City of Alexandria, Virginia
________________
MEMORANDUM
DATE: JANUARY 8, 2014
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: RASHAD M. YOUNG, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
TITLE
Consideration of a Resolution to Establish a New Development Parking Standards Task Force. [ROLL-CALL VOTE]
BODY
_________________________________________________________________
ISSUE: Consideration of a Resolution to establish a New Development Parking Standards Task
Force.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council:
(1) Accept this update on the New Development Parking Standards Study ("Parking Study");
(2) Approve the resolution establishing a New Development Parking Standards Task Force ("Task Force");
(3) Request that the Chairs of the Planning Commission, Transportation Commission, Traffic and Parking Board, each nominate a member from their groups to serve on the Task Force; and
(4) Authorize the City Manager to appoint the remaining members and to designate the Chair of the Task Force.
PARKING STUDY PROJECT UPDATE
The scope of the New Development Parking Standards Study is to 1) evaluate existing City parking standards in light of current demand, and 2) propose revised parking standards, demand-based ratios, for new development. The project will be conducted in two phases with the first phase, residential development study (Phase I) already underway. An evaluation of the parking standards for new retail, commercial, and office development would be Phase II of this study. New residential development was chosen as the first phase study focus area, since that is where significant development pressures are occurring in the City, and expected to continue as the key development demand at least for the next few years.
As the initial stage of Phase I of this study project, fifteen residential developments were selected for data collection. Five sites each were selected within 0.25 mile of Metrorail stations, between 0.25 - 1 mile of Metrorail stations, and more than 1 mile from Metrorail stations. Staff selected a range of building typologies to include in the study - townhouse, mid-rise multifamily units, and high-rise multi-family units. Data collection began in October 2013 and was conducted at each site to evaluate the on-street and off-street parking demand. Data collection and data entry were completed in November 2013 and December 2013, respectively. In addition, staff will be analyzing data from recent parking studies to supplement and validate the data set.
Currently, staff is analyzing the data collected, reviewing national and regional best practices, reviewing what adjacent jurisdictions practices are or are proposed to be, mobilizing for civic engagement, and preparing to convene a Parking Study Task Force. Staff anticipates completing the data analysis in February 2014, hosting the first speaker series event in February 2104, and convening the proposed Task Force in March 2014. This Phase I study is tracking towards a January 2015 completion date.
It should be noted that these studies would be limited to issues related to parking standards for new development, and would not entail studying other parking issues in the City.
NEW DEVELOPMENT PARKING STANDARDS TASK FORCE
Mission:
Provide input on future to-be-recommended revisions to the City's parking standards for new development.
Purpose:
Support the City's civic engagement efforts and provide input on proposed parking standards for new development.
Tasks:
1. Evaluate current parking requirements and existing parking ratios
2. Review best practices and policies
3. Provide input on revisions to the City's parking requirements
Task Force Composition:
The Task Force should consist of nine members, including a chair. The City Manager shall designate the Chair of the Task Force. The Task Force should include the following representation:
Planning Commission |
(1) |
Transportation Commission |
(1) |
Traffic and Parking Board |
(1) |
Former Old Town Area Parking Study (OTAPS) Work Group |
(1) |
NAIOP, the Commercial Real Estate Development Association |
(1) |
Mixed-Use Developer with experience in Alexandria and other urban areas |
(1) |
At-Large Alexandria Residents |
(3) |
At-Large Alexandria Resident with expertise in regional transportation or parking issues |
(1) |
Total |
(9) |
The Chairs of the above named commissions and organizations will be asked to nominate a member of their group to serve on the Task Force. The remaining slots will be appointed by the City Manager based on a call for nominations publicized through the City's eNews service, notices to civic and community associations, and the City's website.
Process and Reporting:
The Task Force is contemplated to be an advisory body that will do the following:
1. Provide input to City staff on revisions to the City's parking standards.
2. Develop consensus (to the degree possible) on recommendations.
3. Submit a report to the Directors of the Departments of Planning and Zoning and Transportation and Environmental Services on the Task Force's comments on proposed recommendations. These Task Force recommendations will be considered in the final staff recommendations to the Traffic and Parking Board, Transportation Commission, Planning Commission and City Council.
