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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 1991it Members Present: Members Absent: Staff Present: Daft - Not Aoorgved MINUTES MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING HEEDS Meeting of January 8, 1991 Alderman Rudy, Alex Sproul, and Gerald Murphy Alderman Rainey, David Reynolds, Mark Rivette, Joan Sable and Bill Demes Barber, Jennings, Nilsson The meeting was called to order at 6:10 P.M. by Chairman Rudy. Hinutes of the Meeting of November 13. 1990 - The minutes were reviewed by the Committee and approved as submitted. Update of the Downtown Par}in4 Plan David Jennings distributed a copy of the 1989 proposal submitted by Barton Aschman Associates, Inc. to update the 1985 Central Business District Parking Study. The proposal prepared in 1989 also included costs for studying other areas of the city. In 1989 the Committee did not recommend proceeding with the additional areas outside of the Central Business District. The Committee was reminded that they did go to City Council and ask for inclusion in the 1990-91 Budget of approximately $30,000 to cover the update and Council did not include that request in the 1990-91 Budget. The reasoning at that time was to wait and see what the impact on the Parking System would be of the new parking facility at Church Street and Chicago Avenue. The Committee was advised that there is currently no funding level proposed in the F'Y1991-92 Budget and that the proposed funding, if included, would be in the Parking Fund and not the General Fund. Gerald Murphy noted that EVMARK has done some survey work in the downtown area and this work could possibly be included in this update to help reduce costs of the overall project. Chairman Rudy noted that this study is needed so that the Committee can complete the original goals established by the Mayor in setting up the Special Committee and that the current study which was done 1n 1985 is outdated. He noted that the use in the parking garages has now stabilized and the time to do the study is now acceptable. It was noted that the Sherman Avenue parking structure has 695 parking spaces and that the Church Street Self Park includes 600 public spaces. The Committee was advised that there are approximately 200 private spaces for use by the residents in the Church Street Self Park facility in addition to the 600 public spaces but that some residents with more than one car do use the public spaces in the facility. The Committee Chairman noted that since the funding of this project is in the Parking Fund the problem in getting this project approved by Council will be dealing with the perception of the need for this study at this time rather than the overall impact of this funding request. Committee member Sproul noted that if the Committee is going to accomplish its goals the update will be needed and recommended that the study be included in the budget for 1991-92 and the request be submitted to Council for their consideration. Chairman Rudy asked that the Committee consider adding the Central Street Business District to the study at this time. David Jennings responded that the City staff will be doing an in-house analysis on the three areas near the major commuter stations in the city and this work is included as one of their objectives for 1991-92. Gerald Murphy asked about adding parking on the west side of Prairie in the Central Street Business District. David Jennings advised In MINUTES OF THE MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTE€ ON PARKING NEEDS Meeting of January 8, 1991..............Page Two that this was not approved as the neighborhood was opposed to adding this additional parking. This has been discussed two times in the recent past and was denied as early as last year. The Committee recommended that City Council consider adding $30,000 in the 1991-92 Budget in the Parking Fund to complete an update of the CBD parking study and directed staff to discuss with Barton Aschman ways to reduce the cost of the proposal by utilizing work completed to date in-house and by EVMARK. The proposal should be submitted to City Council at their meeting of January 28, 1991 for consideration to include this additional funding level in the proposed budget. Alex Sproul indicated an interest in increasing the scope of the study to deal with mass transportation to determine the impact of encouraging commuter use rather than driving into the downtown area. He asked that the study include some discussion on Incentives to encourage people to use public transportation. Chairman Rudy noted that the local bus schedule information is important and that the bus scheduling and operation may be more economical if smaller buses were used. David Jennings noted that bus sizes are determined on peak load and even though buses may appear empty on certain portions of the route they are full on other portions of the route and the bus companies are unwilling to change the size of their buses. Part of the study should include a survey and the survey should ask businesses about their hours of operation and incentives they have in place For encouraging carpooling or other ways to encourage people not to drive their own vehicles to the downtown area. It was moved by Alex Sproul to place this item on the Council agenda and was approved by a vote of 2-0 with Gerald Murphy abstaining from the vote. Discussjon of MethodjAo Encourage Usage of Public Transportation This discussion was included in the previous item considered by the Committee for updating the downtown parking plan. Discussion of Parkina Program in the Main/Chicago Distrjct This proposal was brought to the Committee by Alex Sproul for adding more daytime parking permits in the four lots surrounding the Main/Chicago Business District. Currently, the lots permit 25 spaces to be used for daytime parking and these permits are almost sold in the lots around this business area. Alex Sproul requested raising the allowed permit level to 50 in the lots east of Chicago Avenue and 35 on the west side of Chicago Avenue, David Jennings responded that their survey concurs with the results of Mr. Sproul's survey and that the raising of the permit level in these lots for daytime parking would not create a problem. He did advise the Committee that a local car dealer in the neighborhood has requested a significant number of spaces and is currently first on the list waiting for additional spaces. He also advised that, even though the dealer buys these additional spaces, his employees may still choose to park on the streets surrounding the business as those areas are closer than the parking lots currently being considered. The Committee voted to take the request to the Administration and Public Works Committee on January 28, 1991 to raise the allowed number of permits as indicated previously by the Committee. The Committee then asked if staff could look into this same concept of utilizing daytime spaces in other lots around the city, such as Lot #4 in the Central Street/Stewart Avenue area and also Lot #27 in the Oak Street/Post Office area. Staff advised that they will look at other areas throughout the city to determine where this joint use concept could be implemented. MINUTES OF THE MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS Meeting of January 8, 1991..............Page Three Meeting Schedule for 1921 Due to conflicts in schedules, the meetings for February and March have been moved from the second Tuesday of each month to the second Wednesday of each month. The meeting in February will be held on February 13, 1991 and the March meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 13, 1991. The remaining portion of the schedule submitted for consideration was accepted. Staff Report on Parkinq Enforcement $cjyities David Jennings discussed the report submitted to the Committee, prepared by his office dated January 3, 1991. The Committee continued their discussion from the previous meeting, discussing the need for the additional 5 1/2 Parking Enforcement Officers that were added in 1990. The Committee was reminded of the problems with obtaining the full level of Parking Enforcement Officers during 1990 and the impact this had on the total number of tickets written, especially during the period prior to August of 1990. The Committee was reminded that one of the key features in adding the Parking Enforcement Officers was to increase coverage throughout the city and get into areas such as the residential neighborhoods that were not being covered adequately in the past. The main reason for adding Parking Enforcement Officers was not to produce additional tickets or additional revenue as has been suggested by some people. In response to the question of whether or not all 5.5 PEO's are still needed, the staff report indicates that it is still too early to tell if 5.5 is the adequate level for additional Officers. The Committee discussed the need since apparently the number of tickets being written for overtime parking is declining and may be due to increased compliance. The Committee was reminded that it still takes two passes to write an overtime parking ticket and the time involved is greater for this ticketing activity. Staff noted that a study conducted in a small area in the past indicated that it did not take long after enforcement activity declined for old parking habits to return. Committee members expressed concern, given the numbers in the report, over maintaining the current level of Parking Enforcement Officers and thought that it still may be appropriate to decrease the number of Parking Enforcement Officers in the future. Staff pointed out that a management study is currently in progress and will deal more directly with adequate staffing levels for Parking Enforcement Officers, in addition to other areas of management of the Parking System. The study should be completed in mid 1991 and that may be a more appropriate time to deal with the issue of the number of Parking Enforcement Officers. The Committee decided that this study does need more discussion and the Committee will continue to look into staffing levels and the ticketing activities associated with the Parking Enforcement Officers. The next meeting of the Committee will be held on Wednesday, February 13, 1991 at 6:00 P.H. There being no further business before the Committee. the meeting adjourned at 8:00 P.M. Respectfully submitted, David H. Barber Public Works Director Members Present: Members Absent: Staff Present: Draft - Not Aonroved MINUTES MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS Meeting of February 13, 1991 Alderman Rudy, Alex Sproul, Bill Demes and David Reynolds Alderman Rainey, Gerald Murphy, Mark Rivette and Joan Sabl e Barber, Jennings, D. Washington The meeting was called to order at 6:08 P.M. by Chairman Rudy. Minutes of the Neetinq of January 8. 