HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-22-18 Public Comment - K. Powell (University Neighbors Assoc) - Residential Parking Permit DistrictsFrom:KPowell & S Griswold
To:Agenda
Subject:[SENDER UNVERIFIED]Concerns About Time Limited Parking Proposal from Univ Neighbors Assoc
Date:Sunday, April 22, 2018 11:32:10 AM
Attachments:Time LImited Parking Concerns RPPDs to City Commision.docx
Hello Mayor Andrus, Deputy Mayor Mehl and Commissioners Terry Cunningham, Jeff Krausand I-Ho Pomeroy
Attached is a letter from the University Neighbors Assoc (UNA) with serious concerns about
the Proposed “Time Limited Parking” Recommendation that will be before you April 23.
This is a part of the Parking Program Manager’s Memo on revising Residential Parking PermitDistricts (RPPD).
The neighbors in UNA (and likely other neighborhoods in the MSU RPPD) are asking the
City Commission to think very carefully about including this new approach.Do not include “Time Limited Parking” in any Draft RPPD Parking Ordinance until the
Commission does the 4 itmes listed in the attached letter.
Kathy Powell, PresidentUniversity Neighbors Assoc
406-600-1164powellgriz@icloud.com
April 20, 2018 TO: Mayor Cindy Andrus Deputy Mayor Chris Mehl Commissioners Terry Cunningham, Jeff Kraus, & I-Ho Pomeroy From Kathy Powell, President of University Neighbors Assoc RE: Proposed “Time Limited Parking” Recommendation for Residential Parking Permit Districts The University Neighbors Assoc (UNA) is part of the MSU Residential Parking Permit District (RPPD). All streets in UNA are included except Willson and Greek Way. UNA is directly east of MSU and living adjacent to MSU offers some real benefits and some real challenges. Talking to UNA neighbors who lived here before the MSU RPPD started have told me that there were significant issues of increased traffic, accidents at intersections and lots of MSU students and staff parking on neighborhood streets. These pressures and problems resulted in the City creating the MSU RPPD a number of years ago. The April 23, 2018 Memo to the City Commission from the City Parking Commission and the Parking Program Manger offers some good recommendations.
Clearer guidelines for creating new RPPDs
Collecting accurate and timely data at peak parking use time when evaluating RPPDs.
Seeking public input. However, the recommendation for “Timed Limited Parking” for the public was a surprise. UNA neighbors only just learned about this 2 weeks ago. Many residents are quite concerned about including such a policy in a revised City RPPD Ordinance. Currently street parking in UNA during restricted hours is for homeowners, renters, sororities & fraternities and limited Visitors from these dwellings. If “Timed Limited Parking” were included in a revised RPPD Ordinance, it would allow the public to park for 2 or 3 hr stretches in the MSU RPPD likely for free. This would definitely increase the number of MSU students, faculty and staff parking in UNA that don’t live in UNA (and other parts of the parking district). Why pay for parking at MSU when you can park for free in the adjacent neighborhood? Why is this a concern?
No input was sought in developing this parking recommendation from UNA or other neighborhoods currently in RPPDs.
Streets are indeed public, but the impact on a neighborhood from an adjacent growing University population seeking free parking will be significant.
o Traffic – Cars will be circling the neighborhood looking for parking – this was a big problem before the current MSU RPPD was formed.
o Fewer places to park on the street - Residents that leave and return during the day will likely not find a parking spot when the return.
o Safety – more Traffic increases potential for accidents at unmarked and marked intersections. Already people blow thru stop signs and intersections on a regular basis. o Neighborhood livability, which is valued by the City would be reduced.
Monitoring - 2 or 3 hr “Time Limited Parking “will need monitoring every 2-3 hours to ensure enforcement. If a vehicle moves after that time to another spot in UNA, a vehicle could park a total of 4-6 hr during a day. Although the new mobile license plate recognition technology (LPR) may be able to gather data, is there a budget and staff to monitor the parking around MSU ever 2-3 hours?
Snow removal: UNA has been working hard to communicate with neighbors including sororities and fraternities to move cars off the street when plows are coming. This would be near impossible with “Time Limited Parking” on a week day as there would be no way to communicate with the public parking people unless the street dept put up no parking snow removal signs (which the City finds difficult to do on neighborhood side streets).
MSU Parking: The City and neighborhoods adjacent to MSU need to sit down with MSU to talk about parking. MSU is promoting student, faculty and staff growth, yet many of these people do not live close to MSU. What is parking availability at MSU, how can it be made more affordable, does there need to be more campus parking? MSU needs to take care of their own parking needs and not push it into neighborhoods. Neighbors in UNA are asking the City Commission to direct the Parking Commission and Program Manager to NOT include “Time Limited Parking” in any draft Ordinance until the Commission: 1. Gets input from residents that live in MSU’s RPPD. 2. Meets with MSU and UNA to learn how they plan to handle on-campus parking for their growing student, faculty, and staff population. 3. Can demonstrate that enforcement is truly possible with the new LPR technology (a pilot?) 4. Determines the real costs of enforcement, signage, and potential increase in accidents at intersections due to increased traffic looking for a parking place. Kathy Powell, President University Neighbors Assoc 406-600-1164 powellgriz@icloud.com