HomeMy WebLinkAbout0166.093-
(C starL.1Oi t __ _
FEbruary 11/ 1993
THE HO:NOR».BLE Crl'Y COUNCIL
Palo Alto, california
Downtown parting -status Repcq;-_1;;
Report in Brief
.
staff had origjnally intended to return to Council on February S,
1993 ... i th recomruendations regarding downtol,/n pat"'}~ing time 1 irT'.i ts.
Ho .... ever J some recent developments have required staff to reconsider
the recommendations that had been prepared for Council considera
tion. This informational report describes these developments. No
council ~ction is required at this time.
Discussior.
On July 13, 1C;92, the City Council directed staff to study the
"feasibility of two-hour parking limits in t.he. do'"mtown orea during
lunch houI's. Since that time, st.aff has spent a considerable
Clmount of time assessing associated factors. Meetings vi th the.
Downtown Marksting committee a~d the. Chamber of Commerce parking
sllbcolT"J.lD.ittee 'We.re held to ..:>btain further input from Qusiness
owners~ Bas~d upon that .... ·ork~ some. recommendations had bepn
developed and staff was prepared to present them to council for
consid.eration on February 8. Ho ..... ever, two significant develoiJrnents
have occurred that have resulted in staff reconsidering the
original recommendations.
The first developI:1ent conce:r:ns recent le:gislat i on (AB 408) that
decriminalizes the parking cita.ti_on process. Historically, me~.bers
of the public ~ho ~ished to contest parking citations have pleaded
their case in municipal courts. AS 40S removes the courts fro'rO. the
business of parking citation adjudication. Agencies that issue
parking citations ~ill be required to handle the adjudic3tion ot
citations via an administrative examiner hired by the issuing
agency. The legislation encouraged agencies to have a tr-ansition
plan in place prior to June 30, 1993~ but required the transfer of
responsibilities to occur no later than January 1, 1994. Staff had
b~gun prelim i_:-.dry work on a transition plan and on calculating the
ass..-.ciated costs of the program with the intE:tt of pre.senting the
information to Council in late spring fer review and action.
However, notification from the Administrative Officer of the santa
Clara County Municipal Court ",as recently recehled that indicated
the county ~ill net sch~dule court appearances for parking
citations after June 30, 1993. 'This ~eans that the city rnu3t have
a plan in place and operational by July 1, 1993.
CMR:166:93
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Page Two
DUe to the significant loss of City reven~e a5s~iated ~ith a~y
changes in the parking til":'.e 1 i.mits ir: the do .... nto...,n areal staff
believes it is importar.t for Council to have a complete
under5t~nding of total ~osts to provide parking enfo~CEment. The
additional funds that w~ll be. r~qujred to implement A8 40B will
increase these costs substantially. During the next month. these
costs 'Will be determined and the transitio'l1: tJlan will be completed.
The second develop!!lent concerns inforrcatiot"'! obtained from smaller
business owners in the downtmm area. After tleeting 'With the
Do~~to..",n Marketing Committee and the Cha~ber of Commerce parking
subcomEittee, staff believed that the majority of business owners
favored a change to t.wo-hour parking limits~ During the last t .... ·o
weeks, staff has received information that numero'J.s small business
owners, 'Whose clientele conduct t:heir business .... i thiD an. hour. f.;:el
stronglY that the ons-hour limit should be maintained. staff ~ill
conduct i!'. survey of all downtown businesses in order-to obtain a
more accurate assessment.
staff ~il1 return to council in March ~ith total costs associated
'With parking enforcement I th~ results of the survey of all downtow~
businesses, the JI...B 403 transition ~:"a:1 ar.d reco::-:.:::.endations for
downtown parking time limits.
Re;Pectfu 11y. "'p;J.bmi t ted I . I ' ~ \.J ~,. .,
. ~\\H.S=r:V\,L~
LYNN! JOHNSON
CHRIS DtJR1<IN
Pclic.:e Chief
Chief
\ ~' Allh\1.V-2 ._ .. /JUN,E FLEMING ......... .
'-c 1 t~· Manager
CMR:166:93
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