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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05 24 2019 BPC Minutes Final BOZEMAN PARKING COMMISSION AGENDA Friday, May 24, 2019 @ 7:30 AM A. Call to Order - 7:30 AM – City Commission Chamber, City Hall, 121 North Rouse Mayor - Cynthia Andrus: Present Committee Member - Ben Lloyd: Present Committee Member - James Ness: Present Committee Chair - Pamela Bryan: Present Committee Member - Shasta Winston: Present Committee Member - Kelly Wiseman : Present Committee Member - Mark Egge: Present Staff - Ed Meece: Present B. Changes to the Agenda Chair Bryan asked if there are any commission disclosures. Commissioner Lloyd disclosed he has an unrelated financial relationship with one topic, and will recuse himself during that item. Chair Bryan disclosed that she and her husband are partners with Cory Lawrence in their business, Off the Beaten Path, but has no financial/relationship with the Etha Hotel. She also mentioned that she is a personal friends with John Kauffman. She made it clear that she has had no conversations with these men about the topic before the commission this morning, but wanted to acknowledge her relationships for full transparency. C. January 10 and April 11, 2019, minutes (Exhibit 1) Motion to approve the January 10 minutes. Committee Member - Kelly Wiseman : Motion Committee Member - Shasta Winston: 2nd Mayor - Cynthia Andrus: Abstain Committee Member - Ben Lloyd: Approve Committee Member - James Ness: Approve Committee Chair - Pamela Bryan: Approve Committee Member - Shasta Winston: Approve Committee Member - Kelly Wiseman : Approve Committee Member - Mark Egge: Approve Staff - Ed Meece: N\A Motion to approve the April 11 minutes Committee Member - Mark Egge: Motion Committee Member - Shasta Winston: 2nd Mayor - Cynthia Andrus: Abstain Committee Member - Ben Lloyd: Approve Committee Member - James Ness: Approve Committee Chair - Pamela Bryan: Approve Committee Member - Shasta Winston: Approve Committee Member - Kelly Wiseman : Approve Committee Member - Mark Egge: Approve Staff - Ed Meece: N\A D. Public Comment – Members of the audience or their agent may be invited to present testimony or evidence. To be recognized, each person desiring to give testimony or evidence shall step forward and, after being recognized, give their name and address for the record. The presiding officer may establish a time frame for each public comment but in no case shall such timeframe be less than three (3) minutes per speaker. The presiding officer may lengthen or shorten the time allotted for public testimony. Jerry Pape; Spoke about the history and original intent of the Parking Garage and on the importance of ethics, character, fairness and high standards for the best outcome. Leif Sundeen, 5 E Lamme St; Asked the Parking Commission to deny the request to convert 79 annual leases to UDC leases. Jay Bentley, Open Range Restaurant, 241 E Main; As a business owner downtown he has noticed a growing lack of parking available downtown. Ashley Ogle, 5 E Lamme St; Stated that she has received a lot of feedback from downtown business owners about the importance of stretching the current downtown parking. She submitted a public petition for the commission to review. She requested the commission vote against transferring the annual leases to UDC leases. Steve Rodrick, 111 E Mendenhall St, 151 Mcgee Dr; Pointed out that it is important to maintain accessible parking for the public downtown. Billy McWilliams, Erotique; Expressed his appreciation for the Parking Commission, and what they do, and noted the uniqueness and character of downtown bozeman and its retail business. He has heard a lot of comments about how hard it is to find parking. He stated that we need more parking downtown. Brian Caldwell, 321 N Montana Ave; Compels the Parking Commission to be proactive in developing an additional parking garage. He suggested both private and public sectors work together to develop more parking. Jeff Krauss, 5447 Vermeer Ln; Pointed out that downtown is being used differently than in the past, however it should still be available to all citizens. E. Action Items 1. Discuss/Consider/Approve the creation of a suggested composition of board members on the Parking Commission that promotes an adequate diversity of parking/planning expertise and community perspectives. (Mayor Andrus) Mayor Andrus explained the importance of parking issues within the city, and asked the Parking Commission to explain their ideas about what the City should be looking for as they fill the current vacancies on the Parking Commission. Commissioner Egge pointed out the qualities of the current board, which is extensive, but stated a broader perspective might be helpful when looking at the future of parking. He also cautioned about having a member on the board that lives in the downtown corridor because it may be difficult to focus on other parking issues throughout the city. Commissioner Lloyd would like to see commission members that look at the city as “we”, and look ahead to the future as a leader. Commissioner Winston commented on the diversity of the current commission, and thought a voice from other stakeholders would be nice. Commissioner Wiseman suggested that it might be useful to have the perspective of someone who lives in one of the existing residential parking districts. He also commented that someone with a science-based skill set might be useful for analyzing information. Commissioner Ness added that the parking commission is the voice for parking throughout the city, and it would be nice to have the perspective of folks directly impacted by parking difficulties. Chair Bryan concluded that the Parking Commission was originally formed to manage parking in the downtown. She stated that the scope has changed, and the parking commission is now managing parking city wide. For that reason, the commission would benefit having representation from other neighborhoods. Jerry Pape; Commented on the intensity and location of parking use. As infrastructure grows parking must also grow, and the board may want to consider expanding as well. Chair Bryan and Commissioner Egge asked about a formal policy for appointing commission members. Mayor Andrus explained the current process for selecting board members, and their approval by the City Commission. Commissioner Ness commented that it may be nice to have a clear description of the procedure to apply for a parking commission seat on the city web page. 2. Brief update on the April 30, 2019, public engagement session regarding Parking Permit Districts. Mr. Meece gave a brief update of the public engagement sessions held regarding the ‘Parking Permit District’ concept, and explained that there will be a written report/summary for the commission to review at the June meeting. He pointed out that there was a diverse mix of topics discussed, good conversation with citizens, and meaningful feedback. Jerry Pape; Pointed out that these types of sessions usually have a small turn out, considering the community as a whole. He suggested using polls to gain additional view points and perspectives. 3. Consider/Approve/Deny a request to convert up to 79 monthly parking permits for the Bridger Downtown Parking Garage to Unified Development Code (UDC) parking permits as part of a twenty-five (25) year lease with HomeBase Partners. (Exhibit 2) Commissioner Lloyd recused himself from this action item, stating an abundance of caution against being considered to have had a conflict of interest in this decision. Chair Bryan noted that the Parking Commission received two letters, one dating May 21 and May 23 which address this action item. The first from John Kauffman and Brian Gallick, requesting that the commission delay their decision to the June meeting to give them reasonable time to review material from the open records request. The second letter was from Andy Holloran who suggested a limited delay, but only if the attorneys disclosed their clients in the interest of full transparency. Chair Bryan suggested we should break this action item into two decisions. The first vote to consider and continue the request to delay this decision to the June commission meeting. Then depending on the outcome of the first to approve/deny the conversion of the permits. Mr. Meece asked Mr. Cooper if there is a specified time period that needs to pass, after a public records request, for ‘adequate’ review. Mr. Cooper stated that there is not a specified time period for review following an Open Records Request. Mr. Cooper explained that it is the parking commission’s decision to delay or act on this item. Commissioner Wiseman motioned to delay the meeting to the June 13 meeting. Committee Member - Kelly Wiseman : Motion Committee Member - Mark Egge: 2nd Mayor - Cynthia Andrus: Abstain Committee Member - Ben Lloyd: Abstain Committee Member - James Ness: Approve Committee Chair - Pamela Bryan: Disapprove Committee Member - Shasta Winston: Disapprove Committee Member - Kelly Wiseman : Disapprove Committee Member - Mark Egge: Disapprove Staff - Ed Meece: N\A The motion to delay was denied 4 to 1. Mr. Meece explained the action item and its history. He continued to read three emails he received, late the previous day, so they can become part of the public record. WE NEED TO ATTACH THESE EMAILS TO THE MINUTES? Commissioner Egge asked Mr. Meece if it is the staff recommendation to approve the request based on the finding of the February report. Mr. Meece commented that it is still the staff recommendation to approve the request. Andy Holloran spoke about the request for reclassifying 78 permits that are currently included in the lease limit calculation. He stated that these long term leases would be used for a hotel. He commented on the garage peak occupancy data that has been collected in the past and the similarities to the present data available. He stated that it is the parking commission’s obligation to best manage the public asset and thinks the conversion of the permits to long term leases would be beneficial. Commissioner Egge asked if it was Mr. Holloran’s intention to use the UDC leases to fulfill the parking requirements for building the proposed Hotel. He asked how many total spaces are required for the development and how many if any will be provided excluding the UDC leases. Mr. Holloran pointed out that 78 spaces is the requirement for the hotel and the plan is not to create new parking on site, but to use the UDC leases to fulfill the parking requirement for the development. Chair Bryan asked about the remaining monthly permits intention. Commissioner Winston asked about the actual usage of the current permits being used by Mr. Holloran. Mr. Holloran explained the use has ranged dramatically over the years. He pointed out that he has offered 50 of those permits to a tenant in the 5 West project called FICO, and commented on their limited use of the permits. Chair Bryan asked about the permits activation. Mr. Holloran commented that most permits have been activated at various times in the last four years. Jerry Pape; Pointed out the burden of making this decision and commented that the current parking garage occupancy data only counts the vehicles that are present – not the vehicles that could be present but aren’t. John Kauffman, 716 S 20th Ave; Distributed documents for the parking commission to review. He pointed out the current lease policy states that leases are non-transferable. He also questions how the leases have changed names, and how they have been distributed by Andy Holloran. Brian Gallick; Explained that the concern is privatizing a public asset. He pointed out this is a long term decision and that the documents that were distributed by Mr. Kauffman should be reviewed, considered, and the request be denied. Amy Bordeau, 1878 Buckrake Ave; Stated that she does not have trouble parking in the garage, and would like to see the garage more active during the late evening hours. Michael Delaney, 101 E Main St; Stated that he is a developer in Bozeman, and he commented on the power of the word “NO”. He pointed out that a denial is temporary and can make for a better product in the long run. Rona Davison, 129 Cook Ct; Stated she parks in the garage every day and it is increasingly harder to find a parking spot. Dr. Frank Sites, pointed out that the true issue is the heart of Bozeman and its development. Lauren Cummings, 2329 Boylan Rd; Pointed out that she has been parking in the garage since its beginning and her experience is that the data reported reflects accurately the occupancy of the garage. Allen McCollum, 1849 E Cameron Bridge Rd; Questioned the transparency of the process of exchanging the permits to UDC leases. He distributed documents for the parking commission to review, and asked for a denial of the UDC permits. Chris Naumann, 603 S 10th; Read the policy resolution adopted by the parking commission in 2017 which defines the process for considering new UDC leases. David Loseff, Baxter Hotel; Commented on the trajectory of downtown parking in the future. He pointed out that it is the responsibility of developers to mitigate the developments impact. Kalani Cowles, 104 E Story and 131 W Main; Addressed the difficult issue of her employees’ ability to access and work downtown. Lauren John, 1011 S Grand Ave; Commented on the underuse of the garage and believes the UDC leases should be approved. Mike Thompson, 2363 Thoroughbred Ln; Stated he wishes to support local business but he is detouring away from going downtown in the evenings because of the lack of parking. Lee David, 708 S 15th; Commented on the perceived empty spaces in the garage, and how the solution should be looked at for not only the present but the future. Jeff Davison, 121 Cook Court; Business owner and resident of downtown cautions on the idea of 25 year leases and data being cleverly manipulated. Molly Eckman, 120 S Black; Commented on the different areas of congested parking downtown, and how the Element hotel mostly uses the lot behind the building for guest parking -- greatly underutilizing their parking garage permits. Amber Bolten, 92 Conner Drive; Commented on the fact that in the last six months there has not been a time when she was unable to park in the garage due to lack of availability. Mr. Meece clarified that there has been no attempt to skew data within the parking department, and that it is the intent of the staff and the city administration to provide quality, ethical, service to the community. Mr. Meece also clarified the process of the action item. Commissioner Egge made a motion to approve the request to convert 79 monthly permits to UDC leases: Commissioner Wiseman seconded the motion. Commissioner Wiseman commented on the potential of developing parking districts around the B3 district and how approval of the long term leases could tie up a city asset. He also commented that the software in the garage is fairly new, and he thinks it would be good to take extra time to gather and analyze additional data. Commissioner Ness agreed with commissioner Wiseman’s statement. He also asked if previous requests for UDC leases had been denied. Commissioner Egge commented on the data available at this time. According to the data there is not a parking shortage. He also commented on the cost efficiency of building a hotel. He suggested that this board should make it a top priority to do what is recommended in the strategic plan. He also commented on the retention of data the parking department gathers. Mr. Meece explained the LPR-data retention policy, and the purpose of the different time restrictions. Commissioner Ness pointed out that the strategic management plan clearly points to transit parking as a priority. Committee Member - Mark Egge: Motion Committee Member - Kelly Wiseman : 2nd Mayor - Cynthia Andrus: Abstain Committee Member - Ben Lloyd: Abstain Committee Member - James Ness: Disapprove Committee Chair - Pamela Bryan: Disapprove Committee Member - Shasta Winston: Disapprove Committee Member - Kelly Wiseman : Disapprove Committee Member - Mark Egge: Approve Staff - Ed Meece: N\A The motion to approve the conversion of up to 79 monthly permits to UDC permits was denied: 4 no’s to 1 yes. 5 Minute break Chair Bryan stated that she thinks a clearer policy should be formulated on the management of permits and leases in the parking garage. Mr. Meece stated that this has been discussed internally and that an initial draft may be available as soon as June. Commissioner Wiseman asked about the management of the garage basement and how that is being counted. Mr. Meece stated the data in the reports to the parking commission are for the main garage, and not the basement, at this time. Mr. Fontenot suggest that August be the expectation for a draft of a policy/procedure to be discussed. G. Parking Program Manager Report (Exhibit 3) Mr. Meece informed the commission that the parking department is in their new workspace in the parking garage. He also stated that T2 is finishing the installation of front cameras for reading license plates. H. New Business Mr. Fontenot stated that he and Mr. Meece are meeting with HRDC today to negotiate the MOU transit station space agreement. Commissioner Wiseman asked about action regarding the high school parking district. Mr. Meece stated that he will bring a recommendation to the parking commission in August or September regarding possible action in the Bozeman High School district. I. Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at: 10:24:29 AM (02:53:42) J. Upcoming Issues (Tentative): June 2019: *Review Lease Limit Policy & Calculator (revised w/Rick Williams) *Review and/or modify residential parking permit rates for 2019 permit sales/renewals. *Additional public parking capacity: Report on the multi-site feasibility analysis and Bridger Park Downtown Garage expansion. July 2019: *PPM report on the public engagement sessions regarding creation of new Parking Permit District(s). *Election of new officers The next Bozeman Parking Commission meeting will be held June 13, 2019, 7:30 am, at City Hall. Bozeman Parking Commission meetings are open to all members of the public. If you have a disability that requires assistance please contact our ADA Coordinator, Chuck Winn 582-2307.