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HomeMy WebLinkAboutA002 - Council Action Form dated October 10, 2000 010 Item # o Date: Octob 10 2000 COUNCIL ACTION FORM SUBJECT: HUNT STREET PARKING PROHIBITIONS BACKGROUND: The City has received a request from Nathan Guerdet, 2644 Hunt Street, to change parking prohibitions on Hunt Street (Sheldon Avenue to Hayward Avenue) to provide more convenient parking. Currently, the street has an alternate-side parking prohibition that consists of a four-hour parking limit between 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., as well as a 11:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m. change-over time when parked vehicles need to be moved from one-side of the street to the other. This type of parking prohibition has existed along Hunt Street for over 15 years, and was initially placed to provide short-term parking for residents. The request is to provide a more convenient parking prohibition that includes one of the following alternatives.- 1. One-side parking 2. Alternate-side parking with changes every week (instead of every day) 3. Alternate-side parking with a change-over time from 9:00 p.m. to midnight. To evaluate this request, staff had surveyed residents and property owners about the need for changing the parking prohibition. Also, parking conditions were evaluated along the street to assