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HomeMy WebLinkAbout15- Desman Proposal Downtown Parking Plan 06-01-15 Submitted June 1, 2015 by Denver Corp Center III 7900 E. Union Ave, #925 Denver, CO 80237 www.desman.com Downtown Bozeman Comprehensive Parking Plan Attn: Ms. Stacy Ulmen City Clerk P.O. Box 1230 121 North Rouse Avenue, Suite 202 Bozeman, MT 59771 Proposal to Conduct The Downtown Bozeman Comprehensive Parking Plan City of Bozeman, MT Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS PROJECT SUMMARY ........................................................................................................................................ 1 COMPANY DESCRIPTION/CAPABILITY ............................................................................................................. 1 PROJECT TEAM ................................................................................................................................................ 5 REFERENCES .................................................................................................................................................... 8 OUTLINE OF SERVICES ..................................................................................................................................... 9 COST AND EXPENSES ....................................................................................................................................... 11 Proposal to Conduct The Downtown Bozeman Comprehensive Parking Plan City of Bozeman, MT Page 1 Project Summary Following is a summary of the approach and methodology that we believe will effectively and expeditiously lead decision makers in Bozeman to adopt and implement a downtown strategic parking plan. Our scope of services, resented later in the proposal, is divided into two distinct phases. In the initial phase of the study, DESMAN will focus on establishing an effective working relationship with the city and gathering critical background information and data that will be the foundation upon which our study will evolve. The first phase of the study will document existing parking conditions, including parking supply, utilization and turnover in the study area. We will meet with key stakeholders and the public. Current parking policies and practices will be reviewed, and a listing of strengths and weaknesses of current parking policies, practices and operations prepared. This phase of the study will also include an assessment of future parking needs based on trends and/or specific information provided for planned and proposed development projects. The second phase of the study will consist of developing a strategic parking plan for the city, including current best parking practices, reviews of parking operations in peer cities, measures to better utilize existing parking resources, recommended new or revised parking policies, practices and operations; and revenue and expense projections in a ten-year pro forma. Company Description/Capability DESMAN is a leading national parking study, planning, architectural and structural engineering firm. Since 1973, we have provided planning and design services on over 5,000 parking and transportation projects. DESMAN is an employee-owned corporation that currently employs a staff of over 100 people and operates from the following nine office locations: • Boston, MA • Denver, CO • New York, NY • Chicago, IL • Ft. Lauderdale, FL • Pittsburg, PA • Cleveland, OH • Hartford, CT • Washington, DC The principals of the firm have an average of over 30 years of experience and are active members of several parking, planning and transportation organizations including American Institute of Certified Planners, Institute of Transportation Engineers, National Parking Association, International Parking Institute, Urban Land Institute and Green Parking Council. Services offered by DESMAN include the following: • Parking Studies and Master Plans • Parking Management & Operations Consulting • Parking Planning/Functional Design • Architecture • Structural & Restoration Engineering Proposal to Conduct The Downtown Bozeman Comprehensive Parking Plan City of Bozeman, MT Page 2 City of McCall Parking Study McCall, Idaho The City of McCall Community Development Department commissioned DESMAN to conduct a parking needs assessment of their Central Business District. McCall is a destination mountain town that draws visitors to its many winter and summer attractions and events. The primary goal of the study was to create a more vibrant downtown by addressing parking issues, while incorporating smart growth and new urbanism principles. Parking operations and management recommendations in the parking study included: • Adjusting the parking dimension standards in the zoning code • Consider installing parking meters in the downtown core to fund the parking program • Increase the on-street parking capacity by converting some parallel spaces to diagonal spaces • Make an existing private garage available for public parking to support downtown businesses • Pile snow at locations that do not impact the supply of on- and off-street parking • Provide more regular and frequent parking enforcement on all public parking • Provide hand-held ticket writers to parking enforcement officers to easily track repeat offenders • Create a