HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 1989MINUTES
MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS
Meeting of July 13, 1989
Members Present: Alderman Rudy, David Reynolds, Mark Rivette
Members Absent: Alderman Rainey, Ira Golan, Harvey Pranian, Alex
Sproul, Joan Sable, Nels Vexler
Staff Present: Barber, Jennings
Chairman Rudy called the meeting to order at 6:08 P.K. A quorum was not
present to conduct business, but the Committee discussed several items for
future consideration.
The Chairman indicated that the regular meeting time for the Mayor's Special
Committee on Parking Needs would be the second Thursday of each month and
the Committee would meet from 6:00 P.M. until 7:30 P.M. except for the month
of August, when the meeting would be moved to the third Thursday (August
17). Staff was directed to send out the minutes for this meeting and a
notice of the date for the next meeting soon and then precede the meeting
with a mailing, including an agenda and pertinent meeting items.
The Chairman indicated it was the intent of this Committee to concentrate
more on the long term parking problems and develop solutions for these
problems rather than concentrate on immediate short term parking problems.
It was suggested that the Committee may consider establishing subcommittees
to concentrate in more detail on separate tasks such as long term studies,
enforcement issues, and other issues as needs arise. This will be discussed
in more detail in the future.
The Committee spent a period of time discussing information presented in the
Parking Improvement Program for the Evanston Central Business District (CBD)
prepared in September, 1985. (Copies of pages 3, 54 and 55 of the study
were discussed and are attached to the minutes.) The Committee indicated
that the material presented in this study, while only about four years old,
is out of date in light of the improvements currently under way and those
completed in the Central Business District. The Committee also expressed
concern that the parking needs in other districts throughout the city, such
as the Howard Street; Chicago/Main; Dempster; Central Street; and Dodge
Avenue areas are not included. Staff was directed to contact Barton-Aschman
Associates, Inc. to provide a proposal for updating the 1985 CBD study and
also for proposals to prepare parking plans for the other districts
previously mentioned.
A brief discussion was held concerning the enforcement of vehicle
registration by the City and the Committee asked that staff provide a brief
response comparing vehicle registrations and distribution of City permits
within the City of Evanston.
MINUTES OF THE MAYOR'S SPECIAL. COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS
Meeting of July 13, 1989......... Page Two
Staff was also requested to remind all members of the Mayor's Special
Committee on Parking Needs to review the Barton-Aschman study prior to the
August meeting and requested that all members not having a copy of the study
contact David Barber, Director of Public Works (866-2956) to obtain a copy
of that study.
There being no further business before the Committee, the meeting was
adjourned at 7:25 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
David H. Barber
MINUTES
MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS
Meeting of August 17, 1989
Members Present: Alderman Rudy, Alderman Rainey and Alex Sproul
Members Absent: David Reynolds, Mark Rivette, Ira Golan, Harvey
Pranian, Joan Sable and Nels Vexler
Staff Present: Barber, Jennings
The meeting was called to order at 6:04 P.M. by Chairman Rudy. A quorum was
not present to conduct business.
Minutes of Julv 13. 1989 Meetinw, - No action was taken due to the lack of a
quorum.
Parking Needs Assessment - Discussion of Proposal, - The Committee began the
discussion by reviewing Figure #1 in Table U17 from the 1985 Parking Study.
It was noted that the large parking shortages which occur in the downtown
area are in blocks where highrise buildings exist. Alex Sproul indicated
that as the study would affect outlying areas, he did not believe present or
projected levels of economic activity warrant any further expenditure of
public funds for parking studies. He indicated better management of parking
resources in those neighborhoods would help resolve many of the problems.
It was noted that in the Dempster Street area $500,000 was spent for a
parking lot and the property in question was taken off the tax roles. It
was indicated that enough money has been spent in this area. It was
suggested that the Main/Chicago area, the Howard Street area and the
Dempster Street area be removed from the proposal. The Committee noted it
may be more appropriate to direct efforts toward reducing the demand by
employees for parking rather than adding more spaces. It seems the more
spaces that are added, the more cars appear to use them. Alderman Rainey
commented that the low cost of parking encourages people to drive, whereas
increasing parking fees may encourage people to use public transportation.
The Committee noted that it would also be advisable to eliminate the
Church/Dodge area from consideration in the study. Hr. Sproul indicated
that we may wish to consider using funds not used to study the parking areas
included in the proposal to find ways to encourage people not to :rive, such
as providing .additional bikeways, additional walkways, encourag:ng 'Ise of
mass transportation and development of mass transporta':_"• _:e5, etc.
A brief discussion on the lakefront parking took place _ :: ^,ent :nat
maybe we should consider this parking for Evanston res::�7.ts )nly :t was
also noted that some of the monies not used for the study _quid also be used
to investigate other means of enforcement. David Jennings, ;i.y Traffic
Engineer, commented that maybe Barton-Aschman is not the _,rnpany to do this
type of study ,enforcement). The Committee then discusser whether Ir not it
was possible for staff to do some of this work. If the •.tor+ were to be done
within our City staff structure, additional people will he necessary. It
was decided to discuss this item further at future meet:7:g:
MINUTES OF THE MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS
August 17, 1989........... Page Two
Free Parking (Retail, Office, Residential. Other) - It was discussed that
the current Zoning Code provides for the reduction in parking requirements
for the downtown. The Committee requested that this item be removed from
future agendas.
Zoning Commission Policies Regarding Parking - It was suggested by Alderman
Rainey that a letter be sent to the Zoning Commission indicating that it is
not appropriate to continue the use of these parking bonuses.
Vehicle Registration (State vs City) - (Alderman Rainey left the meeting
during this discussion.) The communication provided with the agenda was
received, reviewed and accepted by the Committee. Mr. Sproul asked if it is
possible to find vehicle registration figures from years past, possibly up
to as much 20 years or so of records to determine trends. Staff will
provide additional response on this issue in the future.
Ordinance 95-0-88 - Parking Restrictions on Maple between Emerson and
University Place - It was indicated by Alderman Rainey that this item should
not have been referred to the Mayor's Special Committee on Parking Needs,
but to a subcommittee to review parking matters which consisted of Aldermen
Rainey, Korshak and Rudy. After a brief discussion, it was decided that
this item would be referred to that subcommittee of the City Council.
There being no further business before the Committee, the meeting adjourned
at 7:26 P.M.
The next meeting will be at 6:00 P.M. on September 14, 1989.
Respectfully► submitted,
'f 'i.... I :V. - )
David H. Barber
MINUTES
MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS
Meeting of October 12, 1989
Members Present: Alderman Rudy, Alderman Rainey, Alex Sproul and Gerald
Murphy
Members Absent: Hark Rivette, Harvey Pranian, Nels Vexler, David
Reynolds and Joan Sable
Staff Present: Barber, Jennings
The meeting was called to order at 6:05 P.H. by Chairman Rudy.
Minutes of Meeting of September 21, 1989 - The following corrections in the
minutes were noted.
I. On Page 2 the second suggestion under Garage Management should
read "-offer substantial reduction to car poolers."
2 On Page 1 at the end of the first paragraph delete "so fewer
tickets were being written."
The minutes were approved with the above noted corrections.
RECOMMENDATION MEMO TO CITY COUNCIL - REVIEW:
The Committee began its review of the draft memo to be submitted to City
Council.
Update of Parking Needs Study - The Committee suggested the study not
proceed until after the new Church Street Self Park opens. David Jennings
indicated a revised proposal could be requested only listing the work in the
downtown area. The Committee suggested the first proposal be submitted with
the memo and the explanation be expanded to indicate why the outlying areas
were deleted. The Committee requested the consultant place more emphasis in
the future demand analysis on possible impacts of commuter "carpools" and
incentives to encourage greater use of public transportation. In response
tb a question, Jennings explained why shared use of the 200 private spaces
in'the Church Street Self Park would not be possible. Since key card access
to the private spaces would be used to separate these spaces, public use
would not work. The Committee requested part of the Employer Survey include
a question about where employees reside. A listing of zip codes of
employees would be useful. Staff indicated the survey would be limited in
scope and a better survey may be obtained through a Chamber of Commerce
survey or through the City's Planning Department when the downtown inventory
of land use is updated.
