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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-08-17 Parking Advisory and Recommendation Committee Minutes - DraftnmTown of Reading Meeting Minutes aJSIM(OPOUPI' Board - Committee - Commission Date: 2021-08-17 Building: Reading Town Hall Address: 16 Lowell Street Purpose: PARC Discussion Attendees: Members - Present: Council: Parc Time: 7:00 PM Sarah Brukilacchio (Remote) Daniel Dewar Jay Jackson Chris Haley Thomas O'connor Karen Rose -Gillis Elizabeth Whitelam, Vice Chair Bernard Horn, Jr., Chair Members - Not Present: John Weston Others Present: RECEIVED TOWN CLERK READING, MA. 2021 SEP 28 AM Ii 18 Location: Select Board Meeting Room Session: Open Session Version: Draft Jean Delios, Assistant Town Manager; Julie Mercier, Community Development Director, Andrew MacNichol, Staff Planner (Remote); Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Andrew MacNichol Topics of Discussion: Mr. Horn called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Ms. Mercier explained how the hybrid meeting set-up works. The meeting is being held in the Select Board's Meeting Room at Town Hall, and allows remote participation for those who cannot attend in-person. Mr. Horn introduced the Committee. He stated that the Select Board has formalized the committee and its members. Mr. Haley confirmed. State Charge of Committee from Select Board Ms. Mercier shared the Committee's webpage on-screen, which included the Committee's charge. Establish Goals and Objectives of PARC Mr. Horn stated that the goals of PARC are broader and should incorporate the goals of parking in Reading. The PARC will report to the Town's Parking Traffic and Transportation Task Force (PTTTF) who will then report back to the Select Board. Page 1 1 He suggested goals of gathering data on downtown parking, gather as much public input from stakeholders as possible, and provide recommendations. Ms. Rose -Gillis stated that one goal of PARC should be to determine the existing problem(s) of parking downtown. She questioned if employee parking or customer parking is an issue, or both. Mr. Jackson agreed. Ms. Whitelam asked if the Town's existing data would be utilized. Mr. Horn replied in the affirmative. He added that the Select Board did not find the 2018 Parking Study a great report to utilize. Mr. Horn recommended changing the word `goal' in agenda item number two to 'tasks' in order to avoid confusion with item number three of the agenda. Ms. Brukilacchio stated that she will look to gather public input from residents of the downtown area. Establish Goals of Parking in Reading Mr. Horn found the goal of parking in Town to be maximizing efficiency and access for the maximum number of users, while minimizing costs. Recommendations should be based on the achievement of said goal(s). Ms. Rose -Gillis stated goals are hard to set when the problem is unknown. Consistency of needs must be identified in order to establish the needs. She continued that day time needs are different than night time needs. Ms. Whitelam found simplifying the system and expanding access key. She stated that goals will be fluid as more information is learned. Mr. Haley asked if resident access permits have reached maximum capacity, just as employee permits have. Mr. Horn responded that there is no set limit on resident parking stickers. Ms. Brukilacchio clarified that the downtown resident sticker is different than the town wide sticker which provides access to the compost sticker. The downtown sticker is free to those fronting resident parking zones. Ms. Mercier added that businesses fronting employee parking zones are allowed free employee parking permits. Mr. Horn asked how many parking spaces are downtown. Ms. Mercier answered that there are approximately 3,400 parking spaces, 1,300 of which are public. Mr. Horn questioned if resident only parking zones allowed the maximum number of users to park downtown. Mr. O'Connor found that the length of time people are parking for to be a major concern. He continued that different times of the day are more active than others. Mr. Horn recommended a variation analysis be done. He thought that the demand coming from differing users would be useful to know. Mr. Haley stated that perception of no parking from those who want to park as close to their destination as possible is a second concern. Ms. Whitelam suggested establishing a goal of education on the availability of parking. Mr. Haley agreed. Ms. Brukilacchio stated that safety is also a need of downtown streetscapes. Wider sidewalks, pathways and connections from parking areas would be a benefit. Mr. Page 1 2 Jackson agreed that bump outs would be a benefit to the town. Ms. Brukilacchio asked if bike routes should be considered. Ms. Rose -Gillis asked if a plan exists to improve bicycle connections. Ms. Mercier replied in the affirmative. Mr. Horn found biking possible on existing side roads. Mr. Jackson added that there are differing types of bicyclists, including children which is the biggest concern. Mr. Horn stated that you would not want to encourage walking, skateboarding, rollerblading, etc. on high commercial corridors such as Main Street. He has observed such dangerous activity on the new Route 28 road configuration. Mr. Jackson replied that vibrant towns and cities are worth sitting in traffic for. Ms. Whitelam stated that placemaking is not the goal of the committee. Mr. Jackson stated three types of transit exist: human motion (walking, jogging, etc.), mechanical (bikes, skateboards, etc.), and vehicular. Mr. Horn questioned what data is needed to help determine the needs of each. Public Outreach Strategy Mr. Haley suggested taking advantage of the Fall Street Faire to gather information. He stated a table could be held with a survey. Mr. Jackson agreed and added that a `tiny URL' or similar could be utilized. Mr. Haley stated that he would like respondents to answer the survey at the table. Mr. Horn asked if an existing survey could be used as a template. Ms. Mercier stated that a parking survey was conducted in 2020 which could be used. Ms. Whitelam suggested businesses keep copies of the survey in their store. Ms. Brukilacchio stated that getting information from those who are visiting downtown would be beneficial as they either parked or walked there. Mr. Horn recommended utilizing parking areas for flyers, QR codes, etc. to gather the most data. Mr. O'Connor asked if the survey would be online or in paper and who would be responsible for distribution. Mr. Haley answered that both electronic and in paper versions can be provided. Ms. Whitelam stated that the Fall Street Faire is an atypical day and the survey should extend beyond such. Ms. Delios stated that hard copies in the Senior Center, Library and other public buildings is a benefit. Mr. Horn asked if residents can email the committee. Ms. Mercier stated that there is no separate email right now but emails can be sent to her. Ms. Mercier shared the 2018 parking survey as it may be useful to the committee. Mr. Horn stated that the survey will need further review to determine its usefulness. Ms. Mercier reiterated that a downtown business parking survey was also conducted in 2020. She continued that these surveys were done prior to and during the pandemic. Ms. Whitelam found utilizing pre -pandemic data beneficial as they must plan for such. Mr. Horn asked if the survey captured uses of parkers. Ms. Mercier replied in the affirmative. Mr. Horn added that the committee was charged with getting more input and did not wish to rule out a new survey. He continued that people outside of downtown need to provide input. Ms. Rose -Gillis stated that perceptions may have changed based on new developments and feelings. Ms. Whitelam stated that through the Local Rapid Recovery program, another survey addressed such questions. Page 1 3 Mr. Haley asked if open ended questions were provided in the existing surveys. Ms. Mercier replied in the affirmative. Organize PARC Analysis Mr. Horn asked to take this item out of order on the agenda and discuss it first. He suggested establishing a zone of a 300' radius from the 2 Haven Street building in order to determine where Mr. Haley is eligible for discussion. Mr. Haley stated that he cannot discuss the train station parking area but is looking for further input on his eligibility to discuss southern Woburn Street. Ms. Whitelam questioned if the ineligible areas would hinder discussion. She added that public parking lots should be discussed as a whole, including Brande Court. Ms. Whitelam opined that types of parking, such as street parking or lot parking, should be discussed more so than zones of areas. Mr. Haley stated that he would like to provide input on upper Haven Street. Ms. Brukilacchio asked if Mr. Haley is excluded from discussion or voting only. Mr. Haley replied that he is precluded from discussion unless sitting as a member of the public audience. Mr. Jackson agreed with Ms. Whitelam that the parking regulations should be discussed holistically and not be divided into zones of discussion. Mr. Jackson asked if a vote were to ensue on the area as a whole would Mr. Haley be prevented from voting. Mr. Haley replied in the affirmative. Mr. Horn suggested three zones: the 2 Haven Street 300' radius, the remaining downtown area and the rest of Reading outside of the downtown. Mr. Jackson disagreed. Ms. Whitelam opined that goals be established before breaking into zones. Mr. Jackson agreed. Mr. Horn asked if data on the resident stickers, employee stickers and other permits can be provided. Ms. Mercier stated that she will look to gather such. Mr. Horn stated he is interested in the volume of stickers and if price changes affected such. Ms. Brukilacchio stated that she was concerned with multi -family development residents all receiving resident permit stickers and using them to park on the street. Ms. Mercier responded that they cannot prohibit stickers from one resident group to another. She stated that there is data available on the parking utilization of the 40R developments. Ms. Brukilacchio asked if tracking is being conducted on if they are receiving permits or not. Ms. Whitelam stated that right now it has been a non -issue. Mr. Haley confirmed that extra spaces within garages of new developments are being rented out to other users besides their residents, such as commercial employees. He