mission statement for the city’s parking program and consider creating a department position that is solely responsible for the oversight of parking services 4th Avenue Business District Parking Study Tucson, AZ DESMAN was retained by the City of Tucson and the ParkWise Department to conduct a parking supply and demand study and review parking operations in a 33-block area immediately north of downtown Tucson, which includes the 4th Avenue Business District, the Warehouse Historic District, and the Iron Horse and West University neighborhoods. This study represented the first phase of a larger study assessing the feasibility of parking improvements within the study area. Proposal to Conduct The Downtown Bozeman Comprehensive Parking Plan City of Bozeman, MT Page 3 Although there were parking “hot spots” in the study area where parking demand exceeded the “effective” parking supply, there was adequate parking within the study area overall and the development of more parking was not warranted at the time. Although no additional parking was required, it was recommended that the city take steps to more actively manage parking in the 4th Avenue Business District. Following are the near-term recommendations for the study area: • Provide signage to direct parking patrons to public parking and to identify public parking lots • Consider leasing private parking for public use when additional parking is required • Improve parking lot lighting • Reconsider the current policy of back-in diagonal on-street parking • Institute on-street paid parking to encourage turnover of the most convenient parking spaces with single-space “smart” meters or multi-space meters. The preferred location for more parking, when required, is on or near 4th Avenue based on existing parking use and patterns. A site in the southern portion of the study area is favored as the on- and off- street parking was generally busier south of 6th Street and most of the planned and proposed development projects are south of 6th Street in the Warehouse Historic District. There are also several vacant or underutilized properties that represent opportunities for redevelopment in the same area. 4th Avenue Business District Parking Study Update Tucson, AZ DESMAN was retained by the City of Tucson and the ParkWise Department to update a parking supply and demand analysis in the 4th Avenue Business District near downtown Tucson. Although it was determined that future development coupled with the loss of parking would likely result in parking deficits on several blocks in the southern portion of the study area, current and projected levels of parking demand did not support the development of a parking structure in the area in the immediate future. However, it was thought it will only be a matter of time before more parking is required, and it was reasonable to start planning for this sooner rather than later. In order for a parking structure to be considered in the 4th Avenue area, it was recommended to first introduce paid on-street parking to the area so parking patrons become accustomed to paying for parking. DESMAN recommended “smart” single-space meters for the area and provided ParkWise with estimated parking meter revenues and expenses with the installation of over 450 on-street meters. Proposal to Conduct The Downtown Bozeman Comprehensive Parking Plan City of Bozeman, MT Page 4 Merchants in the 4th Avenue area had expressed concern for employee parking with the addition of on- street parking meters, and it was recommended that the meters be coupled with discounted off-street employee parking at more remote locations that were underutilized to alleviate these concerns. Four sites were identified and evaluated for a future mixed-use development with a parking structure with 100 to 300 public parking spaces. Preliminary financial feasibility analyses were conducted for each site and it was determined a parking garage in the 4th Avenue area would need to be heavily subsidized to become a reality. The study also included an analysis of several sources for additional funds for the development of a parking garage, including tax-increment financing, parking benefit and business improvement districts, fees-in-lieu of parking, federal grants, developer incentives and public-private partnerships, among others. Parking Management & Operations Study Portland, OR DESMAN was hired by Metro to assess current parking management and operations and to provide recommendations to improve parking services and increase revenue, while maintaining Metro’s sustainability and operational goals. This study focused on four locations, including the Irving Street Garage at the Metro Regional Center in Portland, a regional park and two boat ramps. Metro was also interested in the possibility of integrating the management and operations of their parking garage with the Oregon Convention Center (OCC) garage, which is located nearby. DESMAN recommended not integrating the two garages primarily due to the existing parking control equipment and operating system in the OCC garage. It was recommended to gate the lower two levels of the four-level Irving Street Garage for monthly parking and install new pay stations on the upper two levels for daily parking. Other garage recommendations included reversing the traffic flow on one level