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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-13-06 Parking Commission Minutes Bozeman Parking Commission Meeting July 13, 2006 Parking Commissioners in Attendance: Paul Burns Steve Schnee Chris Pope Larry Bowman Pam Bryan City Staff in Attendance: James Goehrung Paul Luwe Debbie Arkell Laurae Clark Guests in Attendance: Paul Reichert Thomas Mosser Steve Newman Kelly Mathison Chris Pope called the meeting to order. Chris discussed how the parking commission would interface with the planning process per his discussion with Andy Epple. The minutes were discussed and Larry Bowman made a motion to approve the minutes and was seconded by Paul Burns. The minutes were approved. James gave an update on the Garage Project. For the transit system, there are four routes and all 4 buses will need to converge at one location at the same time for transfers. Currently there is only one stop on Tracy one bus deep. James suggested he go back to the architects and see if they can give us some alternatives for the transit stop in the Garage. If it were inside the Garage, it could eliminate some parking spaces and could require some other ventilation issues in the Garage and possibly require a traffic light. We hope to avoid a major redesign at this point. The three options are to design it inside the Garage, on Mendenhall, or on Tracy or Black. James will try to get more information on this and bring back to the Commission in two weeks. And, he noted that the parking lots have been sealed and striped, other than the Parking Garage lot. Debbie Arkell reported that for the proposed bus system the bus stops downtown will remove some parking spaces. She asked for input on how they should proceed with this. Should the City go ahead, or should these changes be passed through the Parking th Commission for approval? August 27 is the proposed date to have the bus system in place, if the funding is approved. Larry made a motion to approve the bus transfer stop between Tracy & Black on Mendenhall & to approve the HRDC’s transit plan. It was seconded by Pam and approved. TIF Update: There will be a meeting on the 18th with Mae Nan Ellingson, Anna Rosenberry and others to discuss the TIF funding issue. Does a Parking a Commission member wish to attend? Steve Schnee agreed to attend and report back. Scott Bechtle, with Bechtle Slade PC, reported that he reviewed their proposal with the developer and has revised their development. He also mentioned that Carl Walker th Consulting will be in town for a meeting on Monday the 17and invited the Parking Commission to attend. They have done proposals in Vail, CO etc. and have some great ideas based on past history in similar communities. They left the last meeting with the understanding they need to replace the parking. They are proposing to replace the surface parking with structured parking. The proposal is to deed back 28 spaces to the City for use of the Armory Lot. They would also pay $185,000 in cash-in-lieu for 37 parking spaces in addition to the parking they are creating (on the retail side). Paul Burns asked about the maintenance of the Public Spaces. Would the Parking Commission be responsible for that? It is more expensive to maintain a structure than a surface lot. It was decided they would discuss this issue (Operations & Maintenance) at a future date. Larry stated that he thought the concept was good. He is a component of replacing lost spaces. Pam was also supportive of this approach and the way they are proposing to deal with this issue. Steve Schnee was concerned with the parking requirements for the entire structure. He was concerned that there was not enough proposed real spaces even though he overall agreed with the other commissioners that he would support their proposal. Paul after a few clarifications also approved the project. Scott was going to notify the Commissioners of the time of the Walker Meeting in hopes a few Commissioner could attend. Thomas Mosser introduced Steve Newman, his architect, and also briefly described his new proposal for the two parking lots on Willson and Mendenhall. Steve is an architect that has dealt with development that has included parking structures within them. He reminded the Commission of the asset they have in those two lots— especially being across the street from one another. The development they are proposing will begin to create some depth and synergy in downtown Bozeman. He spent some time going through the parking requirements for this project and explained why he went to above ground parking. He explained that there is a perceived security element to above ground parking, as well as it is more cost effective and well lit. This proposal will replace all 71 spaces (in the two lots) with new covered spaces. This development is being driven by the need for parking at the new hotel Mr. Mosser is proposing. 31 spaces of this development would assist him in his parking requirements for his Hotel proposed on Main St. They would condo the parking and deed the 71 spaces back to the City. Paul mentioned that a downtown hotel is great for a downtown and the parking works because of the staggered hours the parking is used. Thomas stated that his goal is to have City Approval of his hotel by the end of the year and the ability to break ground by next spring. A private/public partnership agreement would ensure that they would deed the spaces back to the City. Pam stated that she doesn’t want to spend a lot of time on this project for the 31 spaces for the hotel until other alternatives are examined. Thomas announced that on street parking permits will not work for an up-scale hotel. His next option is to go to basement level parking (@ $35,000 per space) and go 5 levels and ask the City for a deviation for the height requirement. And, then ask for Cash in lieu for the difference. th It was decided to meet again on July 27 to continue to examine the issues and discuss other items that have not yet been addressed from this agenda. Chris reminded the developers that they will not choose projects. They will just give a green light to pursue their projects (or not) based on the parking issues only. He again stated that height issues downtown is a problem and things may definitely need to be reviewed in the near future. The Parking Commission would stand behind that. He reiterated that the commission concurs that both projects are good ideas for downtown. The Commission wants to make it clear that they are not endorsing one project over another. Meeting adjourned at 9:45 a.m.