HomeMy WebLinkAboutFort Collins Parking Plan - 2 Page Summary Final Draft V-BKey Parking Issues
(Input From Stakeholders)
1. THE OVERALL PARKING SITUATION
 Good, but room for improvement
 Good, but not ready for the future
 Future parking needs unclear
2. NEW DEVELOPMENT AND
NEIGHBORHOOD IMPACTS
 Need a parking-related economic development
strategy
 Not prepared for surge in employment
 No commercial or residential parking
requirements
 Downtown employees and CSU students impact
neighborhoods
3. ALTERNATIVE
TRANSPORTATION MODES
 Need to prepare for Mason Corridor project
impacts
 Change in community’s culture has more people
seeking to utilize alternative transportation
 Need to provide varying types and designs of
bike parking
4. CUSTOMER SERVICE
(MARKETING, EDUCATION, IDENTITY)
 People don’t know about their parking options
 Wayfinding improvements
are needed
5. ON-STREET AND OFF-STREET
PARKING MANAGEMENT
 Employees parking on-street
 Very high occupancies of core on-street parking
and public surface lots
 Upside-down pricing causes trolling and “garage
avoidance”
 Danger of Downtown being perceived as an
“enforcement zone”
 Two-hour time-limit not meeting customer needs
6. BUSINESS INVOLVEMENT
 Lack of business involvement and accountability
in parking management decisions
 Need for more collaboration between the City
and Downtown businesses
7. FUNDING
 Public/private partnerships key to future
improvements
 More parking infrastructure will be needed in
the future, but no revenue streams have been
identified to pay for it
 Parking is the “giant unfunded liability”
Key elements of the community engagement
process included:
 Stakeholder questionnaire
(Over 1,000 responses received!)
 Parking Expert Advisory Panel
 Extensive community outreach including:
public open houses, City board and
commission meetings, a City Council Work
Session and ongoing website updates
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT PROCESS
We Want Your Feedback!
Your comments are very important to us! This document
is a high-level overview of the parking plan as of January
2012, and is intended to generate additional discussion
and comment. Feedback we receive through this
document will be used to craft a draft plan.
Ways to be involved:
P ARKING PLAN
OVERVIEW
Strategic
JANUARY 2012
PREPARED BY:
Why a Strategic Parking Plan?
The 2004 Downtown Strategic Plan led to improvements in Downtown parking, but there are a number of issues yet to
be resolved, and changes in conditions since 2004 need to be addressed. The new Parking Plan will focus on unsolved
problems and high-priority concerns identified by
stakeholders. The following list provides some examples
of these issues and concerns:
 As housing, jobs and commercial activity grow in
Downtown, what are the best ways to manage the
supply and demand for parking?
 Do we need more parking infrastructure?
If so, how do we pay for it?
 How can the management of parking also support
the needs of bicyclists, pedestrians and bus riders?
 Are the City’s parking policies regarding new
development adequate to achieve the City’s
higher-level goals for sustainability, urban design
and overall mobility management?
 How can customer service regarding parking
options be improved?
 What new policies are needed to address
the impacts of parking in neighborhoods near
Downtown and Colorado State University?
Timothy Wilder
Parking Plan Project Manager
twilder@fcgov.com
(970) 221-6756
Randy Hensley
Parking Services Manager
rhensley@fcgov.com
(970) 416-2058
 Submit a comment (contact info below).
 Get project updates at www.fcgov.com/parkingplan.
 Attend a meeting in January or February (dates to be announced)
 Watch City Council Work Session on February 28, 2012
 Attend City Council Hearing on April 17, 2012
PARKING PROGRAM VISION STATEMENT
The City of Fort Collins will develop and manage parking as a critical component of public infrastructure,
and as a tool to promote and sustain economic health. Parking system management and investment decisions
will be guided by three primary concepts: 1) Develop and manage parking to support business and economic
vitality, 2) Create a balanced and sustainable parking and access management strategy for Downtown,
and 3) Make Downtown Fort Collins a preferred,
visitor-friendly regional destination. Proposed Policy & Strategic Direction
1. Comprehensive Approach
»Parking management will be closely integrated with Downtown policies and actions
that enhance mobility for all transportation modes, strengthen urban design, support
economic health, and implement long-term funding strategies. The Parking Plan
principles, policies, and actions are intended to work together to provide a comprehensive
approach to parking management, rather than a set of separate elements.
2. Development-related Parking Management Strategies
»The City’s development-related parking management strategies will support and be
consistent with the economic health and urban design principles in Plan Fort Collins and
other adopted plans. In general, that means parking strategies must be sustainable while
being fully integrated as an element of community and economic development strategies.
A. Coordinate and consolidate parking into shared locations.
B. Integrate parking planning into the larger “Downtown Business Strategy” context.
Define development project value—direct and indirect economic benefits.
C. Designate a public entity to coordinate all new parking proposals and promote
public-private partnerships for new parking infrastructure.
D. Implement development parking impact fees for the construction of new parking.
E. Support the development-related goals of the Mason Corridor and the Downtown River
District through parking management.
F. Review and, if necessary, revise City codes to ensure parking supports City goals for the
Downtown.
»Use strategic public parking investments to leverage prioritized private development.
Public parking investment can be a powerful economic development incentive to help
spur private development of projects that align with adopted community strategic goals.
Other key goals of this policy include:
G. Provide better distribution of public parking assets through public/private partnerships.
H. The creation of new public parking capacity to promote smaller adaptive reuse and in-fill
projects.
I. Develop guidelines to establish appropriate return on public sector parking investments.
3. Coordinated On-Street & Off-Street Parking Management Strategies
»Downtown patrons will be given the top priority for use of on- and off-street parking in
high demand locations. To achieve this goal new parking management strategies are
recommended including:
A. Implement paid on-street parking, including new multi-space or single space credit card
enabled meters that offer some amount of free “up front” time
B. Exploration of new parking availability websites that are accessible on mobile devices and
incorporate a “pay-by-cell phone” option
C. Cooperative efforts between the City and employers to reduce on-street parking by
employees in high demand areas
D. Strategies to promote off-street parking options for longer-term parking and enhanced
pedestrian connections and amenities
E. Re-evaluate changes to parking allocation within public parking lots and structures as
demand for off-street parking grows
4. Employee Parking & Garage Usage Guidelines
»Off-street parking in garages or surface lots will be managed primarily as areas for
Downtown employee parking.
A. Provide incentives and disincentives to shift employees away from parking in
high-demand locations.
B. Promote better utilization of parking garages and other off-street spaces through
innovative permit programs and the involvement/cooperation of Downtown businesses.
C. Manage off-street garages to accommodate parking for the general public as a less
expensive option to on-street parking.
D. Develop a strategy for construction of new parking infrastructure when existing
infrastructure and programs are insufficient to meet parking demand, but only in a
manner that is coordinated with the on-street parking management program.
5. Residential/Neighborhood Parking
»Residents in neighborhoods near commercial areas or CSU should have preferential
access to the on-street parking on their block face.
A. Ensure residents benefiting from a parking permit program to bear a reasonable amount
of the costs of providing and administering the preferential access.
B. Develop criteria to determine when a residential permit program will be implemented,
such as what percentage of residents must agree to the program before it is put in place.
C. Develop other residential permit program criteria, such as how to verify residency, pricing
of permits, and number of permits per residence.
6. Integrated Access Management Approach
»Parking management programs will support an integrated, multi-modal approach to
Downtown access. Parking programs should emphasize good urban design, walkability,
and strong support for transportation alternatives.
A. Optimize the use of existing parking resources before building new facilities
B. Encourage downtown employers to provide mobility options and programs to reduce
parking demand.
C. Establish a program for the installation, maintenance, and replacement of bike racks and
covered bike parking in the public right-of-way.
D. Develop criteria for the placement and use of electric vehicle charging stations in public
facilities, both on- and off-street.
E. Implement a program that encourages the use of car-pool and fuel-efficient/
low-emission vehicles through preferential parking spaces in public facilities, both on- and
off-street.
F. Provide large vehicle parking within walking distance of Downtown for visitors arriving by
private bus and recreational vehicles.
G. Identify and focus on “synergistic strategies and programs” that can solve multiple
parking and transportation problems with one solution or application. Create a
performance measurement program to evaluate parking policies and strategies.
7. Enhancing the Downtown Experience
»Customer service will be the top-priority focus in the delivery of the Downtown parking
experience.
A. Develop a clear and identifiable marketing, education and communication strategy for the
parking program.
B. Utilize new technologies that enhance the customer experience, such as cell-phone apps
that identify available parking spaces.
C. Establish fines and enforcement that take a “common sense” approach to creating
compliance and safety. Revenue generation is not the primary motivation for the
enforcement program.
D. Ensure that parking facilities are attractive, clean, safe, easy to use, and inviting.
E. Provide ways for customers and visitors to park on-street for longer than two hours
without encouraging Downtown employees to use the on-street parking.
8. Partnering with Downtown Business and Downtown Management
»Downtown businesses and parking stakeholders will be strong partners in Downtown
parking management decision-making.
A. Create a new parking organization made up of public and private stakeholders to help
guide parking decisions. The details of implementation could be explored by an ad hoc
committee appointed by City Council.
B. Establish a “parking welcome program” for new businesses.
C. Continue direct engagement with business entities and stakeholders through various
forms of outreach and active participation in boards, committees and activities.
9. Funding and Organization
»The City’s parking program should be self-funded. Revenues from parking-related
activities should be reinvested in the parking program. Excess revenues should be
retained for use in the geographical area where they are generated, such as Downtown or
neighborhoods.
A. Create a parking enterprise fund made up of new and existing funding sources. The fund
will be used to pay for all aspects of the parking program including, but not limited to,
daily operations, maintenance, new parking infrastructure, neighborhood programs, and
parking demand reduction initiatives.
B. Use existing funding sources including revenue from fees and fines, GID #1 funding, and
TIF funding. For the GID and TIF revenue, policies should be discussed and adopted to
determine how much of these existing funding sources should be dedicated to parking
programs.
C. Explore creation of a new Downtown parking assessment district in the context of
existing districts and a new parking organization.
D. Make strategic investments in the development of off-street public parking assets before
opportunities are lost (similar to the philosophy of reserving right-of-way for roads and
streets prior to development).
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