HomeMy WebLinkAbout2007-03-22 ad Hoc Parking Task Force MinutesC16-a
Ad Hoc Downtown Parkin Committee Meeting T 0 kviq E R K
Larch 22, 2007 R ; , I N G ,1'i ~ S .
P I GO
The meeting convened at 7:.30 pm in the Town Hall Berger Room, 18 Lowell. Stre ea ing I1 K
Present were Chairman Gil Rodrigues (GIL); Members George Katsoufis (GK.; Tom. Quintal (TQ), David
Talbot (DT) and Julie Thu rlow (JT).
Also in attendance were Town residents: Adele Blunt, Rick Shaffer and Donna Barnes.
1 Minutes.
The minutes from the meeting of February 8, 20,07 were discussed and approved (4-0-1)-
2 Public comments
Adele made the comment that commercially leased on-street spaces along High street north of Woburn
street should be made available at 7.00 am instead: of the current 3.30 am.
Donna shared her experience with a flyer distributed by the owner of 2 Haven Street announcing the
availability of 12 commercially !eased spaces (possibly numbered H25-H37). it was commonly agreed
that these spaces were initially leased for the use of future building tenants.
Rick voiced his opinion that for 50 years the parking problem was acknowledged but during the last 10
years it is exacerbated with the development of Reading Cooperative Bank and 2 Haven Street. In his
estimate, there. are 110-120 parking spaces. that.these two developments never had to build and-that the.
Town has had to accommodate. Julie said that a mains reason for this observation is that there are fewer
vacancies in the downtown compared to what was before 10 years. Discussion was held about how
Article #25 of the Spring. 2007 Town Meeting warrant attempts tomake requirements far mixed-use-
developments and requirements for commercial developments equivalent. Julie replied that keeping the
300-foot exemption in place maintains values in the downtown. David added that the Town cannot afford
another development-to the magnitude of 2 Haven Street- that utilizes 100% public parking for its users
(public lots and on-street). Tom agreed and said that the downtown has a saturated employee parking
demand. For Julie, this scenario is unlikely since current market conditions (with respect to commercial
parking) would not allow this type of investment. it was commonly agreed that parking shortage hurts
businesses. George said that zoning needs to be revisited at some paint and in the manner that
employee and customer parking requirements are not lumped: in one requirement in the bylaw, while
examining a possible tiered system of requirements in support of small businesses' viability.
Motion: made by David and second by Tom for the Committee to adopt the following statement:
„Continuing the "304-foct exemption" in the zoning bylaw, as written today; presents a serious
risk of worsening today`s already tight downtown parking:. supply.. While the Parking Task Force
takes no position on Article 25, the Task Force recommends that the Board of Selectmen
undertake a study to make appropriate bylaw changes to remove this risk."
Votes- 3 in favor,. 2 against for reasons of not having studied the matter and not wanting to imply a
change of the bylaw..
Result: The motion did not carry through (4 votes in favor needed).
~R
3 Status report of action items
3.1 Structured parking: Completed
3.2 Shared employee parking: Julie presented research done between George Rio and herself,
completed to a 50% level., Several places that can service the goal of better utilizing parking spaces
have been identified in Town_ Next steps will include potentially tying together excess supply with
excess demand, by use of standard business agreements that invoive liability insurance,
compensation, ete. It was commonly agreed that the committee should recommend that the
responsibility to initiate discussions between potentially interested parties should be given to the new
Chief Planner 1 Department of Community Services Director (when hired).
13 Shared public parking: Public parking is in its nature shared parking:. Item will. be further discussed in
the next meeting for more directions.
14 Business run shuttle bus: Jack Russell's analysis, completed to more than 50% will be discussed in
the next meeting.
3.5 Publicly run shuttle bus. David has been investigating Rockport's shuttle bus, which operates during
the tourist season.and experiences operational challenges. The Town would need land to create a
new municipal lot outside of the downtown from where to shuttle people in. George offered to help in
the areas of funding mechanisms, associated costs, route planning and headways, critical mass
(ridership) required; O.. M_ costs,. etc_.
3.6 Additional parking: Gil reported that there are limited opportunities item will be discussed in the next
meeting for more direction.
3.7 Zoning changes: George talked about the two paints for downtown's zoning: (a) establishment of
parking maximums and reduction of current parking minimums and (b) separation of employee and
customer parking requirements.
3.8 On-street parking in S-15 areas: Tom reported that,, according to his anecdotal conversations with
neighbors, there is no dominant view on the issue of whether commercial parking spill-over into
streets - that are in the S-15 residential districts adjacent to the downtown: - is an effective alternative
or not. (author's comment: it is unclear whether more effort should be placed in this item)
3.9 Commuter parking: Gil talked about charging Reacting residents for a commuter-parking sticker. He
is preparing a chart that will indicate where the Town stands compared to other towns. The outcome
of his analysis would be to recommend a flee (how much), when it is paid (monthly, yearly) and what
the money is to be used for. General discussion occurred about possibilities to build-up the MBTA lot
and increase commuter spaces, thereby alleviating some pressure from the parking demand in
downtown.
3.10 Ridesharing: David and George have only begun their investigation: on. this. David showed a
questionnaire that can be given to the employees of large Reading employers. Feedback and input
about the questionnaire to be collected at our next meeting. George suggested inviting to the
committee Ian Durrand, -MassRIDES and Stephanie Anderberg, City of Cambridge to discuss
carpooling opportunities and municipal initiatives. It was commonly- agreed that this is a good idea
for our next meeting and George should follow up with the two guests.
Next meeting was scheduled for April 18t'` at 7.30 pm_ The meeting adjourned at 9:40 pm