HomeMy WebLinkAbout2013-11-04 Ordinance 5213Ordinance No. 5213
Ordinance of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Amending Chapter 18.52 (Parking
and Loading Requirements) of Title 18 (Zoning) of the Palo Alto Municipal Code to
Eliminate the "Exempt Floor Area" Parking Exemption as Contained in Sections
18.52.060{a)(2) and 18.52.060{c) of the Palo Alto Municipal Code
The Council of the City of Palo Alto does ORDAIN as follows:
SECTION 1. Findings and Recitals. The Council of the City of Palo Alto finds and
declares as follows:
A. On October 15, 2012, the City Council imposed a 45-day moratorium on the use
of the "Exempt Floor Area" parking exemptions related to the Downtown and California
Avenue Parking Assessment areas. On December 10, 2012, the City Council further
extended the parking moratorium for an additional year in order to allow time to further
study the issue and develop strategies to address the identified parking issues. The
moratorium is due to expire on December 28, 2013, and if no new ordinance is adopted, the
previous exemptions would be reinstated.
B. The purpose of this ordinance is to amend the zoning code to permanently
delete these "Exempt Floor Area" parking exemptions for properties within the Downtown
and California Avenue Parking Assessment areas.
C. The City of Palo Alto downtown and California Avenue areas have seen an
increase in development and have experienced increases in parking demand, as
documented in downtown and California Avenue monitoring reports produced in the past
five years.
D. According to the Downtown Monitoring Report 2011-2012 provided to the City
Council on March 11, 2013, since 2008, eight projects were approved which included
seismic, historic and minor floor area bonuses totaling 28,676 square feet, with parking
exemptions granted equivalent to 115 parking spaces. In addition as of October 1, 2013,
there are three additional projects pending in the Downtown totaling approximately 77,788
square feet and requesting parking exemptions equivalent to 100 parking spaces.
E. No new parking structures have been added to the City's inventory since 2003.
F. In addition, the overall vacancy rate within the Commercial Downtown (CD)
zoning district has dropped from a high rate of 6.39 percent in 2008-2009 to a 1.6 percent
rate in the 2011-2012 reporting period.
G. The Downtown Parking Survey conducted in Spring of 2013 shows that within
the Commercial Downtown core area, on-street parking occupancy between 12:00 noon
and 2:00 p.m. reached 87.9 percent overall.
1
Revised September 20, 2013
130920 dm 0131136
H. According to the Downtown Parking Study, parking in hourly public lots and
garages was at 87.2% occupancy, while permit parking in public lots and garages was at
65.9% occupancy.
I. The Spring 2013 and Fall 2012 Downtown Parking Surveys also show that
compared to previous years, on-street parking use has increased in the Downtown North,
Professorville and South of Forest Avenue neighborhoods.
J. The City is experiencing increased office occupancy as employers are beginning
to transform work spaces from individual offices or cubicles to open space concepts
permitting more employees per square foot.
K. Increased demand for parking caused by recent addition of office square
footage, increased office occupancy and an upswing in downtown retail activity has been
coupled with a decreasing supply of parking due to the use of existing parking exemptions
in new development and lack of a robust transportation demc;lnd management program.
L. The Downtown Parking Code was adopted at a time when the downtown was
underdeveloped and incentives for redevelopment were needed. One of the primary
incentives incorporated into the Code was a series of parking exemptions. These parking
exemptions were exceedingly successful in encouraging both the rehabilitation of historic
and seismically unsafe buildings and redevelopment in the Downtown core in general. The
City is now at a point where most of the historic and seismically unsafe buildings have been
renovated and the 'downtown has transformed into an economically thriving area.
M. The City is experiencing increased office occupancy as employers are beginning
to transform work spaces from individual offices or cubicles to open space concepts
permitting more employees per square foot.
N. The lack of available daytime downtown and California Avenue parking for
employees· has resulted in complaints from both merchants and other businesses about the
lack of parking for their employees.
O. The lack of available daytime downtown and California Avenue parking for
employees has also resulted in complaints from residents in the downtown, California
Avenue and adjacent areas about congested parking in their neighborhoods.
P. The lack of available daytime downtown and California Avenue parking results in
traffic seeking available parking spaces to circulate for longer periods of time, resulting in
related impacts on air quality from increased emissions.
Q. The Palo Alto Zoning Ordinance Chapter 18.52 (Parking and Loading
Requirements) provide for a variety of exemptions and reductions to parking requirements
within the downtown and California Avenue areas that result in less parking being provided
than the calculated demand for parking in new projects.
2
Revised September 20, 2013
130920 dm 0131136
SECTION 2. Section 18.52.060 (Parking Assessment Districts and Areas -General)
of Title 18 (Zoning) of the Palo Alto Municipal Code is hereby amended to read as follows:
18.52.060 Parking Assessment Districts and Areas -General
(a) Definitions
(1) Parking Assessment Areas"
Parking assessment areas" means either:
The "downtown parking assessment area," which is that certain area ofthe city
delineated on the map of the University Avenue parking assessment district
entitled Proposed Boundaries of University Avenue Off-Street Parking Project No. 75-63
Assessment District, City of Palo Alto, County of Santa Clara, State of California, dated
October 30, 1978, and on file with the city clerk; or
The "California Avenue area parking assessment district," which is that certain area
of the city delineated on the map of the California Avenue area parking assessment district
entitled Proposed Boundaries, California Avenue Area Parking Maintenance District, dated
December 16, 1976, and on file with the city clerk;
(b) In-lieu fees
Except as provided in subsection (c) below, within any parking assessment district
established by the city for the purpose of providing off-street parking facilities, all or a
portion of the off-street parking requirement for a use may be satisfied by payment of
assessments or fees levied by such district on the basis of parking spaces required but not
provided.
SECTION 3. CEQA. The proposed Ordinance eliminates certain exemptions to the
parking regulations within the Downtown and California Avenue areas of the City of Palo
Alto, which will result in projects that will comply with the remaining parking regulations
established in the Palo Alto Municipal Code. Further, each individual project submitted
under the revised regulations will be subject to its own environmental review.
Consequently, this ordinance is exempt from the requirements of the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of Title 14 ofthe
California Code of Regulations since it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility
the adoption and implementation of this Ordinance may have a significant effect on the
environment and Section 15301 in that this proposed ordinance will have a minor impact on
existing facilities.
SECTION 4. Severability. If any provision, clause, sentence or paragraph of this
ordinance, or the application to any person or circumstances, shall be held invalid, such
invalidity shall not affect the other provisions of this Ordinance which can be given effect
without the invalid provision or application and, to this end, the provisions of this Ordinance
are hereby declared to be severable.
3
Revised September 20, 2013
130920 dm 0131136