2006-09-20 ad Hoc Parking Task Force Minutes

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Ad Hoc Downtown Parking Committee Meeting September 20, 2006 The meeting convened at 7:45 pm in the Town Hall Berger Room, 16 Lowell Street, Reading MA. Present were Chairman Gil Rodrigues (GIL); Vice Chairman Jack Russell (JR); Members George Katsoufis (GK), Tom Quintal (TQ), David Talbot (DT); and Town Manager Peter Hechenbleikner (PH). Also in attendance was Adele Blunt and Chris Vaccaro. 1. Minutes. The minutes from the meting of August 19, 2006 were discussed and approved. 2. Parking demand determination GIL: Since many years, parking demand in the downtown has been higher than parking supply. It is important for businesses to have available parking for customers and staff. To a great extent, downtown businesses rely on repetitive customers. Also, having a pedestrian friendly environment is an important feature of reading's downtown. TQ: The Chamber of Commerce survey parking data (survey data) need to be revisited, as some figures appear to be escalated. GK: Proposal to compare the survey data against the theoretical parking supply data (inferred from the zoning bylaws and each building's area) in the downtown and tabulate the results. As a second step, this committee should attempt to "calibrate' the data, even if this means requesting further feedback from certain businesses. The objective is to come up with parking demand information that the committee feels comfortable with. This effort will be consistent with the proposed work-plan for this committee. Task #J: GK and TQ to assemble tabulated data on a per block basis for next meeting. 3. Parking supply determination GIL: Need to get accurate number of parking spaces on a per block basis, in order to correlate demand and supply. Task #2: DT and GIL to perform a count of private spaces by using the data shown in the town's parking map (from town's GIS) and updating with field observation. GK to provide necessary graphics to them for this effort. 4. Group needs TQ: Concerns of the residents need to be involved in the discussion. GK: There are three distinct groups involved in our study: customers, employees and residents. It is important to itemize the needs of each group. GIL: Guest parking for residents could also be an issue. DT: Other concerns are generated traffic, creating of private parking lots, visual issues Task #3: TQ to investigate what residents consider important and what tops the list,