further explore citywide implementation of Land Use and Circulation Element (LUCE) policy T22.2: "Expand management options for residential parking permit districts in order to increase parking availability for residents" (LUCE page 4.0 -71). Options include: Limiting the number of residential permits issued, so that permits are "more than just a 'hunting license "' (p. 4.0 -68). Currently, residents are issued one permit for every vehicle they own and up to two visitor permits per household. In many neighborhoods, this results in an imbalance between the number of permits issued and the amount of on- street parking spaces. One way to achieve this would be to have an escalating fee schedule, where second or third permits cost more than the first permit. • Excluding new residential projects from participation in preferential parking to various degrees (p. 4.0 -69). • Incentivizing residents to use garages for parking rather than storage (p. 4.0 -69) or preventing residents with available off - street parking from purchasing permits. Environmental Analysis The proposed project has been determined to be categorically exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), pursuant to Article 19, Section 15301 (c) which defines Class 1 exempt projects in the following way: "Class 1 consists of the operation, repair, maintenance, permitting, leasing, licensing, or minor alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment, or topographical features, involving negligible or no expansion of use beyond that existing 5 at the time of the lead agency's determination." This exemption includes: "Existing highways and streets, sidewalks, gutters, bicycle and pedestrian trails, and similar facilities." Preferential parking zones involve only the issuance of permits for the use of an existing public street and include negligible or no expansion of this existing use. Next Steps Should Council approve the creation of Zone CC, staff will implement preferential parking on the 2300 -2400 block of Ashland Avenue, which is the only block in this Zone to have submitted a qualifying petition. No changes will be made to the other blocks of Zone CC unless the residents of those blocks submit a qualifying petition representing two- thirds of the households. Financial Impacts & Budget Actions Approximately 100 new permits are anticipated to be requested and sold following Council approval of Zone CC, with further permits sold as additional blocks petition. This would generate $1,500 in account 01225.400290 for permits sold in this zone, however currently the Preferential Parking program is not full cost recovery; each $15 permit costs the City $18.77 to issue. New signage would need to be ordered and installed at a cost of approximately $2,500. Funds are available in account 01486.544010. Prepared by: Jason Kligier, Transportation Planning Associate roved: Forwarded to Council: Vivid Martin, Oirector Rod Gould Planning and Community Development City Manager Department N Attachments: A. Resolution Establishing Preferential Parking, with Exhibit A — Preferential Parking Zones B. Peak parking occupancy maps (2) C. Parking occupancy study results D. Community meeting comments ID Attachment B (1 of 2) Weekday Peak Parking Occupancy C,tyof Santa Monica Y � xmo.aau ,u Y tSA 100% . 12-2p;4-Sp L L ++ t, 9 -11a, ,.5qgit4�i�4���r�"��is pie iia 12p, 6-7p '� A1lit s(�Li� P � � 4 F j} i �llwS 'k�tit 4yl oc 2-4p; S 6p a 100% w 10 -11a; 4-5p; 7 -8p 50% a� �O % t L 11a -Sp, ; 46/0 6-8p , A 7 8p a C. ion Q a� 100 11a 12p, 6-8p '� 6-8p 56% Ge 12 ip, 2 4p °® 4 11a 1p, 4-.5p 49% Legend Pre- approved %, 8- 9a,11a 12p, 4-Sp,- 6-7p Implemented fh e p Petitioning Block. Attachment B (2 of 2) Weekend Peak Parking Occupancy City or Santa Monicas �G i4t 1011a a 2-3p 98% c(., f iLL i �t5 vktf 1011a 85%�4a s 8-9a; 79% 8 9a 95% " _ 9a -12p 100% 53% " n 1011a ` 1011a p ions V 89% ®� 100 % _ 67% 10-11a 10-11a 10 -11a, 12-1p 100% ' Legend 1 3p ; ` 63% 12-1p; 7-8p Pre- approved Implemented Petitioning Block ATTACHMENT C Peak Parking Occupancy Block I Weekday I Saturday Ocean Park -23rd to 25th 97 1 11Am, 6Pm 98 10AM OCean PaiIS -.�Sth t0 28th 100: 12PM, "4pM _ S6 �{7AM ,- Oak -23rd to 25th 84 2 -4Pm, 5Pm 79 8AM Hill 23rd to 2�th 46 = 7PM 53 = 1OAM Ashland — 23rd to 25th 61 6 -8Pm 67 10AM P12r� ^"23rd i0 CIOUer 49 - SAM 11Atvt, 4PM, 6PM 63 '� 12PM ZPM 23rd —Ocean Park to Oak 50 11Am -5Pm,6 -8Pm 100 10AM 23r6 Oak tovOili 10Q -;1AM, 6 $PM 100:: 14AM — 23rd — Hill to Ashland 91 11AM -1Pm, 4Pm 100 1 -3Pm 25th_ Ocean Park to Oa(c, 95. v§ 11am 1rM, 4PM = 90 2PM 25th —Oak to Hill 85 5Pm 85 8AM,12PM 25tH' Oill i0 A$hllnd - �� 10 0 = 1OAM,'PM, FPM. .: 95 = 9AM 12VM Clover- Ashland to Pier 56 12Pm, 2 -4PM 89 10AM, 12PM Attachment D Preferential Parking Community Meeting April 21, 2010 • Business Park parking is available on nights /weekends • Ashland's problem • SMC students • Business park employees • Art /cooking school • OPB employees and clients (casting offices) • Park patrons • Evening practices • Weekend games • Oak Street residents are forced to park on Ashland and adjacent blocks • Street cleaning makes parking hard • Parkers litter neighborhood streets • Parking makes it difficult to have a party or have friends over • Group was split on whether PP will help • Make better use of biz park parking • Directional signage • Better walkways to park from Biz park parking lot • Education for park users about biz park parking • Parking should be free • Talk to biz park businesses to have them better use their own parking • Culinary school students • Casting offices (took over the attorney /court offices) • Oak Street residents have more cars because it is a multi - family street • Oak Street has a lot of outside parkers • Some units have less off street parking than they need • Parking situation affects daily life o Errand running is hard • Angle parking on north side of Oak Street • Permit holders (sports leagues) o Speak to them about using the park parking as opposed to City streets • Can we do a 6 month trial to see if PP works? • Park is a great neighborhood amenity and we should not restrict access • Park users are not the problem on Oak, it's the others • Hill Street and Ashland Ave always have parking • Residents have driveways /garages, they should use them • Sports on south side of park affect Ashland as it is the closest street • The data might not have been collected during a sports event • Where do people park during SM Fest when these streets are restricted? • Casting agency directs people to Oak Street • 28th Street meter regulations might be better if they were changed • Maps and education to leagues /permit holders • Four hour restrictions would allow people to have enough time in the park • Group is split on implementing SMC- style regulations on Ashland • What is park parking lot occupancy? • Why is there so much red curb on Clover Street? o Commercial vehicles and campers park on Clover for long periods • City should mail out temporary one day permits to residents every month • Casting agency at 2701 OPB has lots of parking in building Reference Resolution No. 10631 (CCS)