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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-11-10 Parking Advisory and Recommendation Committee MinutesTown of Reading ri E C E I V E D 5 Meeting Minutes TOWN CLERK R--�.r!! 'G, MA. p/. IM(OPr� Board - Committee - commission - Council: 2021 NOV 22 PM 4 14 Parking Advisory & Recommendations Committee Date: 2021-11-10 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Location: Address: Session: Open Session Purpose: General Business Version: Final Attendees: Members - Present: Chair Bernard Horn, Sarah Brukilacchio, Chris Haley, Tom O'Connor, Karen Rose -Gillis, Jay Jackson, Dan Dewar Members - Not Present: InrTISTAMM-i Others Present: Community Development Director Julie Mercier Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Julie Mercier Topics of Discussion: This meeting was held remotely on Zoom. The meeting was called to order at 7:02 PM. The Committee started off by reviewing minutes from their last meeting. One edit was made. Ms. Whitelam made a motion to accept the minutes from 10/27 as amended. Ms. Rose -Gillis seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously. Mr. Horn screen shared the most recent survey data, noting his request that the survey respondents be displayed on a Town precinct map. Mr. Horn showed a method for categorizing and tallying the open-ended survey question responses. He read through some of the responses, focusing on the ones where respondents said parking is difficult and there isn't enough. He expressed surprise that people think it is hard to park at night. Mr. Horn went through the rest of the survey data. Mr. Jackson expressed concern with using so much meeting time going through survey results, which the members can review on their own time. He suggested figuring out ways to get other feedback and data. Ms. Whitelam agreed. Mr. Horn went on, and reiterated his opinion that a lot of people want the Town to build more parking, reduce regulations, and not pay for parking. He noted that a lot of people are concerned with the development downtown, and that a lot of people want bike lanes and shuttle services. He then agreed that a lot of people also think the Town has enough parking. Mr. Jackson asked if others feel that the survey is enough outreach. Ms. Rose -Gillis stated that she does not think it is enough outreach and that she would like to make the outreach so annoying that people cannot say they didn't know about their efforts. She opined that the survey is wonderful but that it didn't get commuters or the entire Town. Mr. Jackson stated his desire that they figure out what to propose so they have something to tell people. Mr. Horn mentioned the postcard with the QR code for the survey, which created a jump in survey responses. He suggested they could send a few more postcards. Ms. Whitelam noted that there is no budget for that. Ms. Rose -Gillis opined that the Committee should not be reaching out to people until there are proposed recommendations to share with them. She said she wants to build the case for things so that they can cogently explain them to people. She wants to have something legitimate to show them first. Ms. Whitelam agreed that it is time for the Committee to put forth some recommendations. Mr. Haley stated that it's admirable that Ms. Rose -Gillis and Ms. Brukilacchio went around town handing out information. He said that the survey is good in terms of reaching out, but that it costs too much to repeat. He opined that they will never get 100% participation in the survey. Ms. Brukilacchio noted that the public forum can be advertised on the sign on the Common. The Committee discussed dates for PARC to give a general update to the Select Board. Mr. Haley suggested Tuesday, December 71h. Ms. Whitelam said she is available. Mr. Haley agreed it is time to start talking about recommendations. Mr. Jackson asked Mr. Haley if the Select Board has a particular percentage of public penetration they are looking for. Mr. Haley stated that he didn't think so, but that the survey response has been good. Ms. Mercier chimed in with a recommendation that PARC give specific and actual notice to businesses and residents downtown who will be impacted on a daily basis by any proposed changes. She suggested trying to get public input at PARC meetings sooner than later. Mr. Horn went back to the survey. Mr. O'Connor asked about upcoming meeting dates, and noted some feedback he provided regarding use of the CVS lot. He noted that he is realizing that people need to be educated about what parking is about: Reading parking and where Reading is going with parking intentions. He said people are not aware of how many hours they can park, but people are aware that there is no enforcement. He suggested a front page article in the Chronicle