Parking Enforcement Study - Jennings reviewed his memo of October 9, 1989
indicating the Parking Enforcement operations are below full strength by one
full-time and two part-time employees, which is unchanged as of a year ago.
The "booting" program required two persons from ticket writing operations
and one and one-half were added, so the net loss to ticket writing was
MINUTES OF THE MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS
Meeting of October 12, 1989......... Page Two
one-half person. The boot program has had a very positive impact and
collections are up. Jennings indicated we have not performed a comparison
of our boot program with programs in other communities. Alderman Rainey
indicated the success of our program and noted it would undoubtedly compare
favorably if it were compared. In addition to meter enforcement, Parking
Enforcement Officers (PEO's) also write tickets for alternate side parking,
make court appearances each week, and fill in as school crossing guards when
needed. About 30% of the time from April to November, PEO's are not
enforcing meter parking. Member Sproul commented that the need for
additional PEO's could be justified based on the increased number of cars
from 1976 (29,045) to 1988 (42,545). In response to a question, Jennings
indicated that Police Officers probably write about 20% of the parking
tickets and PEO's about 80%. The Committee requested information on the
number of tickets written and income received. Alderman Rainey indicated a
report was prepared by Kathy Booth to the Administration and Public Works
Committee which contained this information. This report should be attached
to the minutes for Committee review.
The Committee also considered the productivity of current PEO's and measures
to increase their effectiveness (use of lap top computers). Staff indicated
a PEO writes about 100 tickets per day. The memo to Council from the
Committee would recommend five full-time additional PEO's to increase
enforcement. Staff noted that the extra tickets written (in excess of
80,000) would produce an increase in the work load in the Collector's
Office. This extra work would probably necessitate an additional employee
in that office.
The Committee requested that the memo be modified and resubmitted. It
should include projected income and costs associated with the proposed
PEO's. The memo should only address the Update of the Downtown Parking
Needs Study and the recommendation to add additional PEO's. The management
study should be pursued in the budget process by the Traffic Engineer.
Member Murphy requested the study consider the impact of more enforcement
(providing more turnover of spaces) on business. It was noted this might be
better performed by the Chamber of Commerce.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:30 P.H.
The next meeting of the Committee will be at 6:00 P.H. on Thursday, November
9, 1989 in Room 2403 of the Civic Center.
Respectfully submit
David K. Barber
MINUTES
MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS
Meeting of September 21, 1989
Members Present: Alderman Rudy, Alex Sproul, David Reynolds and Joan
Sable
Members Absent: Mark Rivette, Ira Golan, Harvey Pranian, Nels Vexler
and Alderman Rainey
Staff Present: Barber, Jennings
The meeting was called to order at 6:08 P.M. by Chairman Rudy.
PARKING NEEDS ASSESSMENT (CONTINUED DISCUSSION) - Member Reynolds questioned
previous comments on not spending more money in outlying areas for parking
needs assessments. Member Sproul reaffirmed his comments from the previous
meeting. Member Sable commented that the Central Street area did not need
additional study on parking needs. The Committee agreed more needs to be
done in the area of enforcement to make the best use of parking spaces
already in place. David Jennings is to prepare a memo on current parking
enforcement efforts throughout the city for the next meeting. Member Sable
thought the City was providing less parking enforcement. Mr. Jennings
indicated that ticket writers were assigned to the Boot Program (both
enforcement efforts) so fewer tickets were being written.
The Committee noted the last time they recommended more enforcement, City
Council responded that many complaints were being received on the number of
tickets being issued and the Business Community (Chamber) needs to deal with
meter feeders before more enforcement will be forthcoming. The Committee
indicated the Chamber has made progress with the meter feeding problem and
more enforcement efforts are now appropriate.
