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HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 330-10TO: HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL FROM: CITY MANAGER DEPARTMENT: PLANNING AND COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT DATE: AUGUST 2, 2010 CMR: 330:10 REPORT TYPE: CONSENT SUBJECT: Adoption of an Ordinance Amending the Budget for Fiscal Year 2011 to Provide an Appropriation of $97,134 Within the Residential Parking Permit Program Fund for the College Terrace Residential Parking Permit Program; and Adoption of a Resolution Amending the Fiscal Year 2011 Municipal Fee Schedule to Add New Fees for the Residential Parking Permit Program (RPPP) in'the College Terrace Neighborhood RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends that Council: 1. Approve and Adopt the Resolution Amending the Municipal Fee Schedule for, the Residential Parking Permit Program in College Terrace (Attachment A); and 2. Approve and Adopt the Budget Amendment Ordinance (Attachment B) in the amount of $97,134 to provide funding for the continuance of the College Terrace Residential Parking Permit Program. BACKGROUND On July 30, 2007, in response to a Colleagues Memorandum from then Mayor Kishimoto and Council Members Beecham and Drekmeier, Council recommended that Council direct staff to develop a revenue neutral residential parking permit program in College Terrace to address commuter and non-resident parking in the neighborhood. On July 6, 2009, Council approyed an Ordinance for a Residential Parking Permit Program in College Terrace with initial first year costs of the program partially offset by a $100,000 contribution from Stanford University. Fees for the first year of the program were $15 per permit. Council also directed Staff to evaluate the residential parking permit program's effectiveness after program implementation and work with the neighborhood to determine whether additional parking limitations need to be added to the program. CMR:330:10 Page 1 of5 DISCUSSION The Residential Parking Pennit Program (RPPP) in College Terrace allows vehicles displaying a resident pennit, guest pennit, or day pennit to use on-street parking, Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm. In addition, all vehicles not displaying a pennit may park up to two hours during these specified time periods. Vehicles not displaying a pennit during these specified time periods and exceeding the 2-hour maximum parking allowance are cited by the Police Department. Enforcement of the RPPP officially began in December 2009. Signs were placed on each street block that opted into the program and pennits were issued to each household that signed up for the program. To date, approximately 90% of the resident blocks have opted into the program (see Attachment C). In order to participate in the RPPP, the requirements called for 51% of the number of houses on a street block to sign a petition requesting that their street block be added to the RPPP. The same requirements would apply if a street block chooses to opt out of the program. During the past 9 months of enforcement of the RPPP, the Police Department has issued an average of 110 citations a month. The problem of commuter and nonresident parking in the neighborhood has improved considerably. Overall, the program has been considered a success and the neighborhood seems to be satisfied with the results. Facebook Parking Facebook moved 850 employees to a 150,000-square foot office building in the Stanford Research Park at 1601 California A venue shortly before the RPPP was approved by City COlUlcil. This move raised concerns for residents in the upper College Terrace neighborhood since many Facebook employees were parking on the neighborhood streets. Residents were skeptical that the proposed residential parking pernlit progranl' s 2-hour parking allowance would curtail Facebook employees from parking on the nearby streets; since they could move their cars every 2 hours in order to avoid getting citations. City staff has been working with Facebook to develop a program to discourage Facebook employees and visitors from parking within the neighborhood instead of Facebook's designated parking lots. In May and June, Facebook relocated about 450 employees from the Califomia . Avenue site to new buildings at 1050 Page Mill Road. The new site contains the potential for ~ providing more parking for employees and visitors. Facebook has also prepared a parking· control plan which includes Transportation Demand Management (TDM) measures in order to reduce the number of solo drivers to both the Page Mill Road and California A venue facilities. As a result of the RPPP and Facebook's actions, the