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HomeMy Public PortalAbout05) 7B ADOPTION OF ORD 15-1002 REPEAL BACK-IN PARKINGDATE: TO: FROM: SUBJECT: AGENDA ITEM 7.8. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT MEMORANDUM June 16, 2015 The Honorable City Council Bryan Cook, City Manager By: Michael D. Forbes , Community Development Director ~ SECOND READING AND ADOPTION OF ORDINANCE NO. 15-1002 AMENDING SECTION 3-3A-30 OF THE TEMPLE CITY MUNICIPAL CODE TO REPEAL THE BLANKET PROHIBITION ON BACK-IN PARKING ON MUNICIPAL PARKING LOTS AND GRANT THE CITY COUNCIL THE AUTHORITY TO PROHIBIT BACK-IN PARKING WHERE DEEMED APPROPRIATE OR NECESSARY RECOMMENDATION: The City Council is requested to waive further reading and adopt Ordinance No. 15- 1002 (Attachment "A") amending Section 3-3A-30 of the Temple City Municipal Code (TCMC) relative to back-in parking on municipal parking lots. BACKGROUND: On June 2, 2015, the City Council voted 5-0 to introduce Ordinance No . 15-1002 for first reading, by title only, amending Section 3-3A-30 of the TCMC to remove the blanket prohibition on back-in parking on municipal parking lots and grant the City Council the authority to prohibit back-in parking on a case-by-case basis where deemed appropriate or necessary. ANALYSIS: As introduced by the City Council, Ordinance No . 15-1002 would remove the blanket prohibition on back-in parking on parking lots owned or operated by the City of Temp le City . Back-in parking could still be prohibited on a case-by-case basis by the City Council, at the recommendation of the Transportation and Public Safety Commission, in locations where deemed appropriate or necessary due to safety, traffic circulation, or other issues. Additional information is provided in the City Council staff report from June 2, 2015 (Attachment "B"). City Council June 16, 2015 Page 2 of 2 CONCLUSION: Ordinance No. 15-1002 will provide residents and visitors with the convenience of back- in parking when desired while still providing the ability to prohibit back-in parking on a case-by-case basis. This will enhance safety in parking lots, furthering the Strategic Plan goal of Public Health and Safety. FISCAL IMPACT: The City currently issues citations for vehicles that are parked in violation of the back-in parking restriction. If back-in parking is allowed, these citations would no longer be issued, resulting in reduced revenue from citation payments and penalties. In calendar year 2013, the City collected $148,962.84 in citations and penalties for back-in parking violations. In calendar year 2014, the City collected $49,335.00 in citations and penalties for such violations. While revenue from these citations would be lost, the time that is currently devoted by Parking Control Officers to writing citations for back-in parking could be devoted to writing citations for street sweeping violations or other parking violations throughout the City, which would offset much of the revenue loss. ATTACHMENTS: A. Ordinance No. 15-1002 B. City Council staff report from June 2, 2015 ATTACHMENT A ORDINANCE NO. 15-1002 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TEMPLE CITY AMENDING SECTION 3-3A-30 OF THE TEMPLE CITY MUNICIPAL CODE TO REPEAL THE BLANKET PROHIBITION ON BACK-IN PARKING ON MUNICIPAL PARKING LOTS AND GRANT THE CITY COUNCIL THE AUTHORITY TO PROHIBIT BACK-IN PARKING ON MUNICIPAL PARKING LOTS WHERE DEEMED APPROPRIATE OR NECESSARY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TEMPLE CITY HEREBY ORDAINS AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. The City's current restriction prohibiting back-in parking on municipal lots was enacted in 1960. The prohibition is inconvenient to drivers, and numerous parking citations are issued monthly. A survey of neighboring cities found that the majority do not restrict back-in parking. SECTION 2. A review of relevant professional literature did not find any justifications to prohibit back-in parking, but to the contrary, found that back-in parking has a number of advantages, including: increased visibility while exiting a back-in parking space; quicker and safer entry into traffic flow; loading and unloading of vehicles away from traffic; and a safer environment for pedestrians. SECTION 3. The Transportation and Public Safety Commission considered this matter at its meeting of April 8, 2015, and voted to recommend that the City Council amend the Temple City Municipal Code to repeal the blanket prohibition on back-in parking on municipal lots and allow back-in parking to be prohibited on a case-by-case basis where deemed appropriate or necessary. SECTION 4. Section 3-3A-30 of the Temple City Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows: 3-3A-30: BACK-IN PARKING ON MUNICIPAL PARKING LOTS The City Council, following a recommendation by the Transportation and Public Safety Commission, shall have the authority to prohibit back-in parking on municipally owned or operated parking lots where deemed appropriate or necessary for the preservation of the public health, safety, or welfare. In such cases, appropriate signs shall be posted that prohibit the standing or parking of a vehicle on the municipally owned or operated parking lot in such manner that such vehicle is backed into a marked stall. There shall be exempted from the restrictions of this