City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: JUNE 8, 2016
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
DOCKET TITLE:
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Introduction and First Reading. Consideration. Passage on First Reading of an Ordinance to Amend and Reordain Division 1 (Parking Meter Zones) of Article G (Parking Meters) of Chapter 8 (Parking and Traffic Regulations) of Title 5 (Transportation and Environmental Services) of the Code of the City of Alexandria, Virginia, 1981, as Amended.
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ISSUE: Consideration of a proposed ordinance to update the Parking Meter Zones Division of the City Code.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council consider the ordinance on first reading and set it for public hearing and final passage on Saturday, June 18, 2016.
BACKGROUND: The City Code currently lists all of the blocks that are approved for parking meters. After reviewing this section of the City Code and checking the Code sections against existing conditions, staff identified a number of blocks that currently have meters but are not correctly referenced or included in the City Code. Many of the missing locations are blocks that are appropriate for meters, in that they are adjacent to commercial uses and other metered blocks. Most of these locations have had meters for several decades and were likely approved for meters when first installed but not correctly documented in the Code. Some of the other locations are adjacent to recent development projects. As part of those approvals, the streets were identified as having meters, but the Code was not updated to add these blocks. This amendment would update the Code to make it consistent with the existing conditions. There are also several locations that are intended to have meters when the adjacent development project is constructed. This amendment would update the Code to include these future locations. Finally, staff also proposes some clarifications to the existing text of this section as summarized below. The proposed ordinance language is included in Attachment 2.
DISCUSSION: The attached table (Attachment 3) summarizes the updated locations and provides a reason for the corrected text or additional location. As provided in the Code, the locations are sorted by parking meter zone. All of these locations are either existing meter locations or were approved to be metered through a development project; the table includes one column for “Updated Location” and a second showing “Reason for Correction/Addition.” A map showing the updated locations is provided in Attachment 4.
In addition to the amendments to the specific meter locations, staff proposes several clarifying amendments to this section of the Code as summarized below.
Section 5-8-93 (b): Revise the language to be consistent with the changes approved in June 2015 that were inadvertently not carried forward with the subsequent amendment in October 2015. This allows the maximum time limit for meters to be any period of time up to four hours as established by the City Council through a resolution.
Section 5-8-96: Clarify this section is specific to single space meters.
Section 5-8-96 (c): Add “or other authorized payment” to allow for single space meters that accept credit card payment.
Section 5-8-97: Clarify that Parking Pay Stations include multi-space meters as referenced elsewhere in the Code.
The Traffic and Parking Board reviewed the changes to this ordinance at their May 23, 2016 meeting and voted to recommend approval to the City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT: The fiscal impact of this ordinance is minor. The majority of the blocks added to the Code are already metered and maintained by the City. Approximately fourteen new meters will be added on the blocks that were approved through development projects, which will be will be paid for by the developers of those projects. The cost to operate the meters, which is approximately $2,000 a year, will be the City’s responsibility, but will likely be covered by the revenue generated at these meters.
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment 1: Ordinance Cover
Attachment 2: Ordinance for updates to the Parking Meter Zones Division
Attachment 3: Summary of updated meter locations
Attachment 4: Map of updated meter locations
STAFF:
Emily A. Baker, Deputy City Manager
Yon Lambert, Director, T&ES
James Banks, City Attorney
Joanna Anderson, Deputy City Attorney
Earl Cook, Chief, Alexandria Police Department
Carrie Sanders, Acting Deputy Director, Transportation, T&ES
Steve Sindiong, Acting Division Chief, Transportation Planning, T&ES
Katye North, Principal Planner, Transportation Planning, T&ES