Staff Report - April 2, 2002 - Agenda Item

Staff seeks City Council support and direction for a revised parking management plan that improves the parking utilization in the downtown area without an on-street fee based parking system. The revised plan includes the following components that have been previously endorsed by City Council:

These four elements were defined and clarified from Council discussion of downtown parking on January 31, 2006, and from subsequent public commentary on the various elements of the proposed comprehensive parking management plan. The on-street fee based parking system was eliminated from the program because of mixed City Council sentiment to the proposal and a vocal opposition by some downtown merchants to the fee based system.

Staff has spent considerable time and effort to define downtown parking management options for Council to consider. The information and recommendations presented herein are a consequence of varied merchant reaction, mixed Council directives, conclusions of several downtown parking studies, and serious financial problems with the Parking Authority. Staff seeks Council direction on the resolution of the very specific parking and financial problems identified in the downtown area.

The parking system issues in the downtown are defined in two major areas: 1) the management of the parking supply to maximize parking usage, and 2) the financial strength of the Parking Authority to continue operating and maintaining the downtown parking supply. These issues are not new, nor are they easily solved. They are rooted in the evolution of the downtown parking system, the ineffective management of the parking supply, the historical development of downtown parking, current parking enforcement procedures, and the financial practices of the Parking Authority.

The public parking system in the downtown area is illustrated in Attachment 1. The total available public parking supply in the Village and Civic Districts is about 5,300 parking spaces, with approximately 4,900 off-street spaces and 400 on-street parking spaces. More than 1,300 private parking spaces are also available for customer use in these two districts, and about 4,700 private parking spaces are located in the Mall District. The total downtown parking supply available to customers, employees, and visitors in the three districts exceeds 11,000 parking spaces, which is more than enough to accommodate current parking demand.

Parking meters were installed in Downtown Burbank in the early 1950s to fund the purchase, regulation, and maintenance of off-street public parking, and several surface parking lots were purchased with these meter fees. The downtown area began an economic decline in the late 1960s, during the Golden Mall era, which extended into the 1970s. The parking meters were removed in 1977, since additional parking supply was not needed. Construction of the Media Center Mall further isolated the downtown village area.

Construction of the first AMC Theater in the mid-1980�s started a new interest in renewal of existing buildings along San Fernando Boulevard and adjacent streets. City Council encouraged the redevelopment of the existing downtown buildings by eliminating the parking requirements for new uses in existing buildings. It was assumed that the intensified parking demand could be accommodated in the existing parking supply. Only a few new buildings in the downtown area were required to provide parking to meet the demand they generated. Most building owners in the village area relied on city provided parking to fulfill their parking needs, and that reliance is still prevalent.

The Parking Authority of the City of Burbank was established by Resolution No. 15,499 in May 1970, pursuant to Section 32500 of the Streets and Highways Code. The first order of business for the Parking Authority was to establish a budget of $30,000 for a downtown traffic and parking study and for administrative expenses. The first parking lot was purchased in 1990 at 918 Hollywood Way with Resolution No. P-11. The Parking Authority established the Community Facilities District No.199-1 by Resolution No. P-19, to assess certain businesses for the construction and maintenance of the AMC parking structure at 130 North Orange Grove Avenue.

The downtown off-street parking supply was constructed with public monies, often through public/private partnerships. The Orange Grove parking structure (structure G) was built with grant funds in the 1970s. Public parking spaces in the Gangi parking structure (structure N), Cusamano parking structure (structure H) and the new Olsen parking structure (structure R) replaced existing surface lot parking eliminated by the development. The AMC structure (structure A) was built with Mello-Roos bonds to provide parking for the theater, several new developments and existing uses in the village area. The resulting public parking supply in the downtown is often somewhat removed from the demand for parking, and it is intermingled with private parking supply.

Intensified restaurant and retail uses in the village area created a perceived shortage of parking supply which initiated complaints from merchants about convenient parking in the village. Merchants wanted additional, convenient public parking to serve their customer needs. City Council formed the Downtown Parking Management Committee (DPMC) in 1999 to deal with these parking shortage issues. The DPMC was charged to present direction on parking matters and to advise Council on parking in the village area.

Three parking studies were completed between 1999 and 2005 under the purview of the DPMC, and all showed parking supply was completely adequate to serve downtown parking needs. The studies further concluded that the most convenient on-street parking supply along San Fernando Boulevard was highly overused and the more remote off-street parking was significantly underused. The studies concluded that the current parking system was not properly managed and not consistently enforced.

Parking enforcement in the downtown area is undertaken by the Burbank Police Department as a component of a citywide parking enforcement program. The citywide parking enforcement includes 13 Parking Control Officers (PCOs) assigned to six established beat areas in the city. The downtown area is included in one beat that encompasses the southern portion of the city, and the downtown is less than 1/10^th of the total beat area, as shown in Attachment 2.

The existing downtown parking enforcement program has two inherent problems that foster the current parking management concerns: the frequency of enforcement and the cumbersome enforcement methods. The existing beat system does not provide sufficient enforcement coverage in the downtown to insure parkers obey the posted time restrictions. Although the on-street and off-street posted time restrictions are appropriate and reasonable, regular parking patrons know the restrictions will not be enforced enough to deter them from parking much longer than allowed. Thus, the prime 1 hour duration spaces (along San Fernando Boulevard) are occupied throughout most of the day by long term parking.

The archaic procedures used in parking enforcement also contribute to the incidences of motorists ignoring parking time limits. The PCO must mark or chalk tires, wait the prescribed time, then check the tire marks to issue a citation. The process is time consuming for the PCOs, it has inherent flaws (parkers remove chalk marks or shift the vehicle in the parking place), it is infrequent due to the existing beat system, coverage occurs only on Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and weekends from 7:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.[2], and the same officer must mark and check the vehicle to comply with court requirements. Thus, the parking enforcement procedures do little in curbing downtown parking violations, and citations are very infrequent.

The historical perspective of parking in Downtown Burbank includes two main concerns: 1) parking enforcement and 2) the financial stability of the Parking Authority. An adequate supply of on-street and off-street parking spaces is in place and appropriate parking restrictions are installed to manage the available parking; however, the current enforcement system is inadequate to handle the needed control of the long term parkers. We do not have the resources or funding sources to develop and operate the necessary enforcement.

The Parking Authority was established in 1970 to develop, operate and maintain parking facilities in Burbank. The Authority pays for rental of various parking facilities, utilities of downtown structures, maintenance and repairs, landscaping maintenance and other incidentals related to the downtown parking system. Income received by the Authority for downtown parking facilities includes assessments specifically for the AMC structure paid by four property owners, maintenance fees assessed to Gangi, Cusamano, Burbank Unified School District, and the County Court specifically for the respective structures, and monthly employee parking permits. The monthly parking permits pay for operation of most of the free off-street parking facilities enjoyed by all merchants in the downtown area.

The Parking Authority is projected to be without adequate operating funds within two years, when operating expenses will exceed income from the monthly employee parking permits. Adding to this poor fiscal forecast is the current Collection Project (AMC Phase II). The parking structure for this development project adds another 270 public parking spaces to the downtown public parking supply. The additional public parking is welcomed, however, the new structure increases the Parking Authority�s maintenance burden. Additional income is necessary for the Parking Authority to financially survive without requesting General Fund monies to support essential operations and maintenance costs of the downtown structures and lots.

Reduced maintenance of the parking system is not an option because of increased liability and unfavorable public opinion. Staff will present options for a balanced Parking Authority budget early next fiscal year that includes downtown parking, residential parking, employee permit parking, and parking leases.

The Authority is now funded entirely by assessments from a few parking system users for shared maintenance, and from employee parking charges (permits) from about 500 employees and students in the downtown. A majority of the downtown businesses that rely on the public facilities, particularly businesses along San Fernando Boulevard do not participate in the employee parking permit program. As such, they do not and have not contributed to the operation or maintenance of any of the downtown parking supply (Attachments 3 and 4).

The Parking Authority will soon be depleted of funds to operate and maintain the parking system in the downtown area. Staff desires to develop an equitable method of apportioning the total cost of operating and maintaining the downtown parking supply to all users of the system, not just the few employees and students who purchase monthly parking passes. Three funding sources are available: 1) user fees in the form of a pay parking system, 2) downtown business tax, or 3) city funded parking programs from the General Fund or other sources.

The Downtown parking management issues are due in large part to the archaic enforcement methodology and the lack of sufficient parking control personnel in the downtown. Downtown employees, students and regular customers familiar with the area understand that they can often stay in a parking space beyond the posted time without consequence. The price of an overtime parking ticket at $35 is about the same as a monthly parking pass at $32.

Staff evaluated two enforcement staffing options: 1) city staff enforcement and 2) contract enforcement. Both options can provide the same level of enforcement if appropriate priorities are established. Contract enforcement, however, is the most economical means of providing enforcement in the downtown. The hours of daily enforcement demand are 10AM to 10PM. The estimated cost of three (3) contract enforcement personnel for the days and hours needed is approximately $108,000 annually. The same level of enforcement by city staff would cost approximately $216,000 annually.

Private enforcement can also provide additional staff needed for enforcement for unusual situations or events to consistently and uniformly enforce posted time restrictions. Private enforcement parameters are designated by contract to meet the needs of the downtown, and contract flexibility allows the city to modify staffing or patrol times to meet the needs of the area. This option requires ordinance changes to the Burbank Municipal Code.