section, all trucks in excess of three (3) tons' gross weight while loading or unloading. Ordinance No. 15-1002 Page 2 SECTION 5: This ordinance is exempt from environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061 (b)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines. SECTION 6: The City Council hereby declares that, should any provision, section, subsection, paragraph, sentence, clause, phrase, or word of this Ordinance or any part thereof, be rendered or declared invalid or unconstitutional by any final court action in a court of competent jurisdiction or by reason of any preemptive legislation, such decision or action shall not affect the validity of the remaining section or portions of the Ordinance or part thereof. The City Council hereby declares that it would have independently adopted the remaining provisions, sections, subsections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, phrases, or words of this Ordinance irrespective of the fact that any one or more prov1s1ons, sections, subsections, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, phrases, or words may be declared invalid or unconstitutional. SECTION 7. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of this ordinance and to its approval by the Mayor and shall cause the same to be published according to law. PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED this 16 1h day of June, 2015. MAYOR ATTEST: APPROVED AS TO FORM: CITY CLERK CITY ATTORNEY I, Peggy Kuo, City Clerk of the City of Temple City, hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance No. 15-1002 was introduced at the regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Temple City held on the 2"d day of June, 2015 and was duly passed, approved and adopted by said Council, approved and signed by the Mayor and attested to by the City Clerk at the regular meeting held on the 16th day of June, 2015 by the following vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ATTEST: Councilmember - Councilmember- Councilmember- Ordinance No. 15-1002 Page 3 CITY CLERK ATTACHMENT 8 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT MEMORANDUM DATE: June 2, 2015 TO: The Honorable City Council FROM: Bryan Cook, City Manager Via: Michael D. Forbes, Community Development Director By: Andrew J. Coyne, Management Analyst SUBJECT: INTRODUCTION AND FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 15-1002 AMENDING SECTION 3-3A-30 OF THE TEMPLE CITY MUNICIPAL CODE TO REPEAL THE BLANKET PROHIBITION ON BACK-IN PARKING ON MUNICIPAL PARKING LOTS AND GRANT THE CITY COUNCIL THE AUTHORITY TO PROHIBIT BACK-IN PARKING WHERE DEEMED APPROPRIATE OR NECESSARY RECOMMENDATION: The City Council is requested to: a) Introduce Ordinance No. 15-1002 (Attachment "A") for first reading by title only amending Section 3-3A-30 of the Temple City Municipal Code (TCMC) related to back-in parking; b) Waive further reading of Ordinance No. 15-1002; and c) Schedule the second reading of Ordinance No. 15-1002 for June 16, 2015. BACKGROUND: 1. On August 27, 2014, the Transportation and Public Safety Commission (TPSC) requested that staff research the back-in parking regulations of neighboring cities and place the matter on the agenda for discussion at the September 24, 2014 TPSC meeting. The request came as a result of several parking citation appeals that the TPSC considered for violations of Temple City's prohibition of back-in parking in City owned or operated parking lots. 2. On September 24, 2014, staff presented the TPSC with a review of the back-in parking regulations of 29 neighboring cities, showing that the majority of City Council June 2, 2015 Page 2 of 4 neighboring cities do not restrict back-in parking. Staff showed that in Temple City, a significant number of citations are issued each year for the back-in parking prohibition in public parking lots. The TPSC directed staff to conduct further research on the rationale for back-in parking restrictions, including the advantages and disadvantages of back-in parking, and report back to the TPSC on staff's findings. 3. On December 10, 2014, staff presented to the TPSC the research regarding the advantages and disadvantages of back-in parking restrictions. Staff's research found a significant amount of literature that suggested that back-in parking has a number of advantages. In response, the TPSC requested that staff formulate a recommendation to the City Council to repeal the existing back-in parking restrictions and specify certain exceptions where the restrictions should be continued in the interest of safety or traffic circulation. 4. On April 8, 2015, the TPSC voted to recommend that the City Council repeal the existing blanket prohibition on back-in parking on municipal parking lots and designate the TPSC as having the authority to prohibit back-in parking on municipal lots on a case-by-case where deemed appropriate or necessary. Staff's original proposal had given this authority to the Community Development Director. 