Staff will prepare a draft memorandum to Council to: (1) Recommend the
update of the Parking Needs Study for the Downtown Area ($26,200); (2)
Recommend the City conduct a study of Parking Enforcement (staff will
prepare scope of work effort); and (3) Recommend additional personnel for
parking enforcement. The memo should include updated information on the
increased revenue from a new enforcement employee(s) to show where money
will come from to fund this position (or positions). This memo is to be
ready for review at the October 12, 1989 meeting and hopefully can be ready
for Council consideration on October 23, 1989.
Member Sproul commented on the need to investigate other measures to
encourage people to switch to other modes of transportation (other than
single occupied car travel into the Central Business District). He
submitted several comments for future consideration.
L
MINUTES OF THE MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS
Meeting of September 21, 1989......... Page Two
Measures to encourage switch to other modes (than single -occupied car to
Central Business District);
Business:
- discourage employer subsidy of parking
- discourage meter feeding
- encourage subsidy of public transit passes for employees
- encourage car pools
Garage Management:
- increase all -day rates by a factor of 3-5
- offer substantial reduction to registered employees
- reserve spaces for car poolers
Parking Enforcement:
- enforce ordinances against meter feeding and parking more than two
hours
Auto Registration:
- increase auto registration fee
Public Transit:
- use increased parking/registration revenue to subsidize inbound
commuters
- improve and subsidize public transit within Evanston
Bicycles:
bike lanes
- more racks downtown
Park-N-Ride:
- shuttle service from remote lots
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 7:30 P.K.
The next meeting will be at 6:00 P.M. on Thursday, October 12, 1989 in Room
2404 of the Civic Center.
Respectfully submitted,
I2/ *�&
David H. Barber
IrF
MINUTES
MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS
Meeting of November 9, 1989
Members Present: Alderman Rudy, Alderman Rainey, Alex Sproul, David
Reynolds and Gerald Murphy
Members Absent: Mark Rivette, Harvey Pranian, Nels Vexler and Joan Sable
Staff Present: Barber, Jacobi and Jennings
The meeting was called to order at 6:09 P.M. by Chairman Rudy.
Minutes of Meeting of October 12, 1989 - The minutes of the meeting of
October 12, 1989 were approved.
Recommendation Memo to City Council
David Jennings summarized the information in the proposed memorandum to City
Council (see attached) and explained the cost analysis attached thereto.
The Committee asked if there are that many tickets to write (referring to
the additional 96,260 tickets in the cost analysis). Both the Police Chief
and Traffic Engineer indicated they felt we have not reached the saturation
point. The analysis indicates that if only 75% of the tickets estimated are
written, the program would still break even.
Alderman Rainey asked if the goal of adding the Parking Enforcement Officers
(PEO's) was for increasing revenue or adding enforcement. Alderman Rudy
responded that increased enforcement was the motivation for adding PEO's.
Chief Jacobi indicated the current PEO's only cover about 20% of the area in
any given day.
Alex Sproul asked if it would be possible to target an area for increased
enforcement (meter feeding) to determine how long it takes until parkers
respond and then, after enforcement is reduced, how long until old habits
return. David Jennings advised this type of test had been done and it was
effective in moving packers, but once enforcement was discontinued, the old
habits returned quickly.
The Committee was advised of the City Manager's concern over adding 5.5
PEO's to the budget. If revenues are not realized this Would add a strain
to an already tight budget.
Gerald Murphy commented that he has only seen the financial analysis based
on the impact to the City Budget. No one has considered the aspects
(financial or other) that stricter enforcement will have on the business
community. Some problems are due to supply/demand issues. Alderman Rudy
noted that part of the Committee's recommendation to Council is to update
the Central Business District Parking Study to address supply/demand
issues. Gerald Murphy indicated his support for the Parking Study Update
but could not support adding 5.5 PEO's based only on an economic analysis
MINUTES OF THE MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS
Meeting of November 9, 1989......... Page Two
showing the impact on the City Budget and not on the business community.
Mr. Murphy asked how many PEO's we currently have and how many we have had
each year for the last ten or so years. Staff will respond to this question.