and providing a recirculation lane inside the garage on another level to access the ramp to the level above without exiting and reentering the garage. It was recommended to install parking barrier gates at the fee booth area at the regional park to increase revenue and to reduce enforcement efforts and costs. At the boat ramps it was recommended to add more pay stations, relocate existing pay stations, and to convert from pay-and-display to pay-by- space to make paying for parking more convenient for visitors and parking enforcement easier and more efficient. Metro officials agreed with our recommendations and are requesting funds to implement the parking management and operations improvements. Proposal to Conduct The Downtown Bozeman Comprehensive Parking Plan City of Bozeman, MT Page 5 Downtown Parking Analysis Steamboat Springs, CO The primary purpose of the parking analysis was to evaluate the current downtown parking system and make recommendations, based on current best practices and technologies, to better allocate, manage and operate parking in downtown Steamboat Springs. Parking is currently free throughout the City of Steamboat Springs and city officials and City Council were interested in receiving an analysis of parking options that would primarily ensure the most convenient and desirable on-street spaces are available to downtown customers and visitors. The city’s involvement in parking management was limited to maintenance of publicly-owned parking lots, street maintenance, and snow removal by the Public Works Department and parking enforcement of time-limited spaces by the Police Department. The first phase of the study documented existing parking conditions, including parking supply, utilization and the turnover of spaces within the study area. Current parking policies and practices were also reviewed and evaluated in the initial phase of the study. There were as well several hundred responses to a parking opinion survey that was posted on the city’s website. The second phase of the study consisted of developing a strategic parking plan for the city, including an overview of current best parking practices, reviews of parking operations and technologies in five peer resort towns and cities, measures to better use existing parking resources, recommendations for new and revised parking policies, technologies, operations and procedures; and revenue and expense projections anticipated to result from the recommended parking program changes. Although there was a need for a modest amount of additional parking on a very busy Saturday last summer, there is generally sufficient parking in downtown Steamboat Springs. The turnover survey suggested that approximately 10% of the most convenient on-street parking spaces were being occupied by downtown employees and technologies were evaluated and recommended to discourage long-term use of short-term spaces. Implementing paid parking and/or increasing enforcement efforts will require additional personnel and possibly the hiring of a parking manager in newly created and a vertically integrated parking division within the Public Works Department. Project Team The DESMAN personnel assigned to the project are very good at communicating and working with city and elected officials, the business community, advisory boards, and citizen groups. Our recommended Proposal to Conduct The Downtown Bozeman Comprehensive Parking Plan City of Bozeman, MT Page 6 parking operation and management strategies will address the needs of all of the stakeholders involved in each parking-related task we undertake. Since we are not local to the Bozeman area, the interaction with city staff and other stakeholders will be by telephone and the internet when feasible in order to save time and money. Most of the work we do in the western United States is with clients that are in other regions or states. Because of this, we have two accounts with GOToMeeting web conferencing and we regularly collaborate with our clients through this service. With that being said, we are fully committed as requested by the city to participate in person in meetings and presentations in Bozeman. Because some of our team members will be traveling to Bozeman from other regions of the country, every effort will be made to minimize travel expenses. As a matter of routine, DESMAN carefully chooses staff members for each prospective consulting engagement based on their collective set of skills, training, background and their relevant project experience. A principal with our firm is assigned to every pursuit and their role is to make sure our team meets or exceeds the expectations of the client. For this undertaking, Gregory Shumate, CAPP will be the Principal-In-Charge. Greg, who has a background as a principle administrator of a large municipal parking system, is DESMAN’s foremost parking operations and management consultant. He will play an active role in this project and will also address quality assurance issues. Since joining DESMAN 1995, he has authored a broad range of parking studies that have addressed master planning, supply/demand, site selection, facility staffing, management and maintenance strategies, parking meter systems, operational audits and the economic feasibility of parking projects and program initiatives. The Project Manager for this