Purpose

This report summarizes information contained in the Downtown Parking Management Implementation Plan prepared by Kimley-Horn and Associates in 2005.  The plan describes the parking planning efforts to date, makes recommendations for parking improvements, and proposes an implementation schedule for completing the downtown parking program.  Staff requests Council feedback on the recommendations included in the report.

BACKGROUND

Parking meters were installed in Downtown Burbank in the early 1950s; and by 1960, almost 1,100 parking meters were in place on downtown streets and in off-street lots.  Meter fees of between $0.02 and $0.05 per hour raised about $65,000 per year, which were used exclusively for the purchase, regulation, and maintenance of public parking.  All parking meters were removed in 1977 after a six month experimental elimination of parking fees.

Downtown parking issues moved to the forefront again in the late 1990s when Downtown Burbank began to flourish and parking demand intensified.  The first of a series of parking studies was completed in 1999 by Parsons, Brinckerhoff, Quade & Douglas, Inc. (PBQ&D).  This study offered a number of recommendations, including the formation of a downtown parking advisory committee to study parking issues and recommend actions to Council.

Council formed the Downtown Parking Management Committee (DPMC) in 1999 with an initial eight (8) members, and later twelve (12) members from the downtown area, to give staff guidance on parking matters and to advise Council on parking in the downtown area as illustrated in Attachment 1.  The initial PBQ&D parking study was updated and expanded several times to assist the DPMC in the development of a coherent downtown parking management plan to improve the existing dysfunctional parking system.

In September 2004, staff presented Council a detailed discussion of current downtown parking issues.  The primary issues are as follows:

• The existing free public parking supply is very difficult to enforce, resulting in a parking utilization imbalance.

• Prime on-street parking spaces fill with long-term parkers, while more remote off-street parking spaces are severely under utilized.

• Downtown employees fill prime on-street and off-street parking spaces, which drastically reduces available convenient customer parking. 

• Off-street public parking spaces are generally not located on visitor arrival routes and they can be difficult to locate.

• Visitors unfamiliar with the location of downtown parking create traffic congestion by circulating in search of available parking.

Based on the information presented in 2004, Council authorized staff to proceed in the development of a parking management plan for the downtown area. Staff worked closely with the DPMC throughout program development to insure that the input of local merchants and business owners was included.  Kimley-Horn and Associates was hired to develop a complete parking management plan, provide preliminary cost estimates to implement the plan, and to develop an implementation schedule. 

The Downtown Parking Management Implementation Plan was presented to the Traffic and Transportation Committee on November 10, 2005, to the DPMC on November 17, 2005, and to the Downtown Property Based Improvement District (PBID) on January 23, 2006.  All three groups indicated their support of the plan and recommended taking it to Council for consideration.

ANALYSIS

The Downtown Parking Management Implementation Plan incorporates the overall parking management goals and considers the best practices of other cities, applying them to improve Burbank�s current management operations.  It discusses the staffing level required to develop and operate an effective parking management program and discusses parking enforcement enhancements.  Parking control equipment and technology options are identified.  Current and projected financial information and the potential costs and revenues of the program are presented.

To develop the plan, the first step was to clearly identify the parking management goals for the downtown area.  These goals were modified and clarified through discussions with the DPMC, resulting in the following:

• Effectively manage downtown parking resources to meet current and future needs.

• Support downtown economic growth and development by providing for an adequate and balanced parking supply for visitors and employees.

• Provide convenient parking and reduce traffic congestion in the downtown area by effectively and efficiently guiding visitors to available spaces with the use of technology.

• Convert City structures, lots and some on-street spaces from free to fee parking to provide for a self-sustaining parking management program.

• Manage the demand for employee parking in �prime spaces� through various programs, permits, reduced rates and designated parking areas.

• Plan for future supply through identification of potential sites for new parking facilities and joint development or redevelopment opportunities.

• Develop shared parking agreements with private property owners where feasible to maximize use of downtown parking facilities.

• Except as otherwise stated and within budget constraints, carry out actions described in this plan within three years of its adoption by Council.

The parking management plan defines a series of parking policies and actions for each aspect of the parking plan to guide the implementation programming of the above goals.  The policies are detailed in the plan and summarized below:

General Use Parking

• Maximize the use of off-street parking supply,

• Use the curb for short term parking and off-street spaces for long term parking,

• Charge for public parking spaces,

• Provide for commercial deliveries at the curb.

Valet Parking

• Provide for valet services at the curb for multiple businesses.

Employee Parking

• Encourage carpooling and mass transportation,

• Require employees to park in more remote off-street facilities.

Juror Parking

• Provide juror parking in the Courthouse Structure,

• Monitor juror parking and work with courts staff.

Parking Expansion

• Provide parking for all users but manage the parking location of users to maximize space utilization,

• Investigate existing lots to finance future permanent parking structures,

• Locate future structured public parking on the downtown periphery.

Enforcement

• Discourage overtime parking in short term spaces,

• Discourage habitual violations, 

• Direct long term parkers to long term spaces.

The goal setting effort coupled with proven practices of other similar communities with parking management programs enabled the development of a recommended parking management program for Burbank.  The following summarizes the proposed parking system in Downtown Burbank:

• Provide the infrastructure and a management program for all parking needs in Burbank, including downtown, employee, and resident,

• Establish a parking management program that provides for the highest and best use of all parking supply in the downtown area,

• Develop a program that is financially self sustaining and one which can grow as the parking needs in the downtown area grow,

• Provide parking enforcement that is commensurate with the parking utilization in the downtown area and is dedicated to the downtown area,

• Provide a parking guidance system for visitors that will minimize driver confusion in accessing parking closest to their destination,

• Establish a dedicated staff to manage and operate the parking infrastructure in Downtown Burbank.

Implementation Schedule

Implementation of the parking management plan is organized into four phases: Planning, Development, Implementation, and Operations.  The proposed schedule is shown in Attachment 2.  The schedule anticipates considerable Council involvement and establishes target dates for Council action concurrent with each phase.  The initial Planning phase is complete with the Council actions of this meeting.

The Development phase will define specifics to implement the parking plan.  During this phase, the Burbank Municipal Code will be revised to include metered and valet parking.  Staff will refine the program budgets to establish and sustain the program, hire needed staff, select the enforcement system, and develop parking control equipment Plans Specifications & Estimates.  We will also begin the public outreach which will continue throughout project implementation.

The Implementation phase will consist of acquisition and installation of parking system infrastructure, and the establishment of the parking enforcement program.  Council will be involved in the selection of equipment and the enforcement system.

The final Operations phase of the implementation will involve the initial testing, debugging and start-up of the program.  The public outreach program will reach culmination with the program operation.

FISCAL IMPACT

The proposed parking management program is expected to cost about $2.6 million annually to operate over the next five years, including $3.6 million of amortized initial capital costs.  Annual management and enforcement staff is estimated to cost $1.1 million, operation and maintenance cost are about $800,000, and amortized capital costs are about $300,000.  As shown in Attachment 3, expected annual revenues are about $3.36 million based on a fee of $1.00 per hour on-street and $2.00 per hour off-street with the first two (2) off-street hours free.

RECOMMENDATION

Staff is requesting Council feedback on the Downtown Parking Management Implementation Plan.

Attachments:

Attachment 1 � Downtown Burbank Public Parking Diagram

Attachment 2 � Proposed Downtown Burbank Parking Implementation Schedule

Attachment 3 � Downtown Parking Financial Summary

Attachment 4 -  Downtown Parking Management Implementation Plan

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