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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20120425ParkingCommitteeMinutes.pdf CITY OF TYBEE ISLAND PARKING COMMITTEE MINUTES April 25, 2012 ATTENDEES Council Committee representatives: Bill Garbett, Tom Groover, Staff Committee representatives: Diane Schleicher, Mary Hogan, Pete Ryerson, Chief Robert Bryson, Joe Wilson, Denise Dubuque, Chief Skip Sasser, and Chantel Morton Guest Brad Baugh Marianne Bramble Joyce Prescott CALL TO ORDER Mr. Bill Garbett called the meeting to order. APPROVAL OF MINUTES The minutes from the March 30, 2012 minutes were approved. NEW BUSINESS: I. Brad Baugh Mr. Baugh addressed the committee with concerns about guest parking at his rental property located at 1702 Chatham Avenue and the City right of way. Council, staff and Mr. Baugh discussed options including parking passes, two-day passes, and yearly decals. Mr. Baugh discussed the property survey with council members and staff and landscape options that could help with his parking problem. Mr. Garbett said that the committee understood the dilemma that Mr. Baugh has with parking, but he cannot have his guests parking in the city right of way. He stated that we would add a parking pass compromise on the next meeting for consideration. OLD BUSINESS: I. Review Proposed Amendments to the Current Private Parking Ordinance Mr. Garbett stated that at the last meeting the committee was asked to review the parking ordinance. Ms. Schleicher sent out a note on the ordinance. The objective is to come up with some revisions so that it is workable for everyone. He said that the discussion today will be if we have a private parking ordinance, what we want in it.  Location: Mr. Garbett presented several topics for discussion on location of the lots. If going to allow private parking lots that anyone that wants to pay permit, they should be allowed, but that is his opinion. Should have it only by zoning? Some are proposing only adjoining Butler; some proposing only on ocean side. He said that some of the concerns are vacant lots as opposed to lots that have someone living there and can manage. Mr. Groover’s comments: Generally people do not want the private parking lots in residential neighborhoods. Tybee has a responsibility to day-trippers to find a place for them to park. Mr. Groover would like them limited to C-1 and C-2, but he understands that there are not enough places. Folks don’t mind if abutting C1 and C2. But that is a problem if it abuts a residential area. Eliminate parking in residential, but it is incumbent on city to find additional spaces on the island to accommodate R1 and R2. We have made changes in parking on 14th & 15th and 14th street lot, though not accomplished yet. With the changes we’ve made, we have basically one to one on parking spaces in lots and can put them out of business. If 100 more people come up wanting to open parking lots, then it is up to the city to come up with that many spaces. If we can’t do that, we have no choice but to allow lots in residential areas. How we word that in an ordinance, I don’t know. Ms. Hogan added that though she lives in an area zoned residential, it is basically commercial because most of her neighborhood is rental property and should be zoned commercial. She stated that she looks at those properties that are sitting vacant and wonders why we can’t use those lots for parking. At the same time, if we close private parking lots, some of which is the income for those people. We put them out of work. Another thing is location. We can provide a lot of spots, but location is key. People want to park up front or on Butler. Mr. Groover stated that Tybee is a tourist destination and should provide basic amenities to the tourists. We provide no parking, no public bath house, and no public showers. We should at least provide them a place to park their cars. He said that he realizes there is not enough commercial property, especially vacant, to provide parking. Ms. Hogan stated that we should be encouraging the private parking lots. Mr. Garbett suggested that we accept the status quo until we come up with more city parking.  Dates of Operation Discussions ensued concerning the dates of parking. The final decision was to allow year round parking and let the market determine when the lots will be open. If there is no crowd, or bad weather, then the lots are not going to open.  Time of Operation Ms. Schleicher explained the various times and proposed ordinance changes. The final decision is to allow parking 8:00am until dusk on normal days. On City approved special events, parking will be allowed 8:00am until one hour after the event ends.  Trash/Maintenance of Property Mr. Garbett read through the list of things to be considered: trash and recycling containers must be provided Site must be maintained and free of trash  Supervision There was discussion about requiring someone on-site at the lots from open to close. Mr. Garbett stated that the committee will work at something to address all the issues. Ms. Schleicher stated that perhaps the committee should look at noise, number of incident reports. Some of the concerns were empty lots and having someone there to supervise until closing as opposed to owner –occupied and operated. She stated there were other ways to address noise, etc. i.e. call the police, disorderly conduct.  Site Plan Requirements Mr. Garbett stated that when there is a site plan application, it should be submitted by owner, not a renter. It should require an accurate scale drawing. Officer Saunders brought up the issue of a place for folks to use a bathroom. A discussion ensued about the possibility of the use of port-a-johns. Ms. Hogan explained that there are a number of businesses that do not have bathrooms and if we are going to ask the lots to have bathrooms, then we will have to require that others will have to require the same. Mr. Garbett asked that the committee follow up on that topic.  