continued that there is a long waiting list which shows a demand for such. Mr. Jackson stated that if developments are leasing spaces it shows that there is an excess amount of parking at them. Ms. Mercier shared the 40R parking data on-screen. Mr. Horn asked if the total occupancy of the buildings is known. Ms. Mercier stated that there are notes on such but things may change over time. Mr. Horn asked if residents of the buildings are charged for their parking spaces. Ms. Mercier replied that in some cases they do purchase additional spaces. She continued that a shed analysis of parking demand was also conducted. Ms. Delios stated that leased parking has been removed from public spaces along Vine Street and within Brande Court. Mr. Horn found understanding commuter parking impacts to be important to the ongoing discussion. Page 14 Mr. Horn stated that he has asked about Open Meeting Law constraints. He questioned if members could discuss over email. Ms. Delios stated that is not allowed and would be a violation. Mr. Haley stated that discussions can ensue without a quorum. Ms. Cellos stated that correspondence should be sent to staff. She added that minutes are also required to be submitted. Mr. Horn questioned how additional utilization data can be gathered. He found the Nelson Nygaard study to be insufficient due to it analyzing just two days. Ms. Rose - Gillis stated that data on employee parking is another need. She continued that the surrounding area outside of downtown is under utilized and parking could be expanded to. Ms. Rose -Gillis stated that she would like to survey businesses to determine how they approach employee parking. Ms. Whitelam agreed and stated that employees should be incentivized to park further away from the downtown. Ms. Caroline Gauthier, Reading resident and business owner, stated that she wished to discuss the business parking needs. She stated that her business is in podiatry and her customers cannot walk very long distances. Ms. Gauthier continued that the Brande Court lot is heavily over utilized and needs more turnover. 40R developments seemingly reduce commercial parking spaces which impacts surrounding businesses and their customers. Ms. Gauthier stated that the change from two-hour parking to four-hour parking in Brande Court has negatively impacted her business which requires short term parking. Mr. Horn asked if Ms. Gauthier rented parking spaces within the 30 Haven building and if the business rented spaces to other employees. Ms. Gauthier replied in the affirmative as her and another doctor park within the garage, and added that additional off-street parking is provided to her employees at the private lot on Sanborn Street. She also has three employee parking permits. Ms. Whitelam asked if employees look to park on Woburn Street. Ms. Gauthier replied that it depends on the time of day. Mr. Dewer asked how customers approached parking. Ms. Gauthier stated that handicap spots are provided in the front and the rear of the building, however, those who aren't handicapped state that parking takes over thirty -minutes to find. Ms. Brukilacchio asked if Ms. Gauthier had any recommendations. Ms. Gauthier agreed that moving employees to the outer core makes sense. Ms. Whitelam asked if a large number of employees at the 30 Haven Street building park in Brande Court. Ms. Gauthier replied in the affirmative. Ms. Whitelam responded that she would be interested to see what the lot utilization would look like if employees were moved to the outer core. Ms. Rose -Gillis stated that it was a surprise to see the CVS parking lot have a four-hour limit. She continued that this did not provide enough turnover. Ms. Whitelam stated that this is why paid kiosks were proposed in public lots, to create more turnover. Ms. Delios echoed the comment as it would allow users to have control as to how long they stay. Ms. Whitelam found this would also help push employees to the free parking areas outside the district. Mr. Haley asked how the meeting was advertised to Ms. Gauthier. Ms. Gauthier stated that she had heard about it through CPDC meetings and Select Board meetings. Mr. Horn asked if employees were out of the lot, would there be sufficient space for customers. Ms. Gauthier answered that she did not notice issues when it was two-hour parking. Mr. Horn asked if the businesses have had conversations with one another on parking employees elsewhere. Ms. Gauthier stated that conversations have happened but employees also come from other buildings. Page 1 5 Minutes Mr. O'Connor made a motion to accept the meeting minutes of August 3, 2021. Ms. Brukiiacchio seconded the motion and it was approved 8-0-0. Next Meetings Ms. Delios suggested creating a meeting schedule due to the number of public meetings upcoming. Ms. Brukilacchio stated that she is not regularly available on Tuesdays. Ms. Whitelam suggested meeting every other Wednesday starting on September first. The committee decided to meet on September the first at 7:00pm; the fifteenth at 5:30pm; and the 2gth. They also found that October IV and 27th worked. Mr. Dewer made a motion to adjourn at 9:45pm. Mr. Jackson seconded the motion and it was approved 8-0-0. Page 1 6