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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Parking Advisory Committee - 01/06/2014 Parking Advisory Committee Meeting Meeting Minutes Monday, January 6th, 2014 5:30 PM Staff Conference Room — 1St Floor I. Call to Order - Chairperson Darlene Gregory called the meeting to order at 5:42 PM. Present were Committee members Lynn Frazier, Richard Durham, Jennifer Perales, Darlene Gregory, Linda "Katie" Sutton, Lawrence Virts, and Jim Swan, as well as CCPD Staff Liaison Marcus Denson and Street Traffic Engineer Raymond Chong. II. Approval of Minutes —The minutes were read by the members with a motion to approve by Richard Durham, 2nd by Jennifer Perales, approved by committee vote. III. Committee Reports — N/A IV. Unfinished Business — A. Continued discussion of Central City Revitalization project and potential funding. Clarification of the name of the non-profit organization and the status of the organization before the funding request could be sent to Council. Liaison Marc Denson will contact DMD for clarification. B. Continued discussion of initial lighting projects to be considered and lighting specs. Committee will look for some experts in lighting to help determine what we can do and how we can move forward. C. Follow up discussion on TPTA Roundtable from Dec.2, 2013. The Roundtable was a great success with 57 attendees and the largest and most professionally organized the TPTA has seen to date. V. New Business A. North Beach Parking Sticker Program — Lynn Frazier submitted a proposal from a group of North Beach owners and residents for a possible permit parking program. Liaison Marc Denson will do some research on the item and report back to the Committee. While there is a possibility there are several legal and Code of Ordinance issues involved. B. Lynn Frazier opened an discussion on the meters on North Beach and the Aquarium contract that outlines the revenue from them. Several questions arose including the original intent of the contract and the length of time it was originally designed for. Liaison Marc Denson will acquire a copy of the most current contract for the Committee to review and discuss. VI. Items to be placed on next meeting agenda A. Continued discussions on lighting project. B. North Beach meters Aquarium contract. C. Update on Council Agenda Item for Parking Improvement Fund presentation. VII. Public Comment - None VIII. Adjourn— Next Meeting to be held on February 3rd.. Motion to adjourn by Lawrence Virts and seconded by Lynn Frazier. i NORTH BEACH ANNUAL PARKING STICKER PROPOSAL A group of North Beach business owners and residents drafted this proposal in January 2013. Concept in a nutshell: Instituting an annual beach parking sticker for North Beach that drivers would be required to purchase for$10 at area convenience stores and affix to the inside of their windshield.The parking sticker requirement would be in effect 24/7.The money collected from this program would go into a special fund to help pay for parking improvements and beach maintenance that is currently underfunded or not funded at all. Reasoning: The city is in dire need of parking area and beach amenity improvements on North Beach yet has no revenue source to make those needed improvements.The existing dirt parking lots have not been graded for several years and are filled with giant potholes that fill up with water and make the parking lots unusable.The east-west beach access roads are full of potholes and covered in sand.This state of affairs does not promote potential investment in North Beach, nor does it encourage our visitors to return. It also does not promote a high quality of life for our residents and does not make our city sparkle. Well-kept parking areas and better beach amenities would improve both the curb appeal and usability of North Beach.This user fee would cost beach goers about$10 per year,which is less than the Gulf beach sticker and, if used for repeat visits, amounts to very little cost per trip.The sticker may encourage stewardship,with the concept being-when you pay a little to use an area,you feel invested in it and therefore take better care of it. Where to buy North Beach Parking Stickers: Beach users will be able to buy them at the four convenience stores on North Beach and other participating local businesses, similar to how the Gulf Beach Pass is sold. A parking sticker machine may be an option,especially if placed inside a store where it can be monitored against vandalism. Funds would pay for: enforcement by a hired parking officer paving east-west beach access streets and painting stripes to designate angled head-in parking spaces cleaning the beach maintaining parking lots building new shade structures and tables What would change: The small dirt parking lots that currently provide the only public beach parking would be elevated, leveled and paved.A section of this area would be reserved (via signage)for ADA parking only. Another section would provide a paved circular"Loading Zone"where drivers can drop-off their passengers. A third part would provide much-needed reserved parking for emergency vehicles. The narrow east-west beach access streets,which are platted to be 60 feet wide but are currently only about 20 feet,would be widened, paved and provide a sidewalk and head-in parking on each side with two lanes of traffic in the center. Parking in this area would require a North Beach Annual Parking Sticker that would be applied to the inside of the windshield.The east-west roads alone could accommodate hundreds of cars. The underutilized north end of North Beach near Dolphin Park would provide many more parking spaces,which would also require a parking sticker.The area that is currently a large dirt field would be graded and paved and striped with pedestrian access points added.This area can accommodate hundreds of cars. Surfside Park would also provide more parking in the existing paved parking lot and the big grassy triangular piece of park land could be converted to a public parking lot,which would also be an area that requires an annual sticker. Free Parking: Free parking would be available near the existing and underutilized community center and baseball field at Kiwanis Park. Drivers could drop off their passengers at the turn-around,then drive to this area and park for free,then walk 2 blocks back to the beach. History of this proposal: Several years ago, the North Beach Task Force came up with the idea as a way to generate revenue for improvements and address some parking abuse issues,but the proposal did not get off the ground, despite a lot of enthusiasm and support from businesses and residents that serve on the Task Force. Other Area Beach Passes: Padre Island National Seashore Annual Pass is currently$20. Gulf Beach annual parking sticker is currently$12(and may possibly go up). GLO Contract: The City of Corpus Christi is under contract with the Texas General Land Office to manage and maintain the beach area of North Beach. Very little of the area where beach users are currently parking is actually GLO land but rather is designated as either"Park"land or a city street or easement. Carrie Robertson Meyer spoke with officials from the GLO about the proposal and was told that the GLO did not have a problem with the concept and asked that the city simply notify them if they wished to make changes to their current contract. In fad,the GLO contract administrator did not see any real issue with the current wording of the contract that would prohibit the city from charging to park.