Notification The notification process will remain the same as currently handled. It is the way that notification is handled for zoning change. Anything else would be overkill. Permits are reviewed annually. Wording is correct in the current ordinance Mr. Garbett asked if lot owners have extra insurance or contact their insurance carrier. Ms. Bramble questioned the wording of the compact car statement in the ordinance. Mr. Garbett stated that any car can be parked in the lots but will not be designated as a compact space. They will be 9’ by 18’. Ms. Schleicher said that the property should be marked with orange markers that could be seen by the city marshal. There should be wording to clarify that there is to be no off-site solicitation for parking as well. Lot owners can get a temporary directional sign with permission of property owners. Make sure that there cannot be solicitation for parking. Ms. Williams said she would like to go back to what Mr. Groover said that parking should be in C-1. Mr. Garbett said the only agreement was locations. If are going to have a private parking ordinance, he would like to leave it like the market determines. Mr. Garbett asked if we could wrap it up and send to Bubba. Mr. Groover said he agrees with Mrs. Williams that we have to find parking spaces. Sooner or later we will have to do something, whether trolleys or not. Mr. Garbett said that we have to do a culmination of “all of the above” Ms. Schleicher recommended that amended site plans will cost an additional $50 administrative fee. The applications will be subject to the base application fee in addition to regulatory fee. Mr. Garbett stated that it is the understanding of the committee that Council is voting on April 26 on a moratorium on new lots until the new ordinance is in place. He said that Mr. Hughes will prepare an updated ordinance and then it will go to Council. II. Review Proposed Layout of 14th Street Parking Lot, 14th Street (Beachside) & 15th Street (Beachside) for more spaces Mr. Garbett stated that he thought the committee was asked consider how to maximize parking in the ocean front lot and get additional parking on 15th street. Mr. Garbett has a survey and tried to maximize parking with that survey. He stated that there were several things he did not know: Can angled parking be mixed with straight in parking? What buffers are needed on corners for proper egress and exit? He asked what was required for a fire lane. The road in front of Ocean Plaza is designated as fire lane, then parallel parking on the ocean side and then a fence. Can we get rid of the fence and have parking by curb, and a fire lane on the other side. Would that be legal? What is the width? Mr. Garbett explained that the ordinance states that an 18’ width is required. Mr. Wilson said that 20’ is the best width because of big trucks. Chief Sasser stated that 15th Street was a nightmare for emergency vehicles. School buses and people dropping off make it impossible for emergency vehicles. Mr. Groover asked it if was possible to limit the kinds of vehicles in there. A discussion ensued about the parking lot and emergency vehicles. Mr. Wilson said that the original master plan for Tybrisa and the 16th street lot and included 15th street. Mr. Wilson stated that he has issues with the lot. The sub base is failing. It needs to be crack sealed and coated now. If a master plan is not going to be done for that area, to remove the fence, remove the palm trees and remove the pay and display meters and curbing is going to take some money. It may take 2 to 3 years to recoup that money. It is a short term solution to a long term problem. If it is really looked at and planned out, resurfacing and crack sealing is a short term solution and you will get maybe 5 more years out of it. Mr. Garbett said that he thought we were going to resurface and do it in a smart way, maybe get more parking. The committee discussed ways to put a fire lane in a different way to get more parking. Chief Sasser and Mr. Wilson discussed public safety and increasing liability by moving the fire lane. Mr. Ryerson explained the way people block traffic in the 14th Street lot on the weekends, busses and the swing required for tour busses, fire trucks. Ms. Hogan asked if the fire lane had not just been moved and the fire lane is now a lane for parking and no longer a designated fire lane. Mr. Garbett confirmed that was the case. The discussion continued on the 14th Street lot and a fire lane, using the images projected on the screen. Ms. Schleicher and Mr. Garbett explained that this was a plan to come up within October or November and that the repairing of the lot was to happen now. Mr. Groover stated that we could plan for it and close the lot on a Sunday and take 4 days to repair it. Mr. Wilson stressed that the lot base needs to be repaired now or we may not have a parking lot. Seal coating would last 3-5 years. Mr. Garbett stated that this is a first shot at a master plan. The discussion continued on the parking lot and fire lanes. Mr. Garbett discussed parallel parking, straight in parking and parallel parking on 15th street. Mr. Wilson explained the DOT requirements at intersections. Curb cuts were discussed. Mr. Garbett said that if we want to consider this plan we can budget and plan for it. III. Parking Update by Parking Staff Mr. Ryerson said that the staff is great this year. They were really pushed Orange Crush weekend and did a great job. 483 citations were written. The staff was amazing. Ms. Hogan said that the people were actually paying over the weekend IV. Miscellaneous Ms. Schleicher asked about the time change of the meeting. The committee agreed that 10am was a good time for the meeting. Mr. Ryerson asked about contract labor to help with parking on really busy weekends. Mr. Groover asked about raising parking fees per hour. He said that he would like to see a fee, say $25 per day, ½ day / 4 hours $12.50. He stated, the closer you are to the beach, the higher the fees. Mr. Garbett asked how it would be handled, as a receipt could be bought somewhere else and then move their car. Mr. Garbett said that we cannot get this done before the next meeting. Mr. Groover asked if the arms at the lots could be put back up and a charge per car can go back up. The discussion continued about the possibility of a charge per car. Mr. Ryerson explained the “front loader” concept in the lots. Garbett stated that this probably needs to be revisited every year. He asked Ms. Hogan to get information before the next meeting on what other communities are charging. Mr. Groover made a motion to adjourn. Mr. Garbett seconded. The meeting was adjourned.