Gerald Murphy stated that Washington National Insurance Company has had
problems with parking near their building. Alderman Rainey replied that
Washington National has not had problems in the past and has strongly
supported not having their employees park on the street. At this point,
there was a general discussion about parking and how some of the problems
had increased over time. No decisions or motions for change were made.
Alderman Rudy asked David Jennings to outline the history of parking on the
first floor of the Sherman Avenue Packing Garage. Jennings said that
studies performed over the past year found that the first floor was being
used primarily by late arriving long-term packers rather than by short-term
packers as originally intended. Aldermen Rainey and Rudy questioned the
continuation of the restriction in light of all of the studies that have
been done. Jim Kepler, a downtown businessman, stated that we seem to be
inconveniencing those people who need to park there the most. He gave
examples of his customers and other people who could see a full floor of
parking, but could not enter the garage due to the 7:00 A.M. to 10:00 A.M.
restriction. He asked the Committee to support the elimination of the
restriction. Mr. Murphy stated that the current plan was enacted in
response to the users of the facility and that it should remain in place.
Alderman Rainey made a motion to recommend that the Administration and
Public Works Committee remove the restriction effective January 1, 1990.
David Reynolds seconded. The vote was 4-1 in favor (G. Murphy voting nay).
Discussion returned to the matter of support for an update of a parking
study by Barton-Aschman Associates to be completed during the next fiscal
year. Alderman Rainey moved that a recommendation for this be sent to the
Administration and Public Works Committee. Gerald Murphy seconded. The
vote was 5-0 in favor. Alderman Rainey then moved that a recommendation for
5.5 additional Parking Enforcement Officers in the 1990-91 fiscal year be
taken to the Administration and Public Works Committee. David Reynolds
seconded. The vote was 4-1 in favor (G. Murphy voting nay). There was
general discussion after the vote that the Committee should meet with the
City Manager prior to submitting the recommendation to the Administration
and Public Works Committee. Alderman Rudy stated he would try to schedule
this and he would invite the Committee members in attendance at this meeting
to the meeting with Mr. Asprooth.
The meeting adjourned at 7:30 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
�0' - - - v 'a, /"
David H. Barber
Public Works Director
MINUTES
MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS
Special Meeting
Meeting of November 15, 1989
Members Present: Alderman Rudy, Alderman Rainey, Alex Sproul and Gerald
Murphy, David Reynolds
Members Absent: Mark Rivette, Harvey Pranian, Nels Vexler and Joan Sable
Staff Present: Asprooth, Barber, Jacobi, Jennings
Others Present: Allison Barkley, President, Chamber of Commerce
The meeting was called to order at 12:35 P.M. by Chairman Rudy.
Alderman Rudy explained the Committee's position on the need for additional
parking enforcement officers. He indicated there were not enough parking
enforcement officers to cover all of the areas within the city and that only
about 20% of the area was covered in any given day. This was due to
additional metered areas as well as the addition of the residential
exemption parking districts (REPD's) and the residential only parking
districts (RDPD's). Chairman Rudy indicated that there is a need to have
people park in accordance with the regulations of the City, i.e., long term
parkers parking in long term areas and short term parkers in short term
areas, and the additional parking enforcement officers were not necessarily
needed for the additional ticket writing but to encourage people to park in
those ways desired by the City. It was indicated that the 1985 Parking
Needs Study indicated that there is enough short term parking space
available if the long terra parkers move from the short terra parking spaces.
Alderman Rainey expressed her concern that we need five additional parking
enforcement officers now and that the incremental addition of parking
enforcement officers would not cover the need and would appear like a drop
in the bucket. Alderman Rudy added that in the last ten years there has
been a significant number of additional registered vehicles in the city of
Evanston and that the additional residential parking districts have
increased the need for parking enforcement officers, yet we have not added
parking enforcement officers during this period. Traffic Engineer David
Jennings indicated that over this period we have added between 2,500 and
3,000 metered parking spaces.
