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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 1994-01-19 Mayor Joseph A. Fernekes Council: Jack Drago ~lohn R. Penna Roberta Cerri Teglia Robert Yee MINUTES City Council City Council Conference Room City Hall January 19, 1994 105 AGENDA ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING CALL TO ORDER: (Cassette No. I) ROLL CALL: Discussion of alternatives for the provision of addi- tional parking to serve the 400 block of Baden Ave. ..5-/.~ I ACTION TAKEN ADJOURNED REGULAR MEETING 7:06 p.m. Mayor Fernekes presiding. Council Present: Drago, Penna and Fernekes. Council Absent: Teglia and Yee. Parking Place Commissioners Present: None Parking Place Commissioners Absent: Giusti, Ziegler and Tognazzini. Discussion followed on the meeting in April, 1993: the Council gave direction to the Parking Place Commission - on the need for more parking in the 400 block of Grand Ave.; study the Downtown area and consider acquisition of two additional lots, one at Baden and Linden and one at Cypress and Air- port; study the Brentwood situation; widen their scope Citywide and include all street areas used for parking in all shopping areas of the City; aspects of the Linden property had been discussed in Closed Session; the Wilbur Smith report in 1985; revital- ization of Grand Avenue in 1986 was an involved report that dealt with the parking for commercial and retail, but it did not focus on the 400 block of Grand Avenue; in 1989 it was Grand and Cypress as a potential retail and parking project that died because it did not come together; the Parking Dis- trict had $400,000 that could be leveraged through a bond sale for acquisition of property; the Commis- sion wanted direction from Council because of the many complications etc. Councilman Penna stated he was the closest to the issues, because of his business in the downtown area, wanted to talk about the petition for green zones on the 400 block and wanted to get a consen- sus on the whole downtown area. He stated that green zones were good for merchants who have 1/19/94 Page 1 AGENDA A~TION TAKEN Discussion- Continued. ~rking Place Commissioner Tognazzini Arrived: 1/19/94 Page 2 106 people coming in and out in ten minutes, because now people are parking two hours and longer. He stated he had signed a petition with the flower shop and deli for a green zone that takes up five spaces in front of the building in the 400 block of Grand. He stated that the 600 block of Linden had also petitioned for the green zone, which, he felt, would be requested more often in the future. He stated that restaurants and retailers would require the longer metered time periods. Discussion followed: five green spaces all together; the Commission had said they would consider green zones, if the businesses requested them; the petition Councilman Penna described had just come to the Commission, however, due to illness of Commis- sioners, the last meeting had been cancelled; Coun- cilman Penna stated the petition had been submitted in August; the petition had not come from all the businesses on the block; the consumers want longer term parking and want to park on Grand Avenue; employee parking should be located further away and the immediate vicinity should be for consumers. Parking Place Commissioner Tognazzini arrived at the meeting at 7:28 p.m. Discussion followed: some businessmen felt the green zones helped and others felt it hurt their busi- nesses; some of the permit lots were vacant, yet one could not find a parking space on the street; the permit lots were supposed to be for long term parking; the Commission was trying to make all parking lots permit parking and use the outer lots for long term parking; why was a downtown lot used for permit parking; that change had been made before the April Council meeting from many sug- gestions of businessmen to mix up the lots with meters and permit parking; the upper lot serves the 400 block; the lot on Baden next to John Sousa's and across from the State Room is half meters and half permit parking; whether there had been a recent survey on consumer needs; tires have not been marked in the metered lots for the last several months; Councilman Drago agreed there should be green zones for the quick turn around businesses, however, they were difficult to enforce; quite a few hundred tickets were issued each month, after officers chalked tires; there was a police policy to not double tag vehicles for an expired meter and AGENDA 1. Discussion - Continued. 