Burlington Downtown & Residential Parking Initiatives

Public Meeting #2

April 14, 2015

24/14/2015Park Burlington | Public Meeting 2

Meeting Agenda

Welcome/Introductions• Chapin Spencer, Burlington DPW

Residential Parking

• Grace Wu, RSG

Downtown and Waterfront Parking

• Andy Hill, Desman Associates

Break-out Stations for Public Comment/Questions

Residential Parking

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Residential Parking Agenda Tonight

1. Project Goals

2. Project Considerations

3. Preliminary Residential Parking Strategies– Citywide

– Block-specific

4. Tonight’s Stations and Online Feedback– More detail on Burlington Residential Parking Strategies

– Online opportunities for comment

Learn more and tell us what you

think!

54/14/2015Park Burlington | Public Meeting 2

Balances the Needs of

Residents & Non-Residents

Best Utilizes Limited Parking

& Land Resources

Tailored to Each Neighborhood’s Unique Needs

Apply a Data Driven

Approach

Is Fair and Transparent

Is Market-Responsive

Residential Parking Study

Build upon and improve the existing residential parking program

Why Now?

• The current program is not clear, nor meeting current needs.

• Understand current parking trends to inform zoning

• Establish a residential parking program that responds to downtown changes

64/14/2015Park Burlington | Public Meeting 2

Myth Busting!

• We’re taking away the residential parking program

• We’re adding parking meters to your neighborhood

• We’re allowing students, commuters, and special event guests park in your neighborhood

• We’re charging for permits to generate revenue

• We aren’t talking to residents

74/14/2015Park Burlington | Public Meeting 2

Reasons for a Residential Parking Program

To balance between the desires of residents to park their cars near their homes

Resident

+Non-Resident

(Students, Shoppers, Workers, Household Help, etc.)

+The non-residents who travel to the neighborhood to work, study, shop, or play.

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Project Considerations

Understand current parking needs,

issues, trends, and violations

Refine Residential Parking Program Goals based on

feedback

Consider highlights from comparable

cities

Identify preliminary residential parking

strategies

Establish consensus to help point strategies in the right direction

We are here

94/14/2015Park Burlington | Public Meeting 2

Comparable Places

Burlington Ithaca Charlottesville San Luis Obispo

Boulder0

20,000

40,000

60,000

80,000

100,000

Population (2010 Census)

City Population Student Population

Ithaca, NY Charlottesville, VA San Luis Obispo, CA Boulder, CO

Creative Commons Josh Mock Creative Commons Amy CahillCreative Commons Bob Mical

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Highlights of Comparable Places

• Burlington is unique in offering residential parking permits at no cost.

• Other college towns have fixed expiration/renewal dates, based on the academic calendar.

• Three of the four comparable places have a parking survey and minimum utilization requirement for designating a new residential parking area.

• Three of the four comparable places have parking zones or districts, as opposed to assigning permits by street.

• None of the cities studied guarantee on-street parking spots for residents.

114/14/2015Park Burlington | Public Meeting 2

What We Heard

November 19, 2014 November 19 to December 14, 2014

84 Residential Comments

~ 100 participants, over 100 comments +

Preliminary Residential Parking Strategies (in no particular order…)

134/14/2015Park Burlington | Public Meeting 2

Improve Technologies

What We Heard Preliminary Strategies

Coordinate permit database with campus databases“Need clear and

better enforcement”

“Why does this block have resident parking?”

“It’s inconvenient and inconsistent to renew permits for me or my guests.”

Ease of administering, monitoring, and enforcing residential parking

Why?

More information on a user-friendly website and printed materials

Online or mailed permit renewals, pay citations, and printable visitor permits (where applicable)

Clear guidance on how to get a permit, why residential permits are established

Easier for the City, existing residents, and maybe short-term visitors

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Restructure Permits & Pricing

What We Heard Preliminary Strategies

Charge for residential parking permits• Quarterly (~$5 to $10)• Annually (~$20 to $40)

“Look at similar cities. We can support a fee.”

“I’m having guests or visitors who need to park near my home.”

“Too many permits are issued.”

Generate revenue to administer the program, account for the privilege of on-street permit parking

Why?

Charge for visitor passes. Allow 2 per dwelling unit.• 15-day (~5 to $10)

• 30-day ($10 to $20)

Enforce number of residential passes per dwelling unit. • 1 per studio and one-bedroom

units.

• 2 per dwelling unit for all others

Account for privilege of on-street permit parking, encourage turnover, and lower black market permit exchanges

Consider limited land resources and encourage use of alternative modes.

154/14/2015Park Burlington | Public Meeting 2

Improve the Parking Experience

What We Heard Preliminary Strategies

Encourage and improve access to transit, walking, bicycling, car-sharing, and streetscapes

“Encourage more transit-ridership, discourage driving and parking.”

“Drivers should know where else they can park.”

“Students’ cars sit for weeks at a time. Commuters trying to park increases traffic.”

Reduce traffic and the demand for on-street parking

Why?

Improve signage

Encourage satellite parking on campus and incentivize parking in remote lots instead of on-street long-term parking

Make it easier to find suitable parking or understand parking restrictions

Encourage students who use their car less often to park in a remote lot, instead of long-term on street.

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Improve the Program Administration

What We Heard Preliminary Strategies

Allow approved landlords to administer permits to tenants

“Landlords are not held accountable to parking concerns.”

“Residential parking overcrowds non-permitted streets.”

“Students move but their permits do not expire.”

Relieves administrative burden on the City

Why?

Establish residential parking areas rather than streets

Establish residential parking permit hours based on parking demand, by hours or days of the week

Allowing residential permits by walkable area

Permit hours address local variation in parking demand

Establish fixed expiration/ renewal dates for permits, quarterly or annually by academic calendar

Simplifies admin, renewing, tracking, and enforcing residential permits, based on high turnover periods

“Baseball parking overloads our neighborhood.”

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Improve the Process for Establishing Residential Parking

What We Heard Preliminary Strategies

To establish new residential parking - Require a parking utilization survey over two weekday peak hours (>75% occupancy)

“Residential parking is inconsistently applied.”

“I have trouble finding a place to park near my home.”

“Streets are public rights of way and should be open to all.”

Assess that there is a demonstrated parking problem. >75% occupancy means additional traffic circling

Why?

To petition for residential parking only - Require 51% of residents’ signatures from proposed block and ensure a time-sensitive process.

Establish a neighborhood-driven or city-initiated process to remove or reallocate residential parking restrictions

Ensure majority resident agreement and buy-in from neighbors

To remove or reallocate residential parking - Require 51% resident participation and a parking utilization survey over two weekday peak hours (<75%)

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Block-Specific Strategies (because each block is unique)

What We Heard Preliminary Strategies

Add pay stations or meters to some neighborhoods“Consider meters on

Maple Street.”

“What about commuters?”

“Current permit system makes it worse for daytime visitors.”

Encourage turnover, allow “free” after-hours parking, and a portion of the revenues go to improve the neighborhood

Why?

Allow some commuter permits for a higher fee, with some revenue

Allows visitors to park briefly in a residential parking area without having to obtain a visitor permit

Make use of available day time spaces, and a portion of the revenues go to improve the neighborhood

Allow 2-hour free parking for non-residents on certain blocks• Park only once per day within

given neighborhood area

Downtown Parking

Public Feedback

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Tonight’s Feedback Stations Tell us what you think!

Project Goals & What We Heard

Residential Parking Strategies

Vote on the downtown parking strategies!

1 2

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Share your thoughts online!

http://www.burlingtonvt.gov/public/parking