endeavor will be Scot Martin, who is a Senior Planner in our Denver office with 24 years of experience as a parking consultant. Scot will be the city’s primary contact throughout the term of the project. As a Parking Study Specialist, Scot has completed numerous site-specific parking studies and master plans for municipalities and others throughout the United States. In addition to parking supply and demand analysis and identification of parking deficiencies, other studies involve parking duration and turnover, shared parking, site alternatives, parking system improvements, and financial feasibility. Scot has also served as a functional design specialist on many parking structures and surface lots. Greg and Scot will be supported by Gerald Salzman, AICP and Eric Haggett. Gerald is a Senior Parking and Transportation Planner with extensive parking operations and design experience, including the planning and design of parking systems for a variety of clients throughout the United States. Eric provides analytical and planning services for DESMAN. He is involved with all technical aspects of the planning and management of parking studies including data collection supervision, data analysis and report production. Our multi-disciplinary professional team delivers extensive and interrelated parking planning, operations, management, traffic and transportation engineering, and design experience that can address a very wide range of parking needs. The staff assigned to the project has the availability to complete the study for the City of Bozeman on time and within budget. Proposal to Conduct The Downtown Bozeman Comprehensive Parking Plan City of Bozeman, MT Page 7 As is always the case, the DESMAN personnel assigned to this project will be supported as necessary by several other key staff members that have experience with parking supply/demand, parking allocation, management frameworks and organizational structures, demographic demand forecasting, marketing strategies, parking technologies, and parking enforcement methods and strategies. Following is a partial listing of municipal parking studies conducted by the DESMAN personnel to be assigned to the project: Gregory Shumate, CAPP • Parking Technology Audit, Billings, MT • Parking Management and Operations Study, Portland, OR • Downtown Parking Analysis, Steamboat Springs, CO • Downtown Parking System Operations and Management Assessment, Covington, KY • Comprehensive Parking Operations Plan, New Britain, CT Scot Martin • Parking Technology Audit, Billings, MT • Parking Management and Operations Study, Portland, OR • Downtown Parking Analysis, Steamboat Springs, CO • 4th Avenue Business District Parking Study, Tucson, AZ • 4th Avenue Business District Parking Study Update, Tucson, AZ Gerald Salzman, AICP • Bricktown Area Parking Plan, Oklahoma City, OK • Village of Western Springs, IL • Village of Arlington Heights, IL • Village of Cary, IL • City of Evanston, IL • City of Stamford, CT • City of Milwaukee, WI • City of St. Louis, MO Eric Haggett • Downtown Master Plan and Comprehensive Parking Study, Grand Rapids, MI • Review and Assessment of the Management and Operations, New Haven, CT • Downtown Parking Plan and System Management Strategy, Niagara Falls, NY • Downtown Comprehensive Parking Study, Buffalo, NY • Parking Demand Study, Bethesda, MD • Parking Demand Study, Silver Spring, MD • Downtown Parking Management Plan, Covington, KY Proposal to Conduct The Downtown Bozeman Comprehensive Parking Plan City of Bozeman, MT Page 8 In brief, the DESMAN team is highly qualified to provide the City of Bozeman with the required parking planning and consulting services for the following reasons: 1. Significant experience in performing parking study services similar to that outlined in the RFP; 2. Senior staff assigned to this project along with the availability of corporate resources for the expeditious and successful completion of requested services; 3. The firm’s financial resources to insure that DESMAN will be available when called upon. References Mr. Donovan Durband Administrator, Park Tucson Division City of Tucson 110 E. Pennington St., #150 Tucson, Arizona 85726-7210 Office: 520.791.5071 Donovan.Durband@tucson.gov Mr. Charles (Chuck) V. Anderson Director of Public Works City of Steamboat Springs Steamboat Springs, CO 80477-5088 Office: 970.871.8204 canderson@steamboat springs.net Ms. Michelle Groenevelt Community Development Director The City of McCall 216 E. Park St. McCall, ID 83638 Office: 208.634.5229 mgroenevelt@mccall.id.us Mr. Brian Kennedy, Finance Manager Metro 600 NE Grand Ave Portland, OR 97232-2736 Office: 503.797.1908 Brian.Kennedy@oregonmetro.gov Proposal to Conduct The Downtown Bozeman Comprehensive Parking Plan City of Bozeman, MT Page 9 Outline of Services Phase 1: Existing & Future Parking Conditions 1. Meet with city officials to clarify study objectives, confirm the study area, define parking analysis zones, and to discuss the work plan and study schedule. We will also walk/drive the study area in order to develop a first-hand understanding of the parking and traffic system. 2. Review previous studies and reports, including the 2010, 2012 and 2014 WTI Parking Studies, 2009 Downtown Improvement Plan, etc. 3. Review current on-street and off-street parking practices, policies, regulations, codes, standards, systems and technologies. Included in this review will be the city’s parking requirements and parking design standards. 