or a bulletin board notice announcing when the Parking Enforcement Officer is hired. He commented that people should not expect to be able to park right out in front of their destination. He opined that coming up with recommendations would be a good use of time. Mr. Horn stated his desire to propose options because different solutions might not happen all at once or work together. Ms. Rose -Gillis shared the spreadsheet of recommendations to go through one line at a time. Mr. Haley suggested they not discuss each item the first time around, but get clarification only as needed. Ms. Rose -Gillis noted that the street -by -street items are based on a combination of the Nelson Nygaard map and staff recommendations. Page 1 2 The Committee went through each recommendation and stated as individuals whether they Support, Do Not Support, are Not Sure Yet, or want to Abstain. The recommendations were broken down into the following categories: Miscellaneous, Employee Parking, Street Parking, Inner Core, Outer Core, Permits, Handicap Spaces, CVS Lot (Rear), CVS Lot Front (Cobblestones), Brande Lot, Hamden Lot, Town Hall Lot, Street Specific. Ms. Rose -Gillis updated the spreadsheet indicating results. Ms. Whitelam clarified that an indication of support for an idea is just signaling an openness to discuss the idea further; the purpose of tonight's exercise is to determine what has traction, not to solve the situation. Mr. Jackson asked if residents can buy visitor passes, like you can in Somerville. Mr. Horn responded that the Town does not have that. Ms. Whitelam asked Ms. Mercier to clarify the resident permit situation. Ms. Mercier explained the four different scenarios related to residents getting permits, as follows: (1) 1 property downtown without off-street parking has a resident sticker to park along their frontage; (2) any resident can purchase a resident access permit; (3) downtown residents with a resident -only restriction along their property frontage can get a resident access permit for free; and (4) downtown residents with an employee permit restriction along their property frontage can get an employee permit for free. She offered to verify with the Police Department that her statements are accurate. Ms. Brukilacchio opined that even though someone with a handicap hang -tag can park anywhere, not every space is designed to accommodate handicap loading/unloading, which can be cumbersome and hard to manage. Mr. O'Connor added to this by saying that a handicap person can park anywhere but only if a space is available. He noted that he is on PARC to represent senior citizens. Mr. Horn suggested that the Town Hall parking lot not be available to any employees, including Town Hall employees. He said that Town employees should have to search for parking just like everyone else; if we are creating the problems we should have to deal with the problems. Ms. Mercier shared a map of the Hamden Yard Lot regulations. The Committee discussed which areas to consider modifying, and determined it best to leave the Police Department parking areas off the table. Ms. Mercier noted that between the 2 -hour and employee spaces, there are less than 20 spaces, which may not be enough to justify a kiosk. Ms. Whitelam suggested leaving it as is. Others agreed. Mr. Jackson departed the meeting at 9:4013M. Ms. Brukilacchio noted that she met again with the Police Chief and Deputy Chief and that they mentioned considering a parking garage on the Brande Court Lot as an alternative to the CVS Lot. Ms. Rose -Gillis will send the spreadsheet to staff, who will distribute it to the full Committee. Mr. Horn suggested that Committee members put pros and cons in for each line item, and try to match their thoughts to the survey data. Mr. Horn and Ms. Whitelam will then give summary of survey and summary of recommendations so far to the Select Board on December 71. The Committee agreed that their next meeting will be Thursday, November 18th. Mr. Horn made a motion to recommend to the Select Board that PARC be extended through the end of February 2022. Ms. Whitelam seconded and the motion was approved 7-0-0. Mr. Haley will bring this request to the Select Board at an upcoming meeting. Page 1 3 Mr. Horn circled back to the survey and trying to get more responses. He asked if staff could send another email to Town Meeting members. Ms. Whitelam and Ms. Rose -Gillis disagreed and said that the next outreach should be about the forum, and that they need to focus on getting recommendations prepared first. Mr. Horn made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 10:15. Ms. Brukilacchio seconded the motion and it was approved 7-0-0. Mr. Dewar made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 11:22 PM. Ms. Whitelam seconded the motion and it was approved unanimously. Page 1 4