Memorandum

City of Lawrence

City Manager’s Office

TO:	David L. Corliss, City Manager
FROM:	Jonathan Douglass, City Clerk/Assistant to the City Manager
CC:	Teri Pierce, Parking and Animal Control Manager Chuck Soules, Public Works Director
DATE:	May 2, 2013
RE:	Downtown Parking Proposals

Downtown Lawrence has recently experienced several temporary changes that may have changed parking dynamics in some areas. The library and adjacent parking garage are under construction, and library operations have temporarily moved to the former Border’s building at 700 New Hampshire Street. This project has temporarily closed the parking lot adjacent to the permanent library, and has moved library parking traffic to the east side of downtown. The Tuesday Farmers Market has moved from the 1000 block of Vermont to the 800 block of Rhode Island, changing some of the parking pressures in the vicinity of the new location.

Elected officials, city staff, and downtown businesses have identified or requested consideration of several actions to address parking issues downtown. They will be addressed in turn below.

US Bank parking lot – 9^th and Rhode Island

During discussions regarding movement of the Tuesday Farmers Market to Lot 8 on the 800 block of Rhode Island, it was suggested that the city contact US Bank about the possibility of letting the Farmers Market use the bank’s parking lot on the northeast corner of 9^th and Rhode Island (see attached aerial photo), or letting the city use the lot for public parking during the Tuesday farmers markets. The bank was open to allowing either of those uses. The City Commission eventually authorized the Farmers Market to use Lot 8 for their Tuesday markets (see attached aerial photo), and US Bank has agreed to allow public parking in their lot on Tuesdays during Farmers Market season. There are 32 total spaces in that lot and US Bank has asked to reserve 5 spaces for bank employees, leaving 27 spaces for public parking on Tuesdays, compared to the 18 spaces that were lost on Tuesday afternoon due to the Farmers Market. City staff is working with the bank on appropriate signage for their lot. The entrance to the US Bank lot is about 140 feet south of the entrance to Lot 8 from Rhode Island Street.

Signage on public parking behind Hobbs Taylor Lofts

During the development of the former Border’s Bookstore and the Hobbs Taylor Lofts, various agreements resulted in the dedication of various parking spaces, located on the private Hobbs Taylor property, as public parking spaces. These include 10 two hour metered spaces, 25 ten hour metered spaces, and 23 “open public parking” spaces (please see attached site plan). The “open public parking spaces” have not previously had any type of signage on them and probably appeared to be private parking. The city is installing signage on those spaces indicating that they are long term pass parking, which means that the same long term permits that can be used to park in Lot 8 can also be used to park here.

Lot 4 Proposal from Cindy Maude, Callahan Creek

Cindy Maude, CEO of Callahan Creek, 805 New Hampshire Street, has requested that the city temporarily turn 20 parking spots in Lot 4 (west side of the 800 block of New Hampshire, see attached aerial photo) from two hour fee parking to long term permit parking. Long term permits are effective in certain portions of the parking garages and at ten hour meters. Ms. Maude requests that instead of installing meters in Lot 4, that the city use signs to indicate that certain spaces are long term permit parking.

Staff recommends allowing 10 hour permit parking in 15 spaces on the eastern edge of Lot 4, on Tuesdays only during Farmers Market season (May-October). There are 16 spaces along that edge of the parking lot but one of them has already been approved for use by the Hertz On Demand car share program. We would post a few signs along that stretch explaining the new rules, if the City Commission authorizes this change.   

Parking on west side of 700 and 800 blocks of Rhode Island

In late March, then-Mayor Schumm asked staff to evaluate the feasibility of allowing parking on the west side of the 700 and 800 blocks of Rhode Island (see attached aerial photo of those blocks). Parking is only allowed on the east side of those blocks presently. The west side of the 700 and 800 blocks could accommodate about 23 and 15 additional parking spaces, respectively.   

There would be several challenges presented by allowing parking on the west side of those blocks.

• One way traffic: We would likely have to designate both blocks as one-way traffic to the north. The streets are not wide enough for two way traffic to pass without pulling off to the side. If parking is allowed on the west side there may not be room to pull off. The 900 block of Rhode Island does allow two way traffic and parking on both sides, but that block is residential on both sides, while the 700 and 800 blocks also have significant commercial traffic. Two way traffic with parking on the west side of the 700 block would also be difficult because there is no vehicular entry from the north. Traffic would have to turn around on the block, which would also be more difficult with parking on both sides.
• Bicycle traffic: The 700 and 800 blocks of Rhode Island are not designated as bike routes, but some in the bicycling community consider those blocks to be an important bicycling corridor serving downtown commercial and adjacent residential districts. Vehicular traffic cannot enter the 700 block of Rhode Island from the north, but bicycle traffic can, due to a specially designed median. The Bicycle Advisory Committee has discussed this proposal and expressed concerns that allowing parking on both sides of the street, or making the street one way, will make the street less bicycle friendly.
• Fire Code conflict: The Fire Code requires streets to provide at least 20 feet of travel width in order to allow room for a fire apparatus to park and extend its outriggers. With parking on both sides of the 700 and 800 blocks there would not be 20 feet of street width. While there are many streets in Lawrence that do not meet this standard, the city requires new development to meet the standard and we generally try to preserve this degree of access whenever possible.     

Conclusion

The Tuesday Farmers Market will take up 18 long term (10 hour) parking spaces in Lot 8 from 3:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. on Tuesdays from May 7 to October 29, 2013. Two parking changes have already been implemented or are underway to compensate for those changes:

• 27 spaces in the US Bank parking lot on the northeast corner of 9^th and Rhode Island will be available for public parking all day Tuesday.
• In the Hobbs Taylor parking lot, 23 parking spaces are being signed as long term permit parking.

Additionally, staff recommends allowing 10 hour permit parking in 15 spaces on the eastern edge of Lot 4, on Tuesdays only during Farmers Market season (May-October).

Staff seeks City Commission direction regarding adding parking to the west side of the 700 and 800 blocks of Rhode Island Street.  

ACTION:      Direct staff as appropriate.