PURPOSE

Council directed that staff investigate potential interim parking options near Jordan Middle School for recreational facilities users on the school grounds.  Residents from the 300 block of South Lomita Street presented a petition for permit parking only to Council and several residents requested immediate consideration for permit parking at the Council meeting of June 19, 2007.  This memorandum offers general information about parking availability in the area for recreational parking so that Council may determine if the discussion of Jordan Middle School parking should be agendized for further discussion.

BACKGROUND

Jordan Middle School recreational facilities have been used by residents of Burbank for many years to promote and encourage athletic activities by Burbank youth.  The facilities are used throughout the year for organized soccer, baseball, football, and basketball activities.  The two defined field areas (upper and lower grass fields) are used for both organized games and for sport practices.  The sport activities and associated parking demand appear to be heaviest during late summer football tryouts, soccer pre-season tryouts, and soccer tournaments.

Burroughs High School and a private football league (Vikings) use the fields for tryouts and pre-season practice beginning in mid-August.  American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) activities begin in the fall with practices and games.  The playing area is large enough for up to two full soccer games, or for practices of up to four or five teams.

The athletic playing fields at Jordan Middle School can accessed at three locations: 1) through the school campus from the faculty parking area, 2) from Shelton Street through a maintenance facilities parking area, and 3) through several gates from Oak Street.  The Burbank Unified School District agreed several weeks ago to keep the vehicle gate from Oak Street closed; however, the pedestrian gate will remain open.  The 70 space faculty parking area from Mariposa Street will also remain open and available for parking after school hours and on weekends.

ANALYSIS

The available parking supply in the Jordan School area is illustrated in Attachment 1.  The four residential streets north of Oak Street have about the same number of available on-street parking spaces; Mariposa Street, Virginia Avenue and Lomita Street have about 90 on-street parking spaces between Oak Street and Verdugo Avenue, and Glenwood Place has slightly fewer parking spaces because it has more driveways from apartments than the other two streets.

Oak Street has about 75 available parking spaces between Main Street and Griffith Park Drive.  About 25 on-street parking spaces exist in front of Jordan School on Mariposa Street, and an additional 60 on-street parking spaces exist in front of residences on Mariposa Street between Oak Street and Alameda Avenue.  About 70 off-street faculty parking spaces are available on the Jordan School property from Mariposa Street.

Thus, about 260 on-street and 70 off-street parking spaces exist within a typical walking distance of the Oak Street access gate (600 to 800 feet).  About 75 on-street parking spaces are on Oak Street (which has no fronting residences), 140 spaces are on the streets north of Oak Street (residences front these streets), 25 spaces are on Mariposa Street adjacent to the school, 20 spaces are on Mariposa Street in front of residences, and 70 parking spaces are on the school site

No other convenient parking supply exists near the athletic fields.  Alameda Avenue has available on-street parking at about 1000 feet from the fields.  An AAA parking lot is located about 850 feet from the site, and the shopping center parking south of Alameda Avenue is about 1200 feet distant.  None of these parking options are reasonable.

The parking impact of recreational activities at Jordan School can be reduced by either increasing the non-resident parking supply or modifying the parking demand through scheduling of games and practices to minimize overlap of parking demand for ending and beginning activities.  Additional recreational parking supply is not likely beyond use of the faculty parking at Jordan School or the proposed addition of 70 additional spaces off of Shelton Street, which is currently under design (Attachment 2).

The permanent closure of the recreational facilities access gate from Oak Street and the opening of an access gate to Mariposa Street could significantly change parking habits of the recreational facilities visitors.  Parking demand on Glenwood Place, Lomita Street and the eastern part of Oak Street could be dramatically reduced, while parking on Mariposa Street and Virginia Avenue would likely increase.

Any introduction of parking restrictions on Lomita Street in the neighborhood would force parking associated with the recreational activities into adjacent streets.  Oak Street with no fronting residences would be the least impacted, but any other residential street with fronting residences would suffer the same parking issues as Lomita Street.

RECOMMENDATION

The BUSD has initiated the only viable option for recreational parking in the Jordan Middle School area by making the faculty parking area available to users of the playing fields and somewhat restricting access from the Oak Street gates.  It is difficult to assess what other changes are needed without defining the magnitude of evening and weekend recreational parking demand.  Should the Council desire further investigation of the parking, staff recommends that additional data be gathered in August and September to gauge the magnitude of the parking problem.  Staff recommends no other action at this time.

Attachments:

Attachment 1 � Lomita Street Neighborhood

Attachment 2 � Proposed Jordan Middle School Parking