TO: Mayor and Members of City Council
THRU: Kristoff Bauer, Deputy City Manager
FROM: Robert Stone, P.E., Director of Public Services
DATE: September 10, 2018
RE:
Title
Council Update on the Downtown Parking Management Plan
end
COUNCIL DISTRICT(S):
Council District(s)
2
b
Relationship To Strategic Plan:
Goal II: Diverse and Viable Economy
Objective A: To sustain a favorable development climate through continual improvement of internal process and by providing redevelopment tools to encourage business growth
Executive Summary:
City staff issued a RFP in November 2017 to perform a downtown parking plan and four responses to the RFP were received. Those responses were from Alta Planning, Carl Walker, Nelson Nygaard and Walker Consultants. The responses were reviewed by an evaluation team that included staff from the City Manager’s office, Development Services, Economic and Community Development, Finance, Police and Public Services, as well as, the Cool Spring Downtown District and the Greater Fayetteville Chamber. After the review of the proposals, Walker Consultants was interviewed in February 2018 and ultimately selected to conduct the plan. Walker Consultants began work on the plan in May 2018 and has completed tasks involving parking inventory, occupancy, turnover analysis and future parking conditions. Initial stakeholder involvement has also been conducted including onsite meetings with government, downtown business owners and residents. In addition, an online parking survey was completed that received 498 responses and two public outreach events were held on Fourth Friday, June 22, 2018. A review of potential new parking sites for size and walking distances has also been completed. Existing parking policies, organizational structure/staffing, rate structure, parking equipment technology, peer city comparisons and potential customer service improvements have also been reviewed.
Upcoming tasks to be completed include a model of event parking conditions, additional public input regarding draft plan recommendations, a review of historical revenue statements and citations. The consultant is scheduled to present draft recommendations for review at Council’s work session on October 1, 2018. The parking management plan is expected to be completed by November 1, 2018.
Background:
The City of Fayetteville was awarded a $100,000 Rural Economic Development Grant from the North Carolina Department of Commerce to fund a parking management plan for the downtown area. At their regular meeting on October 23, 2017, Council adopted Special Revenue Fund Project Ordinance (SRO) 2018-7 to appropriate the $100,000 state award and Budget Ordinance Amendment (BOA) 2018-3 to reduce $100,000 from the General Fund budget that had been set aside for the parking plan in the event that the anticipated grant was not received.
The core downtown parking plan area for the purposes of this plan is the area bounded by Eastern Boulevard, Russell Street, Robeson Street/Bragg Boulevard and Grove Street/Rowan Street. However, the consultant was advised to consider options for downtown parking in the expanded area bounded to the west by Martin Luther King Jr. Freeway and to the east by the Cape Fear River. The plan will consider current parking capacity and operations, and how upcoming development will alter the demand on these facilities.
The plan funded by this grant will inventory and assess existing parking facilities, operations, fee schedules, revenues, and parking program administration. The plan will analyze the existing parking program and make recommendations for amendments based on expected impacts of the upcoming development and parking demands related to the diverse nature of the special events that occur downtown. The parking plan will make recommendations including: additional on/off-street capacities, parking structures, staffing, smart parking technology, fees, ordinances, signage, and zoning. The analysis will include comparisons to Fayetteville’s peer cities within North Carolina and consider the multi- modal nature of the downtown area.
Issues/Analysis:
This is an informational report to Council on the status of the Downtown Parking Management Plan. The consultant will be scheduled to present the draft recommendations of the plan at the October 1, 2018 work session.
Budget Impact:
The City of Fayetteville was awarded a $100,000 Rural Economic Development Grant from the North Carolina Department of Commerce to fund a parking management plan for the downtown area.
Options:
1) Accept the report
2) Do not accept the report and provide direction to staff
Recommended Action:
Staff recommends that Council accept the report.
Attachments:
Downtown Parking Management Plan Grant Packet
Walker Consultants Memorandum, Project Update on Downtown Parking Plan
Walker Consultants Downtown Parking Plan Proposal