1991 - Alex Sproul noted on page 2 in the first sentence of the first full paragraph that the emphasis he was Intending in this discussion was that the scope of work should be modified to increase the emphasis placed on dealing with mass transportation. He was not requesting the scope be increased, and subsequently the cost increased, to deal with mass transportation. The first sentence should read, "Alex Sproul indicated an interest in increasing the emphasis within the study to deal with mass transportation to determine the impact of encouraging commuter use rather than driving into the downtown area." With this change, the Committee approved the minutes of the meeting of January 8, 1991. Update of the Downtown Parkinu Plari - David Barber advised the Committee of the response by the Administration and Public Works Committee indicating their desire not to include this request in the Proposed Budget at this time and to request the Mayor's Special Committee on Parking Needs to modify the scope of the study and update the cost proposal before it is resubmitted for Council consideration. It was noted that the ways in which the proposal could be modified would include the use of City forces, EVMARK, and the Chamber of Commerce to reduce the consultant's workload in the scope of the study. Alderman Rudy inquired as to what the Parking Committee members could do to assist with reduction in the cost of the study. David Jennings indicated that the Committee could assist with distribution of the questionnaire, but pointed out that the questionnaire was a minor part of the study in terms of the total cost and that other means would be needed to reduce the consultant's cost in this effort. In response to a question from Alex Sproul, David Jennings indicated the large expense items included the block by block analysis of supply and demand rather than efforts in obtaining the user survey in the project. David Jennings pointed out that it would not be a difficult task to quantify the supply side of the analysis, but the demand side would be a more difficult task and would involve more consultant time. It was also pointed out that the consultant will have to spend some time analyzing "what if" situations such as the full developmAnt of the Research Park and the elimination of the temporary parking available currently in the Research Park area. The proposed parking structure for the Research Park is designed only to accommodate parkers from tenants in the Research Park and does not include space for additional parkers from the downtown area or commuters. Many of those parkers currently using the Research Park area will have to be relocated to MINUTES OF MAYOR'S SPECIAL. COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS February 13, 1991........ Page Two other parking spaces in the downtown area. In response to a question from the Committee, David Jennings responded that previous studies indicated that commuters make up a small percentage of users of the Research Park spaces. The Committee was advised that another way to help reduce overall consultant costs in the study would be the use of part-time personnel hired by the City to assist in gathering data for the study and also conducting some of the block by block supply and demand information in the downtown area. The Committee was advised that the Administration and Public Works Committee also asked that the Committee respond about why the study is necessary. Committee members noted that the information currently being used in the 1985 study is out of date and that long range planning to deal with downtown parking needs must be based on current information. Several changes have taken place in the downtown area since the 1985 study was prepared and these changes need to be included in an updated study. The study also needs to analyze changes associated with Research Park development, the relocation of the Levy Center, development of the Library and development of the Transportation Center. The study also needs to address increased use of public transportation to help alleviate the demand on the Parking System in the downtown area. The study will identify problem areas. The Committee can then work toward solutions to alleviate these problem areas. Staff was directed to prepare a revised letter to the Administration and Public Works Committee outlining the Committee's requests for an updated study and staff was also directed to contact the consultant to determine ways to modify the scope of services to help reduce the costs of the study. farkina Enforcement Activities - 14onthly Resort - Alderman Rudy noted that he has heard comments that the efficiency of Parking Enforcement Officers appears to be going down and asked that the monthly report be modified to include some form of measure of overall parking enforcement activity efficiency. He suggested that the tickets written per hour be added and that this calculation be based on one (or all) of three methods. The first method would be the total number of tickets divided by the total number of hours possible for parking enforcement activity per month. The second method would use the total number of tickets divided by the total hours less the hours spent on other activities such as at school crossings, mail distribution, court time, etc. The third method would include using the number of tickets divided by the total hours less all other activities not associated with ticketing, including removal of management, supervisory and booting time from the total number of hours. Alex Sproul expressed concern over trying to measure productivity by utilizing only the number of tickets written per hour. As compliance with the regulations increases and the number of tickets is reduced, there will still be a certain amount of time necessary to pass through a given route to assure compliance. He suggested it may be more appropriate to monitor performance by route coverage to determine efficiency. Iit response to a question from Alex Sproul, David Jennings indicated that it is very difficult for us to keep accurate records on the number of hours spent on each type of ticket written since a Parking Enforcement Officer may go down a block on his/her second pass for overtime parkers and may be writing tickets for expired meters or other zone violations that he/she may encounter during his second pass. With respect MINUTES OF MAYOR'S SPECIAL. COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS February 13, 1991........ Page Three to time spent on ticketing activities, David Jennings noted that the report previously submitted to the Committee did show.a sample analysis of how time was spent for., various ticketing activities. Staff noted that if we do achieve better compliance and less time is needed on ticketing activity, the duties of the Parking Enforcement Officers could be adjusted in the future to cover areas currently not covered to their full level. Commander Washington pointed out to the Committee that in the past, when there were not a sufficient number of Parking Enforcement Officers, large beat areas were required and were not completely covered. When the new Parking Enforcement Officers were hired, routes were adjusted so that they were more easily completed each day. He suggested against increasing the size of the beats in the future. In summary, the Committee requested that staff reevaluate the monthly report and try to update the report to include some measure of productivity, such as the one previously suggested; that is, tickets written per manhour. The next meeting of the Mayor's Special Committee on Parking Needs will be held on Wednesday, March 13, 1991 at 6:00 P.M. in Room 2404 of the Evanston Civic Center. There being no further business before the Committee, the meeting adjourned at 7:03 P.M. Respectfully submitted, David H. Barber Public Works Director M1IYU'TES MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS Meeting of March 13, 1991 Members Present: Alderman Rudy, Alex Sproul, Joan Sable and Bill Demes Members Absent: Alderman Rainey, David Reynolds, Gerald Murphy, and Mark Rivette Staff Present: Barber, Jennings, Nilsson The meeting was called to order at 6:05 P.M. by Chairman Rudy. Minutes of the Meeting of February 13. 