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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-10-13 Parking Advisory and Recommendation Committee Minutes - DraftU-A*f Town of ReadingRECEIVED Meeting Minutes TOWN CLERK READING. MA Board - Committee - Commission - Council: 2021 OCT 28 AH 11: 2V Parking Advisory & Recommendations Committee Date: 2021-10-13 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Location: Address: Session: Open Session Purpose: General Business Version: Draft Attendees: Members - Present: Chair Bernard Horn, Vice Chair Liz Whitelam, Sarah Brukilacchio, Chris Haley, Tom O'Connor, Karen Rose -Gillis, John Weston Members - Not Present: Jay Jackson, Dan Dewar Others Present: Community Development Director Julie Mercier, Executive Assistant Caitlin Nocella Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Topics of Discussion: This meeting was held remotely on Zoom. The meeting was called to order at 7:00 PM. The board started off by reviewing/editing the minutes from their last meeting. Mr. O'Connor made a motion to accept the minutes from 9/29 as amended. Ms. Rose -Gillis seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously. The board then reviewed the survey results and gave their takeaways. Ms. Brukilacchio felt the survey relayed the most concerns/ thoughts about the lot behind CVS. Most people would prefer 2 -hour parking there over 4 -hour. Everyone has figured out that there is no parking enforcement at the moment and people are using that to their advantage. More bike infrastructure and more handicap spots were also commonly mentioned. Employers of downtown businesses do not want meters because they feel that would hinder business. Mr. Haley noted he was also surprised at the common mentioning's of not enough handicap spots. He also was surprised it was noted frequently that it is common knowledge the Reading Coop employees are parking in customer spots all day long taking up a lot of parking. He agreed with Ms. Brukilacchio noting the CVS lot seems to be the most problematic. The town is losing business because people would rather drive to a different town where there is better parking. Ms. Whitelam was surprised by the amount of responses from residents who feel parking Isn't a huge problem if you just walk a little further to your destination. Page i 1 Ms. Rose -Gillis mentioned the overnight parking concerns; especially with all these new units going in that only have 1 designated parking spot and very few or no'guest parking'. Mr. O'Connor would like to see more 30 -minute spots for people who are just running in to do a quick errand. If the board/town did consider meters he would like to discuss some sort of pass for seniors so they do not have to pay. He also mentioned the need/requests for a parking garage. Mr. Horn showed the board a map of the town and the distribution of where the surveys came from. They looked at the results based on age and if the person is walking vs. driving to do their errands downtown. Ms. Brukilacchio mentioned having designated spots for seniors; not handicap spots but spots for the elderly that are close. It was noted it may be hard to monitor or enforce. The CVS lot and Main street are the most popular places to park. Mr. Weston mentioned the board taking into consideration there are few people who go to downtown and stay for 4 hours. Most people are coming to do an errand or two but struggle to park. Ms. Rose -Gillis agreed noting there were a lot of comments wishing there were more shorter time framed spots. The board discussed parking enforcement noting it is hard right now with no enforcement but the department is in the middle of hiring a new parking officer that will hopefully be in place before any new parking recommendations take effect. Ms. Julie Mercier noted the CVS lot and Brande Court are filled with employees parking there all day leaving limited parking for customers. Mr. Haley agreed and stated that he feels employees are the biggest problem and not overflow of residents trying to shop downtown. Ms. Whitelam suggested maybe changing the town lot next to the depot to employee parking that could maybe help free up spots in the Brande Court lot. Mr. Horn suggested putting 2 -hour parking/no employee parking signs in the CVS and Brande Court lots and having the parking officer sit in there every now and then to enforce it and make his presence known. He feels the presence of a parking officer alone will help the situation somewhat. The board noted they would all send in their suggestions for parking changes to Ms. Rose - Gillis and she will compile a document for the board to review at their next meeting. Mr. Weston wanted to caution the board about creating new parking regulations solely based on the survey results because the survey results only represent a small portion of residents' thoughts. Ms. Brukilacchio made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:19 PM. Mr. Weston seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously.