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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-11-12 Parking Commission MinutesBozeman Parking Commission Meeting July 11, 2012 7:30 a.m. City Hall Commission Room Parking Commissioners in Attendance: Ben Lloyd Chris Naumann Pam Bryan Tammy Hauer Kelly Wiseman Ben Bennett Ryan Olson City Staff in Attendance: Scott Lee, Parking Manager Kayla Hubbard, Acting Parking Clerk Laurae Clark, Treasurer Sean Becker, Commissioner Cyndy Andrus, Commissioner Brit Fontenot, Assistant to City Manager Allyson Bristor, Planner II Tim McHarg, Planning Director Guests in Attendance: Cory Lawrence Kyle Dornberger Tony Renslow Action Items: None. Call to Order The meeting was called to order by Chris N. Approval of June 2012 minutes Kelly motioned to approve minutes from June 2012. Ben seconded the motion. Minutes were approved unanimously. Manager's Report & Finance Report Scott Lee presented the financial statements. It is a slightly different format, but contains the same budget groupings Paul used. Though we are at the end of the fiscal year physically, some bills and expenses will trickle in for the next month that will get charged to this past fiscal year. Chris N reported that the wages & salaries budgeted and actual amounts are different from Paul’s last statement. There was some confusion in that he did not think the parking clerk position was charged 100% to the parking budget, and it is. Scott also clarified that the budget numbers may have been off because the budget was not approved until about three months after the fiscal year had begun, so they may have not been updated. Scott stated that he is working to recruit a third parking officer. Scott and Laurae met with human resources about getting this position posted. We will need a third officer by the time MSU and Bozeman schools resume. Laurae stated it would be at least a 4-5 week process once it gets posted, and someone is hired. Public Comment None. Selling upstairs office update Scott reported that there are currently two bids in for the office space in the garage. The city has countered. There was some concern that the City was taking excess time to turn around the negotiations. But, both parties are still very interested and there should be a decision very soon. Chris N shared that the City Commissioners instructed the BPC to take the bids and to have the office appraised. Scott stated that the appraisal is set for mid July. The bid has to be within 90% of the appraisal per city requirements. If over the appraisal, the office will be sold at the highest of 90% of the appraised value, or the bid amount. Armory Hotel Presentation and Discussion Chris N introduced Cory Lawrence to the table for the Armory redevelopment presentation. Cory is co-owner of Off the Beaten Path. Cory L introduced Kyle Dornberger who is the lead designer on the project. Kelryco is the company that intends to re-develop the armory building into a boutique hotel. The parking challenges are the purpose of the discussion. There is no way to rebuild the structure to provide parking on site. Statistics of the building were stated from the handout given by Kelryco. Stating lot size of ~19,000 sq ft (+/-). Existing structure size of ~29,500 sq ft. The room count would be estimated at about 63-75 with approximately 6 stories. Estimated square footage that would be developed is 71,808 including balconies. The restaurant/lounge area would be about 6,138 sq ft including both indoor and outdoor seating. Capacity would be about 140 patrons indoors and 104 outdoors. The public event space would estimate about 7,392 sq ft. Holding capacity would be 300-700 people. Hospitality space would be approximately 2,968 sq ft. Holding capacity would be 100-280 people. The operational needs of the hotel in regards to parking far exceed the statutory requirements held by the City of Bozeman. The current operational needs were listed in the handout provided. Front side parking along Mendenhall Street in front of the armory is six spaces. This would be used for load/unload zones, staging, short term parking. If parking regulations were to remain unchanged the hotel would need .94 parking spaces per hotel room. This figures to be about 59-70 parking spaces. These would need to be guaranteed use spots for the hotel only. If the parking regulations were relaxed and allowed parking in the 2am to 7am spots to not be enforced the hotel would need .80 parking spaces per hotel room. This figures to be about 51-60 parking spaces. These also would need to be guaranteed use spots for the hotel only. For the restaurant/lounge and event patrons, Kelryco would like to have validation privileges in the Bridger Park Garage or other metered areas. For the employees and staff, Kelryco would like to have validation privileges in Bridger Park Garage or in other metered areas and estimates this to be about 20 parking spaces. Kelryco would like to maintain a very open and complete line of communication with the parking commission and everyone involved. Prioritization of meeting estimated parking needs. The handout states the necessary parking requirements that need to be met in order for the hotel to provide the efficient services to its guests. The six spaces in front of the armory building on Mendenhall St. and approximately 44 spaces in the lot located across Mendenhall St. plus supplemental spaces in the Bridger Park Garage; or approximately 28 spaces in the lot directly adjacent to the armory building plus supplemental spaces in the Bridger Park Garage. All of these options are not assumed to be given, but negotiated leases or purchase terms accepted by all parties along with improvement requirements (space numbering, beautification, etc). Scott explained that the hotel would not be reserving specific spots in the parking garage. A number system would simply be put into place to allow valet attendants to find the vehicles more efficiently. Reserving spots in the garage violates conditions that have to be met with the parking garage due to Federal funding, used to build the structure. Cory explained that a precedent study was done on areas similar to Downtown Bozeman that have a similar hotel structure. Three hotels were chosen and the findings were placed in the handout. Findings as to room counts, restaurant/bar availability, event space, and parking conditions. All 3 of the hotels in the study had parking challenges similar to those of this situation. Figures were provided to show how many spaces the city granted to the hotels for guaranteed spaces and terms for similar space for general parking. The Boise, ID hotel was the only hotel that had a structure built adjacent to it. The hotel is only charged per vehicle that is in the garage overnight. There are 140 of the 300 spaces that are exclusive to the hotel. The hotel is not charged for the spaces that are not used. Time frame for further discussions is about two weeks. In two weeks the terms of the buy/sell agreement expire. Kelryco would like to engage in as much conversation as possible to see how to succeed with the project and projected timeline. They are curious to know what the bigger challenges are for the commission and how they will be able to help tackle them to make a decision. Allyson Brystor from the Planning Dept presented a handout with some calculations for the parking requirements by downtown businesses. Allyson discussed how her calculations were figured. It was determined that 55 parking spaces were required by the UDC for the size and location of the armory building re-development. Chris N questioned out of the range that was given earlier in the presentation of 51-70, how many Kelryco was feeling they actually needed/wanted? Cory stated the high end of the scale. If not enough spaces are provided it could compromise the hotel's efficiency. Chris N expressed some concern about relaxing the 2 hour parking restrictions and the overnight parking. The overnight parking in the Willson lot is not patrolled after 6 pm when the parking enforcement officers are off duty. Mendenhall St and Babcock St are urban routes. These are primary snow removal routes that are maintained by the state. Changing the rules for the overnight parking on these routes would possibly need to be done through Helena. Parking rules are pretty consistent throughout downtown. Relaxing these rules on certain block faces may complicate things. Ben Lloyd questioned whether we could issue some form of window hang tag to show they are hotel guests? Chris N responded by saying that in the lots it would be fine as this is how it is done now, but on the streets he would think not. Ben asked about hotel transportation vans. How many of these vans would be around town and how many parking spaces would they be occupying of the requested spaces? Cory responded saying there would be hotel vans for transportation to and from the airport and possibly in the winter months to transport guests to the multiple ski lodges around Bozeman. Ben asked why the parking for the restaurant and event patrons was not being included in the handout. Allyson responded by saying the hotel is not required to provide parking for non-residential space that is less than 3,000 sq ft. Customers would most likely use the parking garage, surface lots or street spaces that are 2 hour parking. A discussion ensued about employee numbers at certain times of the day and would 20 spaces really be necessary. Cory responded by saying that at the peak times of day (check-in & check-out) the 20 spaces would be necessary. Chris N clarified that the 20 spaces needed for employees would be in addition to the 70 spaces needed for the hotel guests. Cory then restated that in addition to the hotel guest’s spaces, if validation in the parking garage could be an option for the employees, this would eliminate some of these spaces needed for employees. Chris N went on to say that code would require 55 spaces. Validation in the past has been used for the garage but was done so as a commodity and at the discretion of the business. Ben Lloyd asked about the winter months and would the Willson lot be used as much or would the hotel opt to use the parking garage more? Cory explained by saying that the operational/labor management in the winter would need to be assessed. You will lose spaces in the winter due to snow piles taking up parking spaces. Ben Lloyd asked Cory if they would want to lease the whole lot, and if so would they be taking over the maintenance? Cory responded by saying that yes they would like to lease the whole lot and would be willing to discuss the economic terms of taking over full maintenance of the lot. It was brought up why they wouldn't just rent what spots were needed instead of leasing the whole lot? Cory explained that it is more economical to have the whole lot available for use instead of leasing as they go. Scott stated that there are currently 11 permits that are issued for the Willson lot out of 43 spaces available. Chris N talked to the commission about creating a sub-committee to start meeting and getting an idea of what is going to be feasible for the commission and the hotel project. Meetings of more than three commissioners need to be publically advertised, but a sub-committee of just three members would not. The sub-committee consists of Chris N, Tammy, and Kelly. Allyson Bristor and Tim McHarg from the Planning Dept will be there along with Cyndy Andrus & Scott Lee. The next official BPC meeting to discuss only the armory project was set for July 25th at 7:30 am. New Business Chris N discussed the Eagles lot. The lot needs to be reconfigured, which would enhance the creek, allow storm water issues to be addressed and get it up to code. The plan needs to be presented to the appropriate groups then it will be presented back to the BPC to finalize. Ben spoke about the lot next to the armory not being up to code. The lot needs to be evaluated for code issues as well, and he believes that it should be done in conjunction with the negotiations of the armory project. Chris N spoke about the new company to do the restriping of the parking lots. It has not been done yet, though it is usually done in June. The new company could do the lots to code and not just restripe them how they currently are. There is a new map in existence that shows how the lots need to be striped to meet code and that can be given to the crew. It will cost about $200 to get the civil surveying crew out. Striping the lots to code could decrease the number of spots in each lot. It is thought that the Carnegie lot is the only lot that is up to code. Scott brought up the point that bringing the lots up to code would then possibly reduce the number of spots estimated available to the armory project. This will need to be assessed by the subcommittee when discussing the options for parking. Chris N said that when the "P" parking signs were put up that there were evaluations done of the parking lots and lists made of each lot to bring them up to code. This will be given to Scott to assess how the lots need to be handled. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned by Chris N at 9:14 am. Respectfully Submitted Kayla Hubbard, Acting Parking Clerk