TO: Mayor and Members of City Council
THRU: Douglas J. Hewett, ICMA-CM, City Manager
FROM: Lee Jernigan, PE, City Traffic Engineer
Sheila Thomas-Ambat, PE, CCM, CFM, Director of Public Services
Tracey Broyles, Budget and Evaluation Director
DATE: January 11, 2021
RE:
Title
Downtown Parking Update, Including Recommendation to Begin Paid On-Street Parking on July 1, 2021
end
COUNCIL DISTRICT(S):
Council District(s)
2
b
Relationship To Strategic Plan:
Goal II: Diverse and Viable Economy
Executive Summary:
Staff is providing an update on the status of downtown parking including the transition to paid on-street parking. Staff recommends that paid on-street parking begin July 1, 2021, as compared to prior City Council approval to begin on April 1, 2020, due to downtown business impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Unless otherwise directed by Council, staff will implement paid on-street parking effective July 1, 2021, from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm from Monday through Friday at $1.00 per hour ($0.50 per 30 minutes in first hour), consistent with the fee schedule adopted by Council.
Off-street parking rates will remain the same at $1.00 per hour with a $5.00 daily maximum during the same enforcement times. The Franklin Street Parking deck will have the same rates and times, except that the first hour is free.
During the initial 2 weeks of the transition, only warning citations will be issued with the focus on education and compliance. Staff will work with Corporate Communications and the Cool Spring Downtown District to complete a public outreach campaign with downtown stakeholders prior to the transition to paid on-street parking.
Background:
A comprehensive downtown parking study was completed by Walker Consultants and presented to City Council for their consensus at the February 4, 2019 work session. As a result of the study, a Request For Information (RFI) was issued in March 2019. Based on the information from the RFI and the recommendations of the Walker Study, a Request For Proposals (RFP) was scoped and released in May 2019 for the Operation and Management of the Downtown Parking Program.
At the September 3, 2019 work session, City Council was provided an update on the selection process, including a recommendation for Republic/Lanier Parking to operate and manage the downtown parking program. Council subsequently provided direction at the September 23, 2019 regular meeting to move forward with negotiations of a five year term contract with Republic/Lanier Parking.
On November 25, 2019, Council approved a consent item that revised the Code of Ordinances, adopted Fee Schedule revisions, authorized the City Manager to execute the five-year term contract with Republic/Lanier Parking, and approved a resolution authorizing the City Manager to implement parking changes. These changes began on January 1, 2020. Paid on-street parking was scheduled to begin April 1, 2020, but was delayed in March 2020 due to the impacts created by COVID-19. No changes have been implemented to the downtown parking operation, to date, based on this delay.
Issues/Analysis:
Staff has completed a Budget Impact Analysis for the Parking Fund for which a summary spreadsheet is attached.
• Delayed implementation of paid on-street parking from January 1, 2021 to July 1, 2021 results in a projected revenue loss of $157,776, but that is offset by associated expenditure reductions of $136,000 from reduced contract service expenditures for Republic Parking.
• Ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on downtown parking operations were also reviewed, under the assumption that current conditions remain as is through the end of the fiscal year. The impacts assume losses of revenues for all special events and baseball games through the end of the year, and reduced revenues from parking fees, violations and penalties. The revenue losses are projected to total $175,217, offset by contract service expenditure reductions of $24,000.
• Additional changes include an estimated loss of $15,000 due to delayed opening of the Hay Street Deck, and the availability of $56,622 of parking equipment financing proceeds received in the prior fiscal year that can fund equipment purchases budgeted in the current fiscal year.
Budget Impact:
There is a total negative budget impact of $131,371 resulting from the revenue and expenditure changes noted above. The adopted budget currently includes a transfer from the General Fund of $582,600, which would now be projected to increase to $713,971 for the current fiscal year. These projections will be further refined during the budget development process and budget amendments, as necessary, will be brought for adoption by City Council.
Options:
• Accept staff’s recommendation to begin paid on-street parking on July 1, 2021
• Reject staff’s recommendation to begin paid on-street parking on July 1, 2021 and provide further direction
Recommended Action:
Staff recommends Council accept the recommendation to begin paid on-street parking on July 1, 2021.
Attachments:
• Parking Fund Budget Impact Analysis