4. Meet with the Bozeman Parking Commission, Downtown Bozeman Partnership, Downtown TIF Board, city Staff, interested organizations, and the public. 5. Verify and breakdown the current on-street and off-street parking supply within the study areas by type, allocation, restrictions and rates. 6. Prepare and coordinate parking utilization surveys to be completed on an hourly basis for the parking within the study areas. The parking utilization surveys should be delayed until the summer tourism season when peak utilization would be expected to occur. The data on parking utilization will be adjusted as necessary to reflect conditions during normally busy periods and compared to the effective parking supply. 7. Determine parking duration and turnover for select on-street spaces within the study area. We will direct the performance of a license plate survey of parked vehicles on an hourly basis. From the data, we will determine the following: • The number of vehicles parking on street. • The average parking duration. • The average turnover of each space during the survey period. • The number of short-term parkers (3 hours or less) versus long-term parkers (more than 3 hours). • The number/percentage of parkers violating time limits. 8. Review the layout of the existing on-street parking and determine areas where the parking can be increased by converting parallel parking to angled parking and by other means. This evaluation will take into account future plans for the streets and sidewalks. Proposal to Conduct The Downtown Bozeman Comprehensive Parking Plan City of Bozeman, MT Page 10 9. Estimate future parking needs based on population/development trends and/or planned and proposed development projects in three, five and ten year increments 10. Prepare an interim report detailing existing parking conditions for review and comment by city officials. Phase 2: Comprehensive Parking Plan 1. Provide the City with examples of current best practices in parking and transportation demand management from other cities. 2. Conduct a peer review of parking management, operations and technologies in a maximum of five comparable cities identified by the city. 3. Recommend measures to better utilize existing parking resources if they are currently underutilized, including private parking. 4. Compile a listing of the strengths and weaknesses of existing parking policies, procedures, regulations, standards, operations and technologies. This list will be used to guide DESMAN and city staff in the evaluation of possible new parking policies, procedures, regulations, etc. 5. Based on city staff input, identify and evaluate new and revised parking policies, procedures, regulations, operations and technologies, including: • On-street and off-street parking technologies • Parking fees and fines • Parking time limits • Enforcement strategies • Public use of private parking • Signage and way finding • Improved information and marketing strategies • Parking permits for employees • Residential Parking Permit Program (PPP) 6. Select the preferred new and revised parking policies, procedures, regulations, operations and technologies, and determine the preliminary associated cost. 7. Develop a preliminary plan for implementing the selected parking policies, procedures, regulations, operations and technologies. Proposal to Conduct The Downtown Bozeman Comprehensive Parking Plan City of Bozeman, MT Page 11 8. Identify the possible outcomes of implementing new parking policies, procedures, regulations, operations and technologies. This includes both the potential challenges that may arise as well as possible benefits that may be realized. 9. Refine preliminary cost estimates for the selected parking policies, procedures, regulations, operations and technologies; recommend rate structures for on- and off-street parking, and develop a ten-year pro forma of revenues and expenses for the parking program. Phase 3: Final Report 1. Prepare a draft of the comprehensive parking plan including a summary of existing and future parking conditions, existing and recommended parking management practices and operations, an implementation plan, and revenue and expense projections. 2. Incorporate city comments into a Final Parking Plan and issue two hard copies and one electronic copy to the city. Cost and Expenses DESMAN proposes the complete the Scope of Services listed herein for a fixed fee of $60,000 for labor and expenses. DESMAN will submit invoices to the city at the end of each month reflecting payment due based on the percentage of the Scope of Services completed during the period. Payment will be due and payable upon receipt. On behalf of DESMAN’s staff of professionals, we thank you for this opportunity to submit our proposal and believe that the enclosed submission is complete and worthy of your review and further consideration. Please do not hesitate to contact us should you have any questions or require any additional information. Your consideration is most sincerely appreciated, and we look forward to the opportunity of putting our staff at your disposal in the successful and expeditious completion of this assignment for the City of Bozeman.