HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-10-18 ad Hoc Parking Task Force MinutesAd Hoc Downtown Parking Committee Meeting
October 18, 2006
The meeting convened at 7:30 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), Torn Quintal (TQ), David Talbot (DT), Julie
Thurlow (JT) and George Rio (GR).
Also in attendance were Brad Latham, Michael Linnawc, Peter Simms, Anthony Patti,
Richard Finlagen, Naomi Kaufman, Janice Jones and David Blake.
1. Minutes.
The minutes from the meeting of September 20, 2006 were discussed and approved.
2. Sanborn property
Proposed process
Brad Latham gave a brief overview of Reading Co-Operative Bank's acquired Sanborn
Street property characteristics and the Bank's need to use this property as a parking lot
for its employees. Brad presented three options that the Bank can pursue:
- Option 1: Rezone the parcel in question and place it in the Business B zoning
district, as the property already abuts the Business B district.
- Option 2: Create a special permit process that allows land that abuts the business
district to be used for employee parking if certain protective criteria are met and if
a special permit is issued by the CPDC.
- Option 3: Create an employee parking overlay district (on the zoning map) with
certain criteria and if Town Meeting allows a parcel to be placed in the overlay
district, then a special permit would be required by the CPDC.
The third option offers more control to the town over the future uses in a property.
Proposed use
JT: the Bank's objective is to take employee parking off of streets and put those cars in a
gated parking lot. The town has a parking problem but hasn't programmed a garage. The
businesses need to solve their parking needs, although they recognize that they must do
so by also addressing the residents' concerns.
DT: voiced a preference for a mixed-use development on site according to smart growth
principles (downtown density, proximity to transit, etc.), instead of a blacktop dead
space.
GK: given the state/national forecast about an ever-increasing automobile usage, the
committee needs to develop a broader understanding of the problem and be ready to
consider the need for remote employee lots in several downtown locations. There is an
end of November CPDC public hearing scheduled for the Reading Co-Operative Bank's
zoning proposal, where this committee's position will be requested. Mixed-use options
should be investigated as part of the new mixed-use downtown overlay zoning district.
Brad Latham added that the abutting residents are generally agreeable to this scenario and
the CDPC process will provide criteria for buffering, lighting and noise mitigation. A
general discussion occurred about the larger picture of business needs, the likelihood of
public/private partnerships addressing the employee parking shortage. Although not part
of this committee's charter, it was commonly agreed that, at this point, it is premature to
formally take a position on this issue.
Task #1: Committee members to individually research parking overlay districts.
Task #2: GK, TQ and JT to conduct a more in-depth research of parking overlay
districts and present findings in the next meeting.
Task #3: Committee members to be prepared to take a position about the proposed
zoning amendment (Option 3) in the 11-15-06 meeting.
Task #4: Should it be necessary, committee members to individually request any
land-use/zoning information related to the Sanborn property from Brad Latham
3. Parking lot survey
GIL: presented results of his lot survey of parking spaces of blocks 01-05-06-07-08
DT: presented results of his lot survey of parking spaces of blocks 09-10-11-12-13-14-15,
and noted that several lots appear underutilized, with most differences observed between
East-of-Main lots and West-of-Main lots.
Task #5: GK to update the datasheets with the new parking supply information.
4. Datasheets
GK: Explained methodology employed in the downtown datatsheets developed so far.
Building square footage (source: Town's GIS) and employers' stated needs (source:
Chamber survey organized by TQ) are cross referenced with generic ITE (institute of
traffic engineers) standards for employee parking/SF of building use. In some cases, the
stated needs require a second contact with employers to verify the figures, in other cases
the theoretical parking need (as ITE formulas compute it) require more specific
information.
Task #6: GK to further develop the datasheets based on more detailed ITE
formulas, with assistance from town staff as necessary.
Task #7: TQ to identify which employers need to be contacted by the committee fi r
parking needs verification.
5. Survey of residents
ITT: introduced Naomi Kaufman, marketing professional, who crafted a. survey of
residents a:s to their perceptions/opinions about the nature/extent of downtown parking
conditions.
The committee performed a limitedreview of the document: itself and focused more on:
targeting different groups of residents: and viable:. methods of distributing the survey (with,
RM.L;lD bills; during election-day, in select downtown locations in the Town's website,
through mass mailing, etc).
Task- #8: DT (,or Naomi Kaufman) to electronically send, the document to Committee
members for review, along with. pros/eons per each. potential distribution method
Task #9: GIL to inquire Town Manager as to the preferred distribution method.
6. Shared parking letter
JR: presented a letter addressed-to-Reading: business owners meant to kick-start a "shared
parking initiative:'
Task #10: -GIL to inquire Town Monager for° 'own Council input on this proposal
so that the committee can revifit the intent and language of the letter in its next
meetings.
7. Next meeting:
- The n meeting of this Committee is scheduled: for Novemebrl5,
Task #11: GIL to -craf# an agenda and distribute to the committee a few days before
the next meeting
The meeting, adjourned at 10:.00 pra.
Minutes prepared by ergs K.atsouf s