non-residential parking in the neighborhood has dropped significantly, with a decrease ranging fi'om 10 to 57 percent, which are levels lower than before Facebook moved into the neighborhood in May 2009. CMR:330:10 Page 2 of5 Resident Working Group Meetings Staff has been meeting monthly with a working group from the College Terrace Residenfs Association (CTRA) to discuss the overall effectiveness of the RPPP. Staff feels that the parking limitation, which requires cars to move to another block after two hours has significantly improved the parking situation in the neighborhood. Therefore no further changes to the current program are recommended at this time. The resident working group and CTRA Board are also in support of this recommendation to continue with the RPPP as proposed. Concerns from working group During the discussions with the resident's working group regarding the effectiveness of the RPPP, various parking issues were raised for consideration, including extending the 2-hour parking restriction to the businesses in the commercial neighborhood area in College Terrace since currently there is no restricted parking for the businesses in this area. Staff notes, however, that this is beyond the scope of the residential parking permit program, and has significant implications for the local businesses. The construction of multi-story housing within the County, on lands immediately adjacent to Stanford A venue, has also raised concerns, since historically student residents and guests prefer to park on nearby city streets rather than pay to park in campus parking facilities. The RPPP should be effective, however, in limiting parking in College Terrace during the day and, if overnight parking becomes an issue, it can be addressed at a subsequent review. Program Cost The RPPP was initially funded by the $100,000 from the Stanford University General Use Permit, of which $46,200 was used for consultant fees for the development of the RPPP. The balance of the deposit, $53,800, the interest earned of $36,839, and a projected $112,000 in revenues generated by permit and citation fees was used for the implementation of the RPPP. Revenue projections for such a program are difficult to calculate due to the uncertainties in the actual number of citations that would be issued and the number of resident permits that would be purchased. Because the true cost of the program could not be accurately assessed until the program was actually implemented, the Council directed that staff evaluate the program after the one year trial implementation in order to determine if adjustrmints to the permit costs are necessary to remain at cost recovery levels. Although the number of parking permits sold and the numbers of citations issued were lower than originally estimated, the remainder ofthe Stanford deposit funds was used to offset the difference in cost, therefore maintaining a revenue neutral program. For the upcoming RPPP year which begins September 1, 2010 and. goes through August 31, 2011, however, additional funds are needed to provide for the Community Service Officer, vehicle and equipment for the Police Department, and the hiring of temporary personnel and purchase of permit supplies in the Revenue Collections Department. To keep costs at a level where resident participation would not be affected and where the program would continue to remain effective in keeping cars from parking in the neighborhood CMR:330:10 Page 3 of5 I -I J for long periods of time, staff proposes to reduce police enforcement to a half-time patrol. With this level of enforcement, and to maintain a revenue neutral program, the cost for each parking permit will increase from $15 to $40 per permit and the guest permit hangers will now cost $25 each. A fee of $5 will be charged for each day permit, with the total number of day permits issued limited to 20 day passes for each quarter. Attachment A amends the Municipal Fee Schedule to provide for the $40 permit fee for the coming year. Attachment B amends the budget to allocate the appropriate revenues and expenses to the RPPP. The ongoing management and oversight of the program will be a collaborative effort by the Police Department and Revenue Collections. Future Neighborhood Residential Parking Permit Programs The cost and resources needed for implementation of this program have been prepared for the College Terrace neighborhood only and do not include provisions for implementing residential parking programs in other neighborhoods in the City. Because this program is required to operate as a revenue neutral program, costs of permits for College Terrace may need to be adjusted if other neighborhoods come forward and request to have a