City of Alexandria, Virginia
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MEMORANDUM
DATE: JUNE 22, 2016
TO: THE HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF CITY COUNCIL
FROM: MARK B. JINKS, CITY MANAGER /s/
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Consideration of a Resolution to Continue Three-hour Metered Parking at the City Parking Lot on the 900 Block of King Street From 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., at $1.75 Per Hour. [ROLL-CALL VOTE]
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ISSUE: Consideration of a Resolution to Continue Three Hour Metered Parking at the City Parking Lot on the 900 Block of King Street from 8am to 9pm, at $1.75 per hour.
RECOMMENDATION: That City Council adopt the attached resolution (Attachment 1) to continue to allow three-hour meters at the City parking lot on the south side of the 900 block of King Street from 8am to 9pm, at $1.75 per hour.
BACKGROUND: At the June 18, 2016 Council meeting, the Council approved a revision to the metered parking lots section of the City Code (Section 5-8-111 and 112) to establish a new process for reviewing and approving meters in City-owned parking lots. With this revision, reference to seven specific City-owned parking lots were removed from the Code. Of these lots, the only one that currently operates with meters is the parking lot on the south side of the 900 block of King Street (east of Misha’s Coffee). Since the Code now calls for each metered lot to be approved by resolution, this resolution formalizes the existing operations for this parking lot per the new Code.
DISCUSSION: The 18 space parking lot on the south side of the 900 block of King Street has operated as a metered parking lot since at least 2000. The individual meters at this lot were removed in 2010 and replaced with a single multi-space meter. This lot also includes one reserved space for a ZipCar vehicle and a Capital Bikeshare docking station. The lot is currently signed for parking Monday through Saturday during the hours of 8 a.m. to 9 p.m., which is consistent with on-street parking meter hours. The maximum time limit to park in this lot is three hours, similar to the maximum time limit for on-street parking meters in Zone 3 (Alfred Street to the Metro Station). The parking rate is the same as the cost to park on street ($1.75 per hour) and can be paid at the multi-space meter at the entrance to the parking lot or with Pango, the City’s pay by phone vendor.
Meters continue to be appropriate in this lot to generate turnover for the parking spaces. The survey conducted in 2014 as part of the Old Town Area Parking Study (OTAPS) indicated that this lot is very well used with parking occupancies in the 90% to 100% range during the times surveyed, which included weekday, Friday and Saturday evenings. At this time, staff is not proposing any changes to the existing metered operation for this lot. This resolution approves the existing conditions now that the City Code has removed the specific reference to this lot.
Staff notes that this lot is listed as surplus real estate and may be redeveloped in the future. Because the meters are already paid for and installed, the fiscal investment in the equipment has already been made.
FISCAL IMPACT: Over the last year, this lot generated approximately $65,000 in parking revenue and the average annual meter maintenance fees were approximately $2,500. However, there is no fiscal impact from this resolution since the meter is currently in place at this lot and the estimated revenues and maintenance costs are incorporated into the adopted budget.
ATTACHMENTS: Proposed Resolution
STAFF:
Emily A. Baker, Deputy City Manager
James Banks, City Attorney
Joanna Anderson, Deputy City Attorney
Yon Lambert, Director, T&ES
Carrie Sanders, Acting Deputy Director, T&ES
Steve Sindiong, Acting Division Chief, Transportation Planning, T&ES
Katye North, Principal Planner, Transportation Planning, T&ES