1/19/94 Page 3 ACTION TAKEN 107 chalked tires; additional General Fund money was needed, if the Council wanted additional enforce- ment; the two Parking District enforcement officers were responsible for the industrial and downtown areas, the Brentwood, time limits at the MSB and flip flop parking in the City; police were looking at a plan to get a per diem parking enforcement offi- cer; revenue from meters goes to the Parking Dis- trict, but the parking violations go to the General Fund; the District only pays for the meter collector and the Commissioners' salaries; the amount of time it takes to write a ticket; foot patrol officers cite vehicles on their route from Spruce to Cypress; Councilman Drago was concerned about the lot that was changed last July, that a letter had been received from a merchant next door stating they had not been informed that the lot was to be changed and, as a result, had lost business; someone should say - the lot is not working and make it metered; he suggested the Finance Director drive by the lots on a Friday or Saturday and see the unfilled spaces on parking lots number five and twelve, even though you cannot park on the street; Councilman Penna felt lot twelve should be permit parking and lot five should be metered parking, because they are adja- cent to the walkway, with retail shops in the area; Mayor Fernekes felt staff should go out twice a year, review the lots and see if they are meeting the goals of the area, with new businesses moving in and out; Councilman Drago felt the lots should be designed for security, which, he felt, was a police job; Councilman Penna felt the Commission should be composed of merchants from the downtown area who understand the problems; Commissioner Tognazzini felt that, once the lots became metered, they should stay metered; Mayor Fernekes felt a meeting should be arranged between the Planning Commission and the Parking Place Commission; there would be more visitors to lower Grand Avenue if the people felt safe; he wanted to know the reve- nue, block by block and lot by lot, and how much was brought into the City through citations; staff should see if there is a rationale to let the District be self-sufficient for the parking enforcement, as well as sufficient for the parking enforcement, as well as in purchasing additional property; that would require a Council policy to be enacted; the citations would be a $200,000 loss to the General Fund; Mayor Fernekes felt the citations could pay for additional security in that area; it was a question of allocating City resources, which the Council could do, as well ~ENDA ~TION TAKEN 1__. Discussion- Continued. City Council direction to staff to request proposals for real estate services. .5-/:3 ! Closed Session for the purpose of the discussion of personnel matters, labor relations, property negotia- tions (potential acquisition of 417 Linden Ave. and 368 Conmur, Armas' property) and litigation pursuant to Government Code. ECALL TO ORDER: 108 as make the District Citywide, but it would have to be sure of what they were giving up, because there were deficits out there. Further discussion followed: the Commission meet- ing with the Planning Commission should include discussion of parking exemptions in the downtown area, because they involved land use issues; Coun- cilman Drago suggested not having meters in the City and go in and assess the merchants for property acquisition; expanding the District to Spruce, as well as to Linden; Grand Avenue has an image problem and assessing the merchants would be a deterrent to businesses coming into the City; it was the property owners that were assessed for the bonds and the meters had paid off the bonds; Councilman Penna took exception to the staff report, which said that the 400 block is served by the 39 spaces on Walnut - because City Hall has 75 employees who fill the lot, including visitors; lot seven on Miller and Maple is basically a free lot for City Hall employees and employees of the 300 block of Grand; there were 285 employees in the 400 block of Grand; the 39 spaces on Walnut were often used by attendees at All Souls Church; the 300 block has several parking lots; City Manager Wohlenberg suggested getting a realtor to approach property owners; putting park- ing underground at City Hall, however, there would be objections from the Historical Society/Historical Commission and residents, who must be convinced that it would not change the image of City Hall; the last estimate was $6 million for underground parking at City Hall; whether the parcel on Grand and Spruce would take care of the 400 block; buildings on Baden Avenue would cost less than an empty lot; the Spruce Avenue lot is too far away; the property on Baden could be obtained for a good price. Consensus of Council - City Manager directed to go ahead with the request for proposals from a realtor to negotiate on the City's behalf. Council adjourned to a Closed Session at 8:52 p.m. to discuss the items listed, which included the poten- tial acquisition of 124 Linden Avenue rather than 417 Linden Avenue, as previously listed on the adjournment notice. Mayor Fernekes recalled the meeting to order at 9:12 p.m., all Council was present, no action was taken. 1/19/94 Page 4 AGENDA ACTION TAKEN ADJOURNMENT: M/S Drago/Penna - To adjourn the meeting. Carried by unanimous voice vote. Time of adjournment was 9:13 p.m. RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED, APPROVED. Barbara A. Battaya, City City of South San Francisco Joseph AYff:ernekes, Mayor Cit~uof South San Francisco The entries of this Council meeting show the action taken by the City Council to dispose of an item. Oral communica- tions, arguments and comments are recorded on tape. The tape and documents related to the items are on file in the Office of the City Clerk and are available for inspection, review and copying. 1/19/94 Page 5