RPPP implemented in their neighborhoods, since additional staffing and resources will be needed in both the Police Department and· Revenue Collections Division. The Professorville neighborhood and the Charleston Meadows neighborhood have both requested evaluation for such a program, and staff is prepared to discuss the process with the groups. RESOURCE IMPACT In Fiscal Year 2011, budget was not appropriated for the Residential Parking Permit Program Fund (Fund 239) due to the timing conflict between the budget adoption and completion of the program analysis. Based on updated cost estimates and analysis of the permit program in year one, Fiscal Year 2011 is projected to generate $70,550 in revenues and $97,134 in expenditures, reSUlting in a draw on the fund balance of $26,584. The breakdown of assumptions is as follows: Annual Permit Revenue Guest Permit Day Use Permit Citation Fee Revenue Total Revenue: Salary & Benefit Expense Non-Salary Expense Total Expense: Draw from Residential Parking Permit Program Fund (Fund 239): Projected ending balance: CMR:330:10 $28,000 $ 8,750 $ 5,000 $28,800 $70,550 $75,339 $21,795 $97,134 $26,584 $31,478 (700 permits at $40/permit) (300 permits at $25/permit) (1,000 permits at $5/permit) (720 citations at $40/citation) (0.50 FTE and 1,000 hrs Temporary) Page 4 of5 TIMELINE Following Council approval, staff will send letters to all residents informing them of the increase in permit costs. and instructions on the renewal process. Preliminary work involving the purchase of permits and the hiring of temporary staff to help with the application process has taken place. Although the current permits expire on August 31,2010, Staff will extend this date to October 1, 2010 to make sure that residents have enough sufficient time to purchase their permits. POLICY IMPLICATIONS The implementation of a Residential Parking Permit program is consistent with the City's Comprehensive Plan T-47: "Utilize engineering, enforcement, and educational tools to improve traffic safety on city roadways." ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW No environmental review is required for continuation of the RPPP and adjustment to the fees and enforcement provisions. ATTACHMENTS A. Resolution amending Municipal Fee Schedule B. Budget Amendment Ordinance C. Project Area Map COURTESY COPIES: PREPARED BY: Transportation Engineer DEPARTMENT HEAD: CURTIS WILLIAMS Director of Planning and Community Environment CITY MANAGER APPROVAL: City Manager CMR:330:10 Page 5 of ATTACHMENT A Not Yet Approved Resolution No. --- Resolution of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Amending the Fiscal Year 2011 Municipal Fee Schedule to Add New Fees for the Residential Parking Permit Program (RPPP) in the College Terrace Neighborhood WHEREAS, on October 5, 2009 the City Council adopted an ordinance approving the College Terrace Residential Parking Permit Program (RPPP); and WHEREAS, the RPPP in College Terrace allows vehicles displaying a resident permit, guest permit, or day permit to use on-street parking, Monday through Friday from 8 am to 5 pm; and WHEREAS, when Council initiated the program it directed that the program be funded through permit fees and directed staff to return with funding requirements for the program; WHEREAS, enforcement of the RPPP officially began in December 2009, and during the past 9 months, the Police Department has issued an average of 110 citations per month; and WHEREAS, for the upcoming year to support the program, funds are needed for the Community Service Officer, vehicle and equipment for the Police Department and the hiring of temporary personnel and purchase of permit supplies in the Revenue Collections Department; and WHEREAS, to keep costs at a level where resident participation would not be affected and where the program would continue to be effective in keeping cars from parking in the neighborhood for long periods oftime, a half-time patrol will be required. WHEREAS, to continue funding enforcement while maintaining a revenue neutral program, staff has conducted a [mancial analysis and determined that the cost for each parking permit will need to be increased from $15 to $40 per permit and the day use permits will need to be increased from $2.00 to $5.00. Additionally, staff has concluded the costs for processing lost permits are $10 for an annual permit and $25.00 for a guest permit. NOW, THEREFORE, the Council of the City of Palo Alto does resolve as follows: 100715 jb 0130610 1 Not Yet Approved SECTION 1. The Municipal Fee Schedule is hereby amended to increase or add the College Terrace residential parking permit fees as follows: Annual Permit-College Terrace --$40.00/permit Lost Annual Permit -College Terrace --$10.00/permit Day Use Permit College Terrace --$5.00/permit . Guest Permit -College Terrace --$25.00/permit Lost Guest Permit -College Terrace --$25.00/permit An amended fee schedule page showing the updated fees is attached as Exhibit A for reference. ,SECTION 2. The Council of the City of Palo Alto hereby finds that this is not a proj~ct under the California Environmental Quality Act and, therefore, no environmental impact assessment is necessary. INTRODUCED and PASSED: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTENTIONS: ATTEST: City Clerk APPROVED AS TO FORM: Senior Asst. City Attorney 100715 jb 0130610 2 Mayor APPROVED: City Manager Director of Planning and Community Environment Director of Administrative Services I J City of Palo Alto EXHIBITA 2011 Municipal Fee Schedule 18·1 ATTACHMENT B ORDINANCE NO.xxxx ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO AMENDING THE BUDGET FOR FISCAL YEAR 20 11 TO PROVIDE APPROPRIATIONS OF $97,134 WITHIN THE RESIDENTIAL PARKIID PERMIT PROGRAM FUND FOR THE COLLEGE TERRACE RESIDENTIAL PARKING PERMIT PROGRAM (RPPP). The Council of the City of Palo Alto does ORDAIN as follows: City of Palo Alto finds and as follows: A. Pursuant to the provisions of Section 12 of Artic III of the Charter of the City of Palo to, the Council on June 15, 2009 did adopt a budget for Fiscal Year 2010; and B. In 2000, as part of Condition of Approval H.2.a., the Stanford University's 2000 County General Use Permit, Stanford University was required to provide a $100,000 deposit to the ty Palo Alto for a Resident Parking Permit Program (RPPP) the College Terrace neighborhoodi and C. On July 30, 2007, in to a Colleagues Memorandum from then Mayor Kishimoto and Council Members Beecham and , Council members recommended that Council direct staff to initiate an assessment a Residential Parking Permit Program (RPPP) in College Terracei and D. In January 2008, staff was authorized to retained the services a transportation consultant, expending $46,200 of t $100,000 Stanford University General Use Permit deposit, to initiate and develop a Residential Parking Permit Program in College Terracei and E. A Project Advisory Committee (PAC) consisting of eight College Terrace residents appointed by the College Terrace Residents Association (CTRA) Board, staff from Transportation, Pol Department, Revenue Collect , and consultant was formed to work on the devel~pment of the RPPP; and F. presented to the ty Council on July 6, 2009, the results of parking occupancy study conducted by the transportation consultant, the results of neighborhood surveys, program options and details, and recommendations from staff, PAC and CTRAi and G. On July 6 1 2009 1 Council approved an Ordinance for a Parking Permit Program in College Terrace I providing funding implement effect the ial first year costs l and directed staff to RPPP in College Terrace. and evaluate the program's and H. College Terrace RPPP overall has been considered a success l with the neighborhood satisfied with the results and the program revenue neutral; and I. adopted budget for fiscal year 2011 did not revenues and expenses related to the RPPP for Col Special Revenue-Residential Parking Permit Program 239); and J. City Council authorization is needed to amend the 2011 budget the Special Revenue-Residential Parking Permit Program Fund (Fund 239) for College Terrace to appropriate Ninety Seven Thousand One Hundred Thirty Four Dollars ($97 /134) in ($75 /339 in salary and benefit expenses and. $211795 in nonsalary expenses); and SECTION 2. The Residential Parking Permit Program is Eighty Four Dollars Budget Stabilization $31 /478. by the sum of Twenty Six Thousand Five ($26 /584). As a result of this change the Reserve will be reduced from $58 /062 to As specified in Section 2.28.080(a) of the Palo Alto Municipal I a two thirds vote of the City Council is required to adopt this ordinance SECTION 3. The Council of the City of Palo to hereby finds that this is not a project under the California Environmental Quality Act and l therefore I no environmental impact assessment is SECTION 4. As provided in Section 2.04.350 of the Palo Alto Munic I this ordinance shall become ive upon adoption. INTRODUCED AND PASSED: AYES: NOES: ABSTENTIONS: ABSENT: ATTEST: City APPROVED AS TO FORM: City Attorney APPROVED: Mayor City Manager Director Services Administrative ATTACHMENT C COLLEGE TERRACE RESIDENTIAL PARKING PERMIT PROGRAM (RPPP) Escondido Escondido School 'E .E C J!! (f) m (]) 'E Cl J!! ~ '0 0 () EI Camino Real Williams Bowdoin (JJ Ol "0 ·c ..0 E ro () I .!!! c .... g Iii () ~ LEGEND • RPPP enforcement area (Represents 51 % of the number of households on a block that voted "yes")