1991 -- The minutes of the meeting of February 13, 1991 were approved by the Committee as submitted. Review of Proposal from Barton Aschman for the Ulf the CBD Parking Study - The revised proposal submitted by Barton Aschman Associates, Inc. dated March 8, 1991 was reviewed by David Jennings. The revised scope indicates that about $1,000 to $1,500 could be saved if the City did some of the work in-house. The revised proposal still indicates that the cost of this update by Barton Aschman would be $28,500 plus $1,300 for the employer survey. Mr. Jennings advised that staff has discussed this proposal in-house and recommends rejection of the Barton Aschman proposal. Mr. Jennings reviewed an option for performing this study in-house using various staff members from different departments. He indicated that Jeanne Lindwall in the Planning Department is currently retained as a consultant and has a significant volume of land use and parking data information that could be utilized. Dennis Marino is an economic development assistant in the City Manager's Office and could provide assistance with obtaining information from the Chamber of Commerce and large employers within the city. Parking System Manager Jean Baucom, Traffic Engineer David Jennings, and Public Works Director David Barber could coordinate the study using in-house knowledge of the parking system. Mr. Jennings indicated that additional technical assistants will be needed to do field work and could be hired for the summer period. Mr. Jennings indicated that for approximately $15,000 in additional costs an updated parking study could be completed for the Central Business District, the Central Street business district, and the Chicago/Main and the Chicago/Dempster business districts. The estimated in-house cost to do just the downtown area would be approximately $10,000. Mr. Jennings reported that the study that would be produced would address the what if scenarios requested by the Committee dealing with construction of the Library, the transportation center and full development of the Research Park. Committee member Sproul asked if this survey would include an origination study for employees working in the downtown area in an attempt to develop plans to encourage the use of public transportation to reduce reliance on the parking system. Mr. Jennings responded in the affirmative. Committee member Sable asked about the aerial photograph included in the Barton Aschman study. Mr. Jennings responded that this aerial photograph only provides a one time occupancy analysis and only includes occupancy of parking that is visible from the air and would not include occupancy of existing parking structures that are covered and located in the business districts. Mr. Jennings felt that sufficient data could be provided using other sources of information, such as spot area surveys and license plate surveys. Chairman Rudy asked if we would be tracking all times on this project to determine what total costs would be incurred by City staff. Mr. Jennings responded that all individuals working on the project could keep track of time spent to determine the total cost. The Committee recommended approval of the proposal submitted by staff to provide this work in-house and requested that the appropriate letters be prepared for City Council consideration for the April 9, 1991 meeting of City Council. MINUTES OF MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS March 13, 1991........Page Two Euking Enf�or g nt Activities-- Monthly Report — A revised graph was distributed by David Jennings (copy attached to the minutes). Lt. Nilsson noted errors on the report. He pointed out that the total open hours should be 80 instead of 40 so that the total hours worked in February of 1,955 should be 1,915 hours, which results in 239 days rather than 244 as shown on the report. Lt. Nilsson noted that the Parking Enforcement Officers (PEO's) are spending approximately 8% of their time on other duties and this figure is generally consistent with records for the last six months. The Committee was advised that the graph as submitted shows a 13 month period and includes the current month and the previous 12 months to provide an analysis of trends. The Committee was advised that the last page has been modified to include the information requested at the Iast meeting showing tickets issued per hour. Two factors are provided: one showing tickets per hour based on total hours and one showing tickets written per hour adjusted to reduce the time spent on supervision. It was noted that this measure of productivity is worthwhile when comparing months of different amounts of time such as December, which includes significant holiday time as compared to February, which does not. While the total number of tickets was far lower in December, the productivity of tickets written per hour was consistent. Committee member Alex Sproul noted that meter overtime tickets were up in February. Lt. Nilsson indicated that this could be due to the weather conditions as weather does impact on the chalking operations. It is difficult to chalk tires during bad weather, so that if December and January happen to be wetter than February, fewer tickets would probably have been written in those months. Committee member Sable asked if the City is receiving a large number of complaints concerning our ticketing operations. Lt. Nilsson responded that very few complaints are being received. Joan Sable asked if overtime tickets are being written at approximately the two hour time limit or if they are being written more in the range of three to four hours for overtime as was requested by the Committee when the additional PEO's were added in 1990. Staff responded that the tickets are issued anywhere from the two hour limit to as much as four hours, and the shorter time period closer to two and one half to three hours does improve the turnover at the meters. Joan Sable indicated she was concerned that some tickets were being written too close to the two hour limit and that the appearance of waiting until the meter turned or the two hour time limit expired was negative and should be avoided. Joan Sable requested the Committee consider extending the time limit to three or four hours rather than the current two hour limit. Alex Sproul noted that various merchants throughout the business districts have customers with varying needs and that the shorter term meters increase turnover. David Jennings pointed out that a small turnover study conducted about two years ago indicated the average stay at a parking meter was approximately one hour and twenty minutes, so the two hour time limit at the parking meters appears adequate for most cases. He indicated there were a significant number of parkers noted in the study that stayed far less than the one hour time limit. He pointed out that increasing the meter time limit to three hours would provide less turnover at the parking meters and would overall reduce the number of available spaces. Joan Sable asked about adding a three hour time limit away from the Central Street area, while still leaving two hour limits on Central Street. Staff noted that the Committee should review the turnover study prior to making any decisions about extending the time limit at parking meters. Alex Sproul indicated he had received several comments on the Parking Enforcement Officers using what appeared to be much more expensive vehicles and asked why the new vehicles which were purchased were not similar to the previous vehicles used in the past. Staff responded that the Cushmans previously used were a rather expensive vehicle, but more importantly, replacement parts were very difficult to obtain and that down time was of great concern by the Police Department and it was agreed that the Cushmans would be eliminated from the fleet as soon as possible. The vehicles that were purchased were in the same price range as other vehicles used in the fleet and were not the more expensive vehicles as many people indicated. They were purchased from a local vendor which was encouraged by City Council. MINUTES OF MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS March 13, 1991........ Page Three In response to the discussion on the time limits for overtime parking and the length of time between chalking of tires and issuing of tickets, staff will review this matter and a report will be submitted for Committee consideration at the next meeting. QMH MATTERS 1. The matter of public transportation was briefly discussed and it was pointed out that this issue would be dealt with in the update of the Central Business District parking study with information to be obtained in the employee questionnaire. 2. Lakefront Parking — The Committee was advised that the additional no parking zone would be added as of April 1, I991 along Sheridan Road north of Clark Street. This no parking zone would bo in effect prior to 10:00 A.M. each weekday and it was hoped this area would provide lakefront parking for people wishing to use the takefront during the day. 3. Alex Sproul noted that he had received a complaint from the Dempster Street merchants about low parking enforcement on Saturdays. Lt. Nilsson responded that there probably was less coverage since there are fewer officers and staff on Saturdays but that he would investigate the matter and respond to Alex Sproul directly on this issue. The next meeting of the Mayor's Special Committee on Parking Needs will be held on Tuesday, April 16, 1991 at 6:00 P.M. in Room 2404 of the Evanston Civic Center. There being no further business before the Committee, the meeting adjourned at 7:20 P.M. Respectfully submitted, David H. Barber Public Works Director Members Present: Members Absent: Staff Present: Others Present: MINUTES MAYOR'S SPECIAL.. COWITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS Meeting of August 13, 1991 Alderman Rainey. Alderman Fiske, Alex Sproul, David Reynolds. and Ruth Smalley Bill Demas, Mark Rivette and Joan Sable Barber, Jacobi. Jennings, Nilsson Chuck Remen The meeting was called to order at 6:08 P.M. by Chairman Rainey. Minutes of the Meeting of June 11. 19,. - After a brief discussion, the minutes of the meeting of June 11, 1991 were approved unanimously. arkina EnfoMement Officer (PEO) __ tivity RZZMt - Lt. Nilsson advised the Committee that the report submitted was for a two month activity period as the meeting in July had been cancelled. Tickets issued were consistent with the last several months. The report indicated 7.9 tickets issued per hour in June and 7.7 tickets per hour in July. Both of these figures are adjusted figures, based on removing the time for supervisory and other duties from the total time spent by PEO's for the month. Committee member Reynolds noted his concern with the continued high number of expired meter tickets being written and asked if complaints are being received by the Police Department. Lt. Nilsson responded indicating that they are not receiving a large number of complaints by persons receiving tickets. Ruth Smalley noted that the Chamber of Commerce has received some complaints but that the number of complaints are very few. David Reynolds noted that if complaints are a measure of acceptance of the enforcement program, the low number of complaints being received could indicate that there does not appear to be a problem with public acceptance of the current level of enforcement. Lt. Nilsson noted that the enforcement levels currently appear to be achieving the goals of the parking enforcement program as more short term spaces in the business districts appear to be available. David Jennings advised the Committee that the Central Business District (CBD) parking study will measure turnover in the parking districts and will help measure the effectiveness of enforcement efforts. He advised the Committee that a preliminary survey of the Dempster Street parking spaces indicates that 97% of the parkers used the meters for two hours or less. The report also indicated that Lot #E60 (Chicago Avenue south of Dempster Street) appears to be underutilized. Parkina Sygem Management Study - Alderman Rainey opened the discussion by indicating that the long awaited Parking System Management Study has been delivered and asked staff to present some comments on the recommendations included in the report. David Jennings began by indicating that the report appeared to be a good study and appears to have studied the City's operations sufficiently. Several of the recommendations appear to be very timely and should improve Parking System operations. The recommendation to MINUTES OF MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS August 13, 1991........ Page Two review the record of scofflaws prior to issuing of parking lot permits seemed to be a way of capturing additional violators and could be implemented in the near future. Mr. Jennings pointed out that some of the recommendations in the report will require a substantial upgrade of the software capabilities of the current computer system in the City's Data Processing Department. The study, which will require a period of time for review and may involve significant dollars, would still be a worthwhile investment as it would increase the City's ability to track violators and increase collection rates. Lt. Nilsson pointed out that several of the recommendations dealing with automation of the boot program should be a priority as the system is primarily a manual system and needs to be improved. In several instances the report pointed out the inefficiency of the current boot program. The report pointed out that the current notification procedure utilizing the green sticker should be eliminated and a mail notice should be implemented immediately. The report also recommended a new parking ticket be devised utilizing boxes for check off which would improve ticket writing performance and data entry. Hand held computers and ticket writers would also assist in increasing performance and possibly help in the booting program as well. Alderman Rainey noted her amazement at how ineffective the current boot program is as indicated in the study. She noted the attitude of some individuals when the booting program was first initiated. She noted that concerns of possible litigation added extra restrictions which have reduced efficiency. She pointed out that the recommendation for booting operations to continue on Friday were positive and should be implemented. In response to a question from Alderman Rainey, Lt. Nilsson indicated that the recommendation to have the Parking Enforcement Officers install the boot rather than contact an outside service was a good idea. The only possible downside indicated by Lt. Nilsson was the potential for injury during the installation of the boot. Lt. Nilsson indicated that the boots could be installed much quicker than currently is occurring. Currently, the Parking Enforcement Officer waits on the scene or near the vehicle until North Shore Towing arrives to install the boot. However, several of the vehicles eligible for boots do leave the scene and the officers cannot stop those vehicles from leaving. He pointed out that the 20% estimate of gone on arrival vehicles is a fairly accurate estimate. In response to a question from Alderman Rainey, Lt. Nilsson indicated that the decrease in the four part-time Parking Enforcement Officers recommended in the study would not have a negative impact on current operations. He indicated that the Department has been operating for some time with two of the PEO positions unfilled and some restructuring of beats will help take over some of the load from the four less part-time Parking Enforcement Officers. Alex Sproul asked if the same PEO should stay on the same beat and Lt. Nilsson indicated in the negative. Lt. Nilsson further responded by indicating that overlapping of responsibilities should be discontinued so that one PEO stays on the same beat but the report does not indicate that the officer should stay on that same beat all of the time. Further redesign of the beats currently in place would be necessary to improve productivity but this should not be a major effort by the Department. MINUTES OF MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS August 13, 1991........ Page Three The report commented on the lack of in -field supervision and recommended one supervisor for each eight Parking Enforcement Officers. Lt. Nilsson noted that the staff is currently operating with one supervisor for 15 Parking Enforcement Officers. To change to the recommended level of one per eight, an additional supervisor would be necessary. An additional clerical person in the Parking Enforcement Bureau may enable the supervisor to be in the field more frequently by relieving that supervisor from the clerical tasks he is currently performing. This should achieve the same results desired by the author of the report. The hand held computers would also help reduce clerical tasks currently being performed which would free the supervisor from office tasks and make more time available for in -field tasks. David Barber advised the Committee that it was staff's intention to develop a recommendation list using the recommendations in the report and preparing a section adjacent to each recommendation on this list indicating targets for implementation. This target implementation list will be prepared and submitted to the Administration and Public Works Committee for consideration at a special meeting to be held at 7:00 P.H. on Monday. August 26, 1991. It is the intent that this list will indicate a reasonable time schedule for dealing with each of the recommendations contained in the report. Alderman Rainey noted that this report has shown that the City should begin looking at increasing collections as a revenue generator and the recommendations in this report should be given a priority. In response to a question from Alex Sproul, David Jennings responded, noting that the parking rates in the city were on the low end of the rates in other cities, but staff at this point in time does not feel that a recommendation to raise fees should be made. There will be a point some time in the near future when increasing the parking rates in the downtown and other business district areas will be necessary and the rates may go up to the 40f to 500 per hour range. David Jennings also noted the report indicated that the short term and long term parking fees are essentially the same and there is no incentive to move from short term spaces to long term spaces based on the fee structure. It was pointed out in the report and emphasized again by David Jennings that the City's level of enforcement is accomplishing the goal of moving parkers into long term spaces and freeing up short term parking spaces in the business districts. Staff also pointed out that the recommendation to keep lower floors of the Parking Garages available for short term parkers would not be brought forward. This was tried in the Sherman Avenue Garage for quite some time and was not successful. Alderman Rainey noted the recommendation to give the second hour free for parkers in the parking garages was a novel idea and should be considered. She advised that the City is currently giving the first hour free to parkers in the garages and charging for the second hour. The report indicated that by providing the second hour free it would promote more use of the parking structures for the slightly longer term parker. David Jennings noted that giving first hour free for parking is not uncommon and currently over 3,000 customers per month are using this one hour free parking. The system change could be accommodated in the register system currently in place at the garages and if this is a recommendation to be followed it could be implemented without great difficulty. In response to a question from Alex MINUTES OF MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS August 13. 