5. On May 8, 2015, the City Code Review Standing Committee (Mayor Chavez and Councilmember Man) reviewed and discussed the proposed ordinance. The Committee concurred with the TPSC's recommendation, but recommended that the City Council have the authority to prohibit back-in parking on a case-by-case basis, with the TPSC providing an initial review and recommendation. The Committee recommended that the ordinance be brought to the full City Council for consideration at the next available City Council meeting. ANALYSIS: The TPSC's recommendation on April 8, 2015 was the final step in a process that the TPSC initiated in September 2014 to reexamine the City's prohibition on back-in parking in City owned or operated parking lots. This restriction has been in the TCMC since the City's incorporation in 1960. The TPSC determined that it was in the City's best interest to reconsider this regulation due to frequent complaints regarding its inconvenience to drivers as well as the numerous parking citations that are issued, and appealed, for this code violation. In 2013, the City issued 2,456 citations for back-in parking violations; in 2014, the City issued 923 such citations.1 1 The reduction in citations from 2013 to 2014 is primarily due to the sale of those portions of the parking lot in the Kmart shopping center that were formerly owned by the City. Since the parking lot is no longer owned by the City, the City cannot issue citations for back-in parking at the center. City Council June 2, 2015 Page 3 of 4 Staff research focused on how other cities regulate this type of parking as well as professional literature that considered the possible safety implications of back-in parking. Staff found that the majority of neighboring cities do not regulate back-in parking. Out of a survey of 29 cities, 15 had no prohibition on back-in parking, 12 had no prohibition unless otherwise posted, and only two had some form of back-in parking prohibition. Research into the subject also found that there is very little, if any, professional literature that offers a justification for restricting back-in parking. To the contrary, there was a significant amount of literature that suggested that back-in parking has a number of advantages, including: • Increased visibility while exiting a back-in parking space; • Quicker and safer entry into traffic flow; • Loading/unloading of vehicles done away from traffic; and • A safer environment for pedestrians. While most of the literature reviewed by staff referred to back-in, angled parking on a street, the above advantages are equally applicable to back-in parking in the context of a parking lot Nevertheless, there are some safety-related concerns regarding back-in parking in a parking lot, including: • Possible damage to walls, light posts, or other objects by vehicles backing up; and • Possible conflicts created by vehicles crossing into the opposing flow of traffic or driving the wrong way on one-way parking aisles. It is reasonable to conclude that the above concerns may have informed the City's original decision to include restrictions on back-in parking in the code. However, staff is not aware of any accidents that have been attributed to back-in parking. Ultimately, the TPSC deemed that the advantages of back-in parking outweigh the disadvantages, and recommended that the City Council amend the TCMC to allow back-in parking in City owned or operated parking lots. In order to address the concern that there may be certain locations or situations that warrant maintaining the prohibition on back-in parking due to safety or circulation issues (e.g. one-way aisles), the proposed ordinance gives the City Council the authority to prohibit back-in parking on municipal lots where it is deemed appropriate or necessary. As proposed, the TPSC will act in an advisory role by reviewing and recommending specific locations to the City Council, who will make the final decision. If the proposed ordinance is adopted, staff will conduct a survey of all the existing municipal parking lots and present specific locations to the TPSC and City Council that may be of concern. Staff believes this approach provides the City with greater flexibility to address particular situations, especially those that may be unforeseen at this time. City Council June 2, 2015 Page 4 of 4 CONCLUSION: Staff believes that the proposed ordinance to allow back-in parking on municipal parking lots will provide residents and visitors with the convenience of back-in parking when desired and will enhance safety in parking lots, furthering the Strategic Plan goal of Public Health and Safety. Staff recommends that the City Council adopt Ordinance No. 15-1002 to repeal the blanket prohibition on back-in parking and grant the City Council the authority to prohibit back-in parking where deemed appropriate or necessary. FISCAL IMPACT: The City currently issues citations for vehicles that are parked in violation of the back-in parking restriction. If back-in parking is allowed, these citations would no longer be issued, resulting in reduced revenue from citation payments and penalties. In calendar year 2013, the City collected $148,962.84 in citations and penalties for back-in parking violations. In calendar year 2014, the City collected $49,335.00 in citations and penalties for such violations. While revenue from these citations would be lost, the time that is currently devoted by Parking Control Officers to writing citations for back-in parking could be devoted to writing citations for street sweeping violations or other parking violations throughout the City, which would offset much of the revenue loss. ATTACHMENT: A. Ordinance No. 15-1002