4. Assist and support City staff's community engagement efforts by reporting back to the commissions, boards, and groups that they represent; in addition to the Alexandria Community at-large.
Expectation of Members:
It is anticipated that the Task Force will hold monthly public meetings (or as needed) for the duration of the study in addition to a Speaker Series (two meetings) and work sessions and public hearings of the Planning Commission and City Council. There may also be additional staff-led working meetings of the Task Force.
· Attend all meetings. If unable, members are encouraged to read materials provided by staff and provide any comments in a timely manner.
· Attend Speaker Series.
· Provide updates on the status of the parking study activities to their member commissions, boards, and organizations. They are expected to speak on behalf of those groups and communicate their interests in this process.
· Attend meetings prepared by reading assigned materials.
· Support City staff in community engagement activities.
Responsibilities of the Chair:
· Serve as a spokesperson for the Task Force
· Serve as a meeting facilitator
· Work with City staff to set Task Force meeting agendas
Civic Engagement: It is anticipated that the task force will hold four public meetings for Phase I, host two meetings of a Speaker Series, and attend work sessions and public hearings of the Planning Commission and City Council. The Task Force is expected to support City staff in communicating the efforts, outcomes, and directives of the citywide parking study. Members should report back to their constituents, attend public meetings, coordinate with the chair to craft messages to the public, and other tasks as assigned. The civic engagement process for Phase II of this study will be developed prior to the initiation of that phase of study.
Communication and Outreach: Consistent with the principles of What's Next Alexandria, City staff will keep the public informed of the schedule, issues, materials and progress of Task Force through the City's Citywide Parking Study Planning process webpage as well as eNews and social media. The Speaker Series and Task Force meetings will be open to the public.
Staff Support: The Task Force will be staffed by representatives of the Department of Transportation and Environmental Services and the Department of Planning and Zoning.
Sunset: The Task Force will sunset upon completion of their stated task at the conclusion of the multi-phased parking study process and at the direction of City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT: In order to carry out the work tasks associated with convening the Parking Task Force and the associated community engagement, staff resources are required. It is anticipated that City staff will hold weekly interdepartmental staff meetings (this is for the management of the actual parking study project), as well as manage the Speaker Series, and meetings of the Task Force. The Phase I part of this study can be undertaken within existing resources and staffing levels.
Phase II of this effort, evaluation of new retail, commercial, and office development parking standards, as currently envisioned, is contemplated to require technical consultant support estimated at approximately $150,000. In Phase II, consultants would conduct an extensive and complex data collection process looking at parking utilization of recently approved mixed-use development projects (data collection for mixed use projects is substantially more complicated than for exclusively residential projects). This additional funding will compete for and be considered during the FY 2015 budget process. If additional funding is not approved, an alternative approach to Phase II would be to review a substantial number (50) of case studies of recently approved mixed-use projects regionally, as well as best practices nationally, to develop a recommendation for revised parking standards, without conducting data collection. This effort could be completed in house, but would require significant staff resources, to be taken into consideration for the FY16 (or later) Interdepartmental Work Program. Without data collection the recommendations would not be as refined as they would be with local data. If Phase II is not funded with consultant funding, nor approved for inclusion in the Interdepartmental work program based on the alternative approach proposed above, then the new development parking standards study will end with Phase I.
ATTACHMENT: Draft Resolution
STAFF:
Mark Jinks, Deputy City Manager
Faroll Hamer, Director, Department of Planning and Zoning
Richard Baier, Director, Transportation and Environmental Services
Carrie Beach, Division Chief, Department of Planning and Zoning
Sandra Marks, Acting Deputy Director, Department of Transportation and Environmental Services
Faye Dastgheib, Principal Planner, Department of Transportation and Environmental Services
Brandi Collins, Urban Planner III, Department of Planning and Zoning.