1991........ Page Four Sproul, David Jennings indicated that the recommendation for charging for residential exempt parking permits should be implemented. Mr. Jennings indicated that staff is currently conducting a study of all of the residential parking district systems to determine overall costs of the program and the report to be given back to the Administration and Public Works Committee will include the study currently underway by staff. The recommendation that staff will provide may also include increasing the visitor permit. David Jennings pointed out that the security recommendations included in the document were for the most part good recommendations but felt that the discussion of coins found outside of the can was a bit lengthy and it appeared that the authors' concern of this issue was too great. Mr. Jennings pointed out that the City is provided with weekly bank reports of deposits and canisters are dropped off on a daily basis and a receipt is received for each canister delivered to the bank. Staff is already conducting a tracking of revenue by zone and we are currently doing a better job than we were two years ago but we could still be performing a better monitoring program of the Parking System. The report recommendation to reduce one Collector/Repairman will probably be implemented in the budget recommendation which will be submitted to City Council for FY1992-93. David Jennings also advised the Committee that the keying system used is currently a fairly secure system and all keys are currently logged in and logged out. Alderman Rainey indicated to the Committee that staff will be sending comments to the Administration and Public Works Committee from the Parking Committee. If any of the members of the Parking Committee wish to have their comments included, they should be forwarded to the Director of Public Works. Alderman Rainey commented that the long range recommendations included in the report do not include any comments on private ownership of the parking structures in the downtown area. This item was asked for by the Parking Committee and should be in the document. Staff responded that the author of the document would be contacted for additional response on that issue. Alex Sproul indicated that he thought the important issues that should be addressed soon were increasing the efficiency of the boot program, dealing with the low collection rate as pointed out in the study and increasing the computer software capabilities to improve overall Parking System performance. Alderman Rainey also requested that further discussion of the adjudication process previously discussed by the Committee and City Council was not included in the report. Staff noted that on page four the consultant did comment that this adjudication process review was outside of the scope of their study. Staff indicated that they would contact the Law Department and the Collector's Office to determine if the adjudication process review could be conducted in-house or if an additional consultant service would be necessary to conduct this review. MINUTES OF MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS August 13, 1991........ Page Five A letter from Mr. Remen was provided to the Committee dealing with the issue of proposed zoning regulation changes being considered by the City Council dealing with off street parking requirements in the Central Business District and contiguous commercial areas. Staff indicated that the next Committee meeting on September 10, 1991 will include an agenda item dealing with the proposed zoning regulation changes. A packet of the proposed zoning changes will be included for that meeting. Alderman Rainey advised the Committee that the Administration and Public Works Committee was dealing with the issue of visitor permits in residential exempt parking districts. This item was held by the Administration and Public Works Committee. Discussion at the Committee level indicated that the potential for misuse in these higher demand parking areas was one of the reasons for delaying approval of this request. It was noted that the ability to have low cost parking available if the system were misused would only aggravate the problems in these areas of high demand. The issue was brought up by certain people in residential exempt parking districts where visitors who cannot obtain permits cannot park any longer than two hours. After discussion, the Committee recommended that a one year trial period be established for the issuance of visitor permits in residential exempt parking districts. The proposed trial period should include permits that would last for one month and that new permits could be obtained each month, but customers must come into the Traffic Department office to obtain the new permits. The suggestion was approved by the Committee. There being no further business before the Committee, the meeting adjourned at 8:03 P.M. Respectfully submitted, David H. Barber Public Works Director Draft • Not Ao ove MINUTES MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS Meeting of September 10, 199I Members Present: Alderman Rainey, Alderman Fiske, David Reynolds, and Ruth Smalley Members Absent: Bill Demas, Mark Rivette, Joan Sable and Alex Sproul Staff Present: Barber, Jennings, Nilsson The meeting was called to order at 5:17 P.M. by Chairman Rainey. Minutes of the Meetino of Au t - After a brief discussion, the minutes of the meeting of August 13, 1991 were approved. Parkinq Enforcement Officer fPE01 Activity Reoort - Lt. Nilsson advised the Committee that numbers for the month of July indicated Parking Enforcement Officer performance is consistent with previous months. The total number of tickets written for the month of August was 11,512 and the total production rate for the month was 5.8 tickets per hour. The adjusted production rate was 7.7 tickets per hour. This compares to the yearly total average of 5.9 tickets per hour and 7.3 tickets per hour respectively. Lt. Nilsson indicated that the numbers for September would show a marked difference from August due to the returning students. The increase usually occurs in the category for residential overtime parking. This is indicated on the report for September and October of 1990. In response to a question from Alderman Rainey, Lt. Nilsson indicated that the supervisor for the Parking Enforcement Officers is now on the street more frequently than in the past and, in fact, is trying to spend about five hours per day meeting with the PEO's on their beats. Alderman Rainey inquired as to the effect this more frequent meeting with the supervisor has on the Parking Enforcement Officers. Lt. Nilsson indicated that the Parking Enforcement Officers are performing well and have been performing well, and the only effect may be that they are producing slightly better results as they are now °_:�verinc -or acsences and vacancies in the division. The division is currently down two oar,-ti„ie Parking Enforcement Officers and two full-time Parking Enforcement Officers are out on injury related matters. Parkins System Manaaement Study - Alderman Rainey began the presentation df discussing the chart prepared as an attachment to the letter submitted to t"e Administration and Public 'corks Committee and advised that dnen tnis Has discusses at the Administration and Public Works Committee on August 25. 1991 staff was directed to respond quickly on the items dealing with the boot*.nc of vehicles an Fridays and modification of the notice procedure. Staff responded that these two items will be returned to City Council on September lo, 1991 for discussion. !t appears that booting on Fridays will take place and modification of the notice procedure will be implemented. The large green sticker For notification will continue for vehicles with out of state registrations or where the Mailing address of the owner is unknown. Mail notification, where possible, will be implemented. Alderman Rainey requested that the minutes of the previous "Cministration and Public 'forks Committee and the next Administration and Public Works Committee dealing with this issue be forwarded to the Parking Committee memoers with their next packet. Alderman Rainey asked Ruth Smalley if the Lockneed study was being MINUTES OF MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS September 10, 1991........ Page Two reviewed by the Chamber. Ruth Smalley indicated that no decision had been made by the Chamber to review this study but concern has been raised by various members of the Chamber on the impact of the construction of the Transportation Center to current parking in the Benson Avenue area. Alderman Rainey responded this was being looked at in the update of the Central Business District Parking Study and should be reported on sometime during the month of November. piscussion of Pr9nosed ;;oninq Ordinance Changn - The Committee was advised that the current schedule for review of the proposed zoning ordinance by the Planning and Development Committee of City Council has been modified and will be reviewed by the full City Council on September 16, 1991. This revised schedule will be forwarded to the Parking Committee members in their next packet. The Committee was advised that on page 13-10 of the proposed Chapter 13 the section dealing with parking requirements for funeral services was in error and that this issue will have to be reviewed by the consultant and revised. The Committee was also advised of a change in the code in section 13.1-2 found on page 13-1. This section deals with change of use or intensity of use of a building. The Committee was advised that in the previous zoning code an owner implementing a change of use would be required to provide the net difference in the parking requirement, whereas under the proposed zoning code an owner would be exempt from this requirement, so if a change of use involved a new use with a higher parking requirement no additional spaces would be required. In response to a question from the Committee, staff indicated that one possible reason for this change is an attempt to allow development of unused properties without placing additional restrictions which may hinder the development. David Reynolds indicated that this change raises issues dealing with the impact of redevelopment on areas around the development, especially in residential neighborhoods surrounding business districts. He indicated that if redevelopment is to take place adequate parking should be provided so the burden of providing adequate parking spaces does not fall on the surrounding neighborhoods. He indicated that the City should consider making up the difference in parking garages or on surface lots. The Committee next dealt with the section 13.2-I0 dealing with the parking reduction bonus for the Central Business District. Staff advised the Committee that this parking bonus was a reduction in the required number of spaces in the Central Business District based on travel characteristics of employees who work in the downtown area. Previous studies have indicated that a significant number of employees in the Central Business District use mass transportation and therefore the need for parking spaces is reduced. This "bonus" for the Central Business District is a reflection of the different travel characteristics. David Reynolds also noted that in addition to this bonus, which reduces parking requirements in the Central Business District, there was also a modification in the requirement for parking spaces from one space for every 300 square feet to one space for every 500 square feet, also reducing the required number of spaces for certain commercial establishments. Assuming that we are not providing enough spaces under the current zoning code, these two bonuses or reductions in the space requirements for certain downtown facilities will not help solve the problem of parking in the downtown area. David Jennings indicated that the figures reflected in the proposed zoning code are an attempt to more accurately reflect the needs of spaces for various types of development. David Reynolds indicated that, even with the two parking garages the City has in the downtown area, the streets in downtown and surrounding downtown are still providing parking for downtown employees. Under the new code, he does not feel this situation will improve. David Reynolds indicated that the MUTES OF MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS September 10, 1991........ Page Three Barton-Aschman downtown study indicated that about 300 square feet of space in a commercial development should be provided for each employee and that each 100 individuals require 62 parking spaces. For a 100,000 square foot building this equates to approximately 200 spaces. Under the proposed zoning code only 157 spaces would be needed. At this point in the meeting Alderman Rainey requested that the Committee begin the review of the proposed Chapter 13 from the front of the document and list the comments by the Committee. The comments noted by the Committee are listed as follows: Pgge 13-1. Section 13.1-Z The Committee requested that some limit be set within this section so that there is some protection against changes which significantly impact the area, or more specifically, changes which would result in a much larger parking need than the existing use. It was felt that certain percentage limits could be added to this section to help protect against those changes in use which would "significantly" impact the area. If the change in use increases the parking need by less than this certain percentage, these changes of use would be exempt from adding additional parking spaces. However, if the change in use exceeded a given percentage then additional spaces should be provided so that the neighborhoods would not have to bear the impact of providing for this change of use. Page 13-2,, Paraqraoh 13.2-1(bl(2) Alderman Rainey noted a problem that existed in the area of the Dominicks Grocery Store on the north side of the city, where employees of the grocery store were apparently prohibited from using the parking lot during the day. Management apparently forced the employees into the neighborhood to provide adequate parking spaces for customers. Staff noted that many of the -employees chose to park in the neighborhoods to avoid damage to their cars. Alderman Rainey requested that this section be evaluated to include a requirement for employee spaces or at least include in the caic:r:a.,on a certain number of spaces based on the number of employees. alderman Rainey also questioned the next section in subparagraph 3 and how it may deal with the Equity Building at 811 Chicago Avenue, where their parking lot is currently located on Hinman Avenue. David Jennings indicated that this would probably not impact this situation as the lots are contiguous. Paqe 13-2. Section 13.2-1(b)(4) The Committee questioned the language in the last paragraph dealing witn long ter-n leases "whose duration snap oe determined by the City" and the meaning behind the next sentence dealing with an R-1 district being deemed the most restrictive and the C80 the least restrictive. The Co wmittee questioned who in the City shall be responsible for deter --fining the duration of long term leases. The term "by the City" seemed rather vague and should be clarified. Alderman Rainey questioned whether staff or City Council makes this determination. It was noted that in Section 13.2-4 on page 13-3 it indicates that the long term lease is approved by t`te Zoning Administrator but that under the current City structure there is no one designated as Zoning Administrator. It was also cornmented an that someone of at least a department head level position should be placed in the position of responsibility `or making Determinations under this code. with MINUTES OF MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS September 10, 1991........ Page Four respect to the less restrictive versus more restrictive section of this paragraph, David Jennings responded that he felt this section dealt with spillover parking and that spillover parking from a more restrictive district into a less restrictive district was permissible or at least more acceptable than spillover parking from the least restrictive district into a more restrictive district, such as from the CBD into the residential neighborhood. Paoe 13-5. Section 13.2-10 David Reynolds asked if there was any determination for the basis for this 20% reduction in parking for new structures in the Central Business District. David Jennings indicated that staff was not aware of the basis for this determination. However, he did note in the 1985 Barton-Aschman Downtown Parking Study indicated that about 33% of the employees in the downtown area use alternate means of transportation so the 20% giveback for parking needs in the Central Business District seemed to be based on some rationale. David Reynolds again emphasized his concern that a given development should be required to provide the number of spaces that would be needed for that development and that givebacks should not be provided if an adequate number of parking spaces will not be provided. He indicated ample off-street parking is essential and would almost like to see the City make up the deficit in the downtown area, but as a minimum, he felt that the City should not lose ground for new development. David Jennings indicated that there are standards for off-street parking requirements established by the Institute for Traffic Engineers and staff can compare the numbers provided by that professional organization with the numbers included in the proposed off-street parking requirements. An item in the 1985 study was noted which indicated that if a parking facility is used at or above the 85y percentile level it is to be considered saturated. Under the conditions of use greater than 85% occupancy, people will have difficulty finding a parking space. Alderman Rainey asked for a response concerning the impact of Section 13.3-5 .on page 13-7 which allows for an additional exemption for the first 2,000 square feet of any building in the business district. David Jennings responded that this section of the code is not changed from the previous code, where small businesses do not generally require parking spaces. As this impact is only at most four spaces, it is not significant. Alderman Rainey noted that if the new development proposed in the Central Business District is a residential facility the 20: reduction still applies under the wording in this proposed section. The Committee questioned whether or not this section should be modified to include a reference to all new non-residential buildings in the Central Business District so that the 20% reduction did not apply to residential structures. The Committee discussed changing the wording and the terminology in this section if, in fact, this section is a reflection of the transportation patterns used by employees in the Central Business District. It might be worthwhile to modify the wording in this section to reflect that this is a reduction based on transportation patterns, recognizing that employees use public transportation and the term "bonus" should be eliminated as it designates special treatment for the Central Business District with respect to other districts throughout the city. Alderman Fiske noted that, given MINUTES OF MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS September 10, 1991........ Page Five the parking deficit in the downtown area, the reduction for off-street parking requirements by giving 20, back to new development as well as reducing the demand from one space for every 300 square feet to one space for every 500 square feet, does not appear to be prudent. David Jennings noted that what is missing in the review of this document is the basis for determining whether one space for every 300 square feet or one space for every 500 square feet is correct. He offered to look into this matter and report at the next meeting. He also indicated that the proposed Zoning code cannot attempt to correct for past errors by providing additional spaces for new developers to make up a deficit not provided in previous developments. The Committee decided to hold this issue until the next meeting and requested staff provide a more detailed report with respect to parking generation numbers which are standard in the industry. Page 13-7. Se_tion 13.3-4 This section uses the term "City Engineer" in several instances and should be modified to include "Traffic Engineer". Paqg 13-7, Table 13-b Alderman Rainey questioned why one half of a parking space is required in some cases and whether or not, as an example on two family dwellings, it might be easier to lust say three spaces would be required. The Committee questioned the requirement under hotel, motel or apartment hotel. For hotels or apartment hotels one space for each three separate guest rooms, plus one space for each dwelling unit might seem appropriate, but if a motel were to be established and developed in the City of Evanston it would seem more appropriate that a separate category requiring one space for each guest room be required. 7 ,The Committee questioned why a vocatianal /trade school is located under the section headed, "cultural/entertainment" and thought it would be more appropriate if this item be included under churches, schools and libraries. The Committee also questioned differences in parking space requirements for vocational and trade schools and colleges, universities or other types of schools. The Committee questioned the difference between restaurants (free standing) and a regular restaurant. A free standing restaurant was indicated to te a restaurant without an adjacent building. This facility would require .ix spaces per 1,000 feet gross floor area as noted on page 13-10. There is no requirement elsewhere in this table for other restaurants. The Committee noted that restaurants do add congestion to a neighborhood and do have a parking demand. There should be some reference in this table to parking requirements for restaurants other than free standing. Alderman Rainey indicated that she would like to see the Planning and Development Coiumit.ee at least discuss this issue and explain why other restaurants have no parking requirement. Alderman Rainey questioned the requirements under bus facility found on page 13-13. She questioned whether this was enough parking spaces and also questioned whether or not the PACE facility to be constructed on Oakton Street would be complying with this requirement. David Jennings indicated MINUTES OF MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS September 10, 1991........ Page Six he would check with the Zoning Officer to determine an answer to her question. Alderman Rainey requested a clarification as to whether the number of parking spaces required for the handicapped is based on the number of spaces required before or after the bonuses are applied in other sections of the code. David Jennings indicated that the heading, "total off-street spaces required", should be modified to include the word "provided". He clarified that the code requires that the percentage of spaces provided for handicapped is based on the total number of spaces provided at any facility. Pave 13-15. Section 13,5 David Jennings noted that this section is an attempt to address the type of vehicle which services buildings so that a short space is provided at facilities where a smaller truck would generally provide delivery service and large space provided where a semi -trailer type vehicle would generally provide delivery service. David Reynolds questioned the multi -family requirement and asked why no long spaces were provided. His example was the new development on Chicago Avenue (Evanston Place) where it is frequently visited by moving vans and only short spaces are provided. It was suggested that this section be modified and that for each additional 200,000 square feet of gross floor area one long space be provided. OTHER MATRS TE Alderman Fiske asked for a moment to make a few comments concerning some items related to him by a constituent in the recent past. He wanted to note to the Committee that constituents of his had noted that parking problems in the Central Business District are not necessarily all bad. If we are dealing with too many cars in the downtown area, this may indicate that our downtown area is a vital and active area and that we have a large number of people coming into the downtown. He noted that the better we are able to manage the parking spaces in the downtown the more cars we will be able to get into the downtown area to keep our downtown healthy and active. He indicated that we will always hear complaints concerning parking enforcement and parking problems in a city such as Evanston and these problems will probably never go away. There are always going to be some people who will complain and we should take the complaints in stride and continue to do the best we can to manage the parking situation in the downtown and other business areas of the city. There being no further business before the Committee, the meeting adjourned at 8:17 P.M. David H. Barber Public Works Director graft - Not Approved MINUTES MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS Meeting of October 8, 1991 Members Present: Alderman Rainey, Alderman Fiske, Alex Sproul, David Reynolds, Ruth Smalley and Gill Demas Members Absent: Mark Rivette and Joan Sable Staff Present: Barber, Fulce, Jennings The meeting was called to order at 6:07 P.M. by Chairman Rainey. Minutes of the Meetina of September 10. 1991 - After a brief discussion, the minutes of the meeting of September 10, 1991 were approved. Parking Enforcement Officer (PEQ) Activity Re or - Sgt. Fulce indicated that the number of hours spent on parking enforcement activities during the month of September were down. This is due to the fact that the complement of PEO's for that month was 2 1/2 PEO's short of full staffing levels. One PEO has quit and one was terminated (part-time). He noted that while overall the hours were down, the efforts in overtime parking enforcement for the month were up significantly. It was noted that the adjusted average for September was 8.9 tickets issued per hour, which is close to the highest rate recorded since statistics were recorded for this activity measure. 1,962 tickets were issued in September for meter overtime and residential overtime parking. The monthly PEO Activity Report was accepted by the Committee. Corsmuni_Ution - Sale of Parking Structures - The amendment to the Lockheed IMS Study on Parking System Management dealing with the sale of the two Central Business Parking District structures was discussed. It was noted that the Report recommends against selling of the two parking structures. The Committee noted that if the sale of the parking garages were to take place, the City would lose control of these areas and it would be possible at some point in the future for the new owner of the parking facilities, especially the Sherman Avenue facility, to resell the area for redevelopment, resulting in an overall loss of parking for the downtown area. The Report indicated that financially the parking structures are a burden on the Parking System budget and do not pay for themselves. There is a revenue shortfall $581,521. David Jennings advised the Committee that within the next six to nine months staff will be reviewing the entire rate structure in the Parking System to help make up some of this shortfall in the parking structures. David Reynolds questioned the current mix of short term and permit parking in the Church Street facility. He noted that it seems there are many spaces in the garage and asked why the number of long term permits could not be increased. David Jennings indicated that staff would look into this before the next meeting but indicated that the important question is where those parkers are currently parking that would purchase the long term spaces. If, in fact, many of those parkers are already using the parking structure and paying all -day rates, the impact on increasing the number of permits would be a decrease in revenue to the facilities. He noted that the caps were set to give a good mix in the parking structures to leave a sufficient number of spaces for short term parking. He noted that the target was to provide at least 15 to 20 percent of the spaces in the structures for MINUTES OF MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS October 8, 1991........ Page Two transient or short term packers. Staff will conduct a survey of people currently on waiting lists for monthly permits to determine where they currently park and will report back on the potential for the increase in the cap on the number of long term spaces at the next meeting. In response to a question from the Committee, David Jennings indicated that current parking levels are very close to the parking levels that were expected prior to the construction of the Church Street Self Park facility. The Committee also requested that in Mr. Jennings' report he note how many permits are currently purchased by Washington National in each facility. Alex Sproul moved that the Committee concur in the report recommendation and the Committee's concurrence and the Report be forwarded to the Administration and Public Works Committee. The motion was accepted by a vote of 5-0. (Bill Demas arrived at this point.) City Adjudication of Parking Tickets - The Committee accepted the memorandum from Mr. Herbert Hill, First Assistant Corporation Counsel, advising that it was one of the objectives for FY1992-93 for the Law Department to evaluate a program for the non judicial administration of parking tickets. He noted that his initial analysis indicates that such a program may require the hiring of at least three additional employees. Their final evaluation will be completed sometime in 1992 or early 1993. The Committee accepted this communication. Overtime Park no Grace PeriA - This matter was also to be included in the initial Lockheed 1MS Parking Management Study and was omitted from the first document. This matter dealt with the impact of enforcing the two hour time limited zones throughout the city after a minimum period of three hours from the time the vehicle tires were chalked. Alderman Rainey noted that the report advised against the use of a grace period due to the difficulties of enforcement and also the impact toward providing more long term parking in the short term parking facilities. Ruth Smalley and Bill Demas both noted the practices of people in certain areas of the downtown to shift cars among parking spaces to avoid the two hour time limit and the grace period would only increase all day parking in the short term parking spaces. Alderman Rainey noted the complications of enforcing overtime parking and suggested changing of the downtown meters to three hours and imposing an overtime parking meter ticket of 525.00 along with rigid enforcement. Staff reminded the Committee of recent studies conducted which indicated that the average parker in an on -street parking space stays for about one hour and twenty minutes. The extension of parking limit times to three hours would, in fact, have the impact of reducing turnover. Alderman Rainey indicated that based on the Report she could not support a grace period due to the difficulties of enforcement. Alex Sproul indicated that it was important to tackle the attitudes of the merchants and to provide a program to help educate the merchants and their employees. He felt that someone should conduct a public relations program to promote the use of long term parking facilities by employees in the downtown area. It was suggested that the Chamber begin work on this idea in the near future. David Reynolds asked staff to respond to the idea of creation of one block parking enforcement districts to reduce shifting cars from one space to the other in the same block. David Jennings advised of the difficulty of enforcement. He noted that it would be almost impossible to prove that someone did not leave the district and then return a short time later and suggested strongly against creation of parking enforcement districts. Alderman Fiske noted his desire to see an increase in publicity efforts to promote the Parking System and to direct efforts toward MINUTES OF MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS October 8, 1991........ Page Three employers and employees on the benefits of the use of the long term parking facilities, i.e. the two parking structures in the downtown. Alderman Fiske also suggested that rewards be established for use of the parking structures to encourage people to use these facilities. It was noted that the Chamber, in conjunction with EVMARK, will be requested to work on promoting the long term parking facilities in the downtown area. Alderman Rainey suggested that a letter be sent from the City of Evanston Police Department to all merchants in the downtown area advising them of the availability of long term parking facilities and the impact of meter feeding by their employees. She felt something more official, such as a letter from the Police Department, would have more impact. This letter should show the parking rates in the garages and should outline the benefits of relocating their employees into these parking structures. Alderman Fiske, who is also a member of the EVMARK Board, will report this matter to the EVMARK Board at their meeting on October 22, 1991. The Committee requested that this matter be transmitted to the Administration and Public works Committee and indicated their support for the recommendation to not add a grace period as part of the enforcement of overtime parking. The Committee also requested that this item be placed on their next agenda for continued discussion. Transmission of Minute dministration and Public works Committee of August 2b. 1j - The Minutes were accepted by the Parking Committee. Transmi;lion of Minutes of Administration and Public Works Committee of Seatember lfi• 1991 and Staff Memrandum concerning Residential Parkin4 District - The Residential Parking District proposal communication was explained to the Committee by Alderman Rainey and the minutes and communication were accepted. Qs _ussion - Proposed Zoning Code Amendments: CBD Off -Street Parkinq • The Committee was advised that the Planning and Development Committee would be evaluating the section of the Zoning Code dealing with off-street parking and loading at their meeting on November 18, 1991. (Subsequent to the Parking Committee meeting, staff was advised that the review date had been changed to November 4, 1991.) David Jennings prepared a comparison of the parking requirements as outlined in the proposed Zoning Code with that of suggestions by the Institute for Traffic Engineers. He noted that the ITE numbers are not requirements but suggestions and many of the suggested parking requirement numbers are based on suburban communities and do not take into account high transit or public facility ridership. The numbers presented are not absolute numbers but only serve as guidelines. At this point in the meeting Alderman Rainey announced to the Committee that on this date the Chicago Transit Authority made their announcement concerning possible cutbacks to service in the Evanston area as part of their overall plan to reduce costs. The CTA announced that there would be no Evanston bus services on Saturdays, no train service on Sundays and that the midnight to 5:00 A.M. night train service would also be eliminated. She further advised the Committee that CTA is proposing to close the Evanston stations at South Boulevard, Dempster Street and Noyes Street. David Reynolds indicated his surprise at seeing the Zoning Code suggestion for parking space requirements for commuter train/bus station facilities in our Code MINUTES OF MAYOR'S SPECIAL C014MITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS October 8, 1991........ Page Four and noted that the numbers provided under our proposed Zoning Code seem to be very high. At this point David Reynolds distributed a handout he had prepared and reminded the Committee that he is interested in seeing that adequate parking is provided. (The handout provided by David Reynolds is attached to the minutes.) David Reynolds briefly went through the numbers in his handout and indicated that he has only had a brief opportunity to discuss these figures with David Jennings and asked that Mr. Jennings review the figures to determine if they are reasonable. Based on the analysis prepared by Mr. Reynolds, he suggests that the Zoning Code be amended to require that three spaces per 1,000 square feet of office space be provided for business and professional services in the downtown area. Alderman Rainey requested staff to review these numbers and report back at the next meeting and at this time emphasized that she appreciates the work being conducted by everybody on the Committee concerning review of the proposed Zoning Code but reminded Committee members that their comments need to be directed to the Planning and Development Committee at their hearing on this matter (now scheduled for November 4, 1991). She encouraged all interested parties to be sure that they were at that meeting and make their presentations directly to the Planning and Development Committee. The minutes of this Committee will be forwarded to members of the Planning and Development Committee for their review prior to the November meeting. Alderman Rainey also requested that in all deliberations on downtown parking needs the residential character of the downtown must be taken into account. There are a significant number of residences in the downtown area and parking demands for these residential uses need to be considered in the overall parking proposal for the downtown area. Mr. Charles Remen provided a communication to the Committee concerning the parking demands in the downtown area and the proposed Zoning Code amendments and discussions recently held in the Southeast Evanston Homeowner's Association. Again, Alderman Rainey reminded Mr. Remen that, while she appreciates his efforts, it is more important that matters such as those being brought forward need to be brought to the Planning and Development Committee for their consideration. Staff will distribute Mr. Remen's letter to all members of the Committee prior to the next meeting. There being no further business before the Committee, the meeting adjourned at 7:39 P.M. Next meeting is November 12, 1991. David H. Barber Public works Director