Member Alex Sproul indicated he had conducted a survey of his own to
determine parking habits in a two block area, the first block being Davis
from Benson to Sherman and the second block being Sherman from Davis to
Grove. He recorded license numbers of vehicles parked at 9:00 A.M. on these
two blocks and indicated that at that time all 48 vehicle spaces were
filled, and there was one additional vehicle parked outside of the
designated spaces. He returned to the area at noon and 25 of the 48
vehicles packed at 9:00 were still there. Twelve of the 25 were in expired
meters and 13 of those vehicles were at meters being fed by the owners. A
similar study was conducted on Main Street last week, where he recorded
v
MINUTES OF THE MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS
Meeting of November 15, 1989......... Page Two
license numbers at 11:00 A.H. and 4:00 P.M., and of the 51 spaces in the 800
block of Chicago and the 500 block of Main, 10 vehicles were feeding the
meters. It was his summary that there appeared to be some enforcement of
meter feeding, but the majority of the enforcement efforts conducted by the
parking enforcement officers at this time were on expired meters. He also
indicated there was probably no, or very little, enforcement in the
residential parking districts. He was not being critical of the parking
enforcement officers, but it was his opinion that there are just not enough
parking enforcement officers to adequately cover the needs of the City.
David Reynolds indicated the same is true in residential districts based on
a study he conducted on October 31, 1989.
Gerald Murphy and Allison Barkley spoke against adding parking enforcement
officers. The Chamber has been trying to educate members and their
employees not to feed meters and move long term parkers from short term
spaces. The merchants, however, are not pushing their employees. The
merchants have indicated they are having problems finding good employees.
The Chamber recommended higher fines, rather than adding more parking
enforcement officers. The Chamber noted that the reputation of parking
enforcement in Evanston has spread beyond our borders, and that our
reputation for enforcing parking regulations discourages shoppers from
coming to the city of Evanston. David Reynolds indicated that if the meters
are for shoppers the addition of a higher fine for expired meters and long
term parking did not seem to be consistent with the Chamber's position as
previously stated.
Alderman Rudy emphasized that part of the reason the meeting was held today
was to hear City Manager Asprooth's position on the addition of the five
parking enforcement officers as voted on by the Parking Committee at its
previous meeting. City Manager Asprooth indicated he does not accept on
instinct or faith that the additional parking enforcement officers will pay
for themselves through additional tickets. At this point in time we do not
need a drain of an already tight budget. Also, City Manager Asprooth
indicated he hears a lot of beefing from downtown merchants about the number
of tickets written in the downtown area. If we were to add the parking
enforcement officers, he indicated that additional enforcement should be
directed toward the residential parking districts since they are not being
provided adequate enforcement at this time. He indicated we have not found
any data to support the proposed increase in the revenue stream by adding
additional parking enforcement officers. Alderman Rudy corented that he
hears complaints just the opposite from the City Manager, that when the
merchants ask for more enforcement, the Police respond that they do not have
enough people. Member Gerald Murphy indicated that he previously asked how
many parking enforcement officers have been on the payroll during the ten
year period of records for registration of vehicles. David Jennings
indicated that in 1980 there were 10 parking enforcement officers and there
are currently 9.5 in 1989. During this ten year period there have been
between 8 and 10 parking enforcement officers on the payroll.
Alderman Rainey suggested that the additional five parking enforcement
officers be added, and the fine for feeding of meters be increased to $50.00
and the fine for expired meters be decreased to $1.00.
MINUTES OF THE MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS
Meeting of November 15, 1989........ :Page Three
Member Reynolds asked the Chamber if they would support additional
enforcement in the residential parking districts, especially east of
downtown. Allison Barkley indicated that they would have to take this
suggestion back to the Chamber for a response.
At this point Alex Sproul indicated that he would like to discuss the issue
of removing the 10:00 A.H. restriction in the Sherman Avenue Garage. The
Chairman indicated that was not on the agenda for this meeting and that no
discussion would take place at this time.
There being no further business before the Committee, the meeting was
adjourned at 1:40 P.M.
Respectfully submitted,
"dH. ber 4Z 4b
Public Works Director
Minutes
MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS
Meeting of December 14, 1989
Members Present: Alderman Rudy, Alex Sproul, Gerald Murphy
Members Absent: Alderman Rainey, Mark Rivette, David Reynolds, Harvey
Pranian, Nels Vexler, and Joan Sable
Staff Present: Barber, Jacobi, and Jennings
The meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m. by Chairman Rudy.
Minutes of Meetinas of November 9 and November 15. 1989 - It was noted that
on page two of the minutes of the November 15, 1989 meeting the first sentence
(beginning on the third line) should read..."It was his summary that there
appeared to be little, if any enforcement of meter feeding, and the majority
of the enforcement efforts conducted by the parking enforcement officers at
this time were on expired meters." With this change, the minutes of both
meetings were approved.
Review of Recommendation to City Cot:ncil - Alderman Rudy noted the
Committee's recommendations on the CBD Parking Study Update and the addition
of 5.5 PEO's was distributed to the City Council on this date and is on the
Administration and Public Works Committee Agenda for December 18, 1989. If A
& PW approves the recommendation it would be further considered during the
Budget Review process in January of next year.
Review of Enforcement Study - Activity reports of the parking enforcement
officers were analyzed for the period beginning Saturday November 11, 1989
through Friday November 17, 1989. (Six work days). Their efforts were
plotted on maps and summarized in tabular form for the Committee's review.
(The maps were on display at the meeting and the tabular data are attached to
these minutes). The summary of activity only includes PEO's and not ticketing
activities of the uniformed officers. David Jennings reviewed the information
presented with the Committee.
Chief Jacobi, responding to a question, indicated it was not unusual to have
only two PEO's working on Saturday and assigning both to the downtown area.
In response to previous Committee questions, David Jennings noted that it
appears our coverage level is about 19%. The survey shows the production rate
(tickets written) appears to be good. David Jennings noted the "desired
levels" noted on the study for comparison were generated in-house and are not
a City policy or staff recommendation but are only for comparison purposes for
this study. The levels used were also based, in part, on staff review of
literature discussing enforcement levels in the Los Angeles area.
~ MAYOR'S SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON PARKING NEEDS
Minutes of 12/14/89 . . . Page Two
It was noted the average annual production shows each PEO writes about 115
tickets per day. The average for this study was 95 tickets per day.
The Committee noted the study does raise the issue of priorities. We seem to
be doing a lot of enforcement for expired meters. Maybe we should direct
operations to other areas. Chief Jacobi indicated he met with David Jennings
on that very issue and their department is to pay more attention to other
violations, such as meter feeding, beginning on December 18, 1989. Alex
Sproul asked if we could experiment with reducing our level of expired meter
enforcement and see what impact it may have on meter revenue. David Jennings
said we track revenue in meter blocks of approximately 100 meters each and
this request would be possible.
It was noted that the average short term parker stays in a space for I hour -
20 minutes. This means one space can provide a place for six (6) vehicles in
an eight (8) hour day. Based on rough figures from a small study, if as many
as 20% of the spaces (short term) are utilized by long term parkers and
increased enforcement can effectively move 40% of the violators, then 500
spaces (20% of 2,500 snort term spaces) are being wasted. Enforcement could
free up 200 spaces (40% of 500 spaces occupied by violators) which would make
room for 1,200 more vehicles (6 vehicles/8 hour day/space x 200 spaces) each
day for short term usage.
(G. Murphy arrived at 7:15 p.m.)
The Committee requested further information on why some REPD's and ROPD's are
in effect an Saturdays. Staff will provide a follow up report on this matter.
The Committee briefly discussed the issue of raising the fine for parking
(meter feeding) violations. Alex Sproul indicated $30 (from $10) would be an
appropriate level for this violation. The Committee needs to address this
issue further and decide if a recommendation to change the level is needed.
David Jennings distributed an article about how Arlington, Virginia is trying
to increase collections from parking ticket skofflaws. (Attached).
The meeting adjourned at 7:30 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
David N. Barber