Increased enforcement can lead to additional revenue from citations, however, this may have a negative affect on businesses. The concern is that overly aggressive parking enforcement may induce shoppers to abandon downtown businesses for other shopping areas

The current enforcement process that relies on chalked tires is cumbersome and fraught with problems. New enforcement technologies can greatly enhance the effectiveness of parking control staff by reducing or eliminating personnel time to identify violators. Two technologies were determined to be suited for Burbank. These technologies are:

Auto-Vu. This system uses cameras mounted on a dedicated vehicle and proprietary software to automatically record the time and location of parkers. The record also includes the exact position of the rear tire and tire air stem to prevent the �left and came back� argument. This system permanently records and stores all violations, and it is compatible with the Auto-Cite handheld violation writing system used by the Burbank Police. The system has been successfully used in West Hollywood and is being considered by the Los Angeles enforcement police. The Auto-Vu technology costs about $75,000 per installation and requires a dedicated fleet vehicle. One system installation will adequately assist enforcement of the downtown.

Sensor Space Detection. Several manufacturers have developed parked vehicle detection systems that measure and record the length of time a vehicle is parked. The detection system is generally used in conjunction with a pay parking system (meters), but it can stand alone for enforcement. A magnetic detector about the size of a hockey puck is installed in each parking space. The in-space devices communicate with a central unit with a low power, wireless transmitter, and the central unit can communicate with an enforcement officer via radio or cellular telephone when a violation occurs.

This parking space occupancy technology includes software that records space and time information relative to the violation. The system may need some device that shows the time violation to the parker to fulfill legal enforcement requirements. The technology is currently available and it costs between $900 and $2,000 per space depending on the number of spaces supervised by the central unit and the devices needed to fulfill legal requirements.

Initial capital cost and amortization for Auto-Vu and Sensor Space Detection technologies is illustrated in Attachment 5.

A smart signage system has been funded and programmed for an initial five garages in the downtown. The system uses changeable message signs at garages and at critical driver decision points to direct motorists to the most convenient off-street parking. Each garage sign operates independently, but the sign is connected to a network that communicates to a central computer to coordinate all the message signs. The signs identify the number of available spaces in each garage, and when the garage is full the sign identifies the closest available parking.

The Smart signage system has three components; the garage signs and detection, a communications system, and the master control system. The communications system, installed as a part of other projects, and the sign and detection system is under design. The design should be complete within six months and the bidding and construction will require an additional six months.

Downtown employee parking has been consistently identified as a major part of the parking issues in the downtown. The problem will be exacerbated with the construction of the Community Services Building (CSB) on an existing parking facility which will displace about 120 daily parkers. A more agressive enforcement program and realistic enforcement time periods should encourage permanent and part-time employees to park in appropriate locations.

The employee parking permit program records show that full-time employees who now purchase permits are largely parking in spaces that are remote from the high demand San Fernando Boulevard area. The part-time employees who consistently park in prime parking spaces during peak parking demand are the major issue, and these parkers need better enforcement to encourage compliance. Staff will continue to work with Downtown businesses to develop employee incentives for voluntary compliance, such as lower permit prices for more remote parking. The downtown ambassador program can assist these efforts on weekends by walking employees parked in remote locations to their cars in the late evening hours.

Council directed staff to implement a valet parking ordinance for the entire City, but particularly for the downtown area. A valet ordinance has been prepared for City Council review, and is being presented as a separate staff report.

The discussions presented herein and the direction requested of Council has no immediate fiscal impact. However, should Council decide to move forward with a revised parking management plan, the estimated costs are provided.

As stated previously, the Parking Authority fund balance is rapidly diminishing and will be depleted within the next several years. This forecast is based on increasing parking facility maintenance costs, the additional maintenance costs upon completion of the new Collection project parking structure and declining parking revenues. Without additional projected revenues garnered from user fees, business assessments or public financing, the Parking Authority will be bankrupt.

The FY 06/07 revenue and expense projections for the Parking Authority are attached for City Council review (Attachments 6 and 7). The data show the expected cost elements for operation and maintenance of the downtown parking system, and the unjust reliance on a few assessed businesses and a few downtown employees and students who purchase monthly passes to fund the Parking Authority (Attachment 8). The existing three (3) year maintenance contract for downtown structures expires at the end of this fiscal year. Maintenance cost projections for FY 07/08 are based on an expected 20% increase. The cash flow analysis and chart (Attachments 9 and 10) illustrate the fiscal demise of the Parking Authority which has been absorbing its own fund reserves to meet maintenance and operating expenses since fiscal year 02/03.

Several mechanisms are available to front the purchase cost of enforcement technology. They are:

Additional parking control staff is needed to properly patrol the downtown area either through contract with private enforcement or by hiring more city staff. The added staff can be funded three ways:

Staff requests that City Council provide direction for a method of parking management in the downtown area and for financing options to sustain the Parking Authority and for the management of parking.

[1] Smart signage is an electronic parking information system that utilizes changeable message signs at garage entrances to inform and direct motorists to the closest available parking.

[2] The prime parking demand hours based on previous parking studies are 10AM-10PM on weekdays and weekends.

Council Agenda - City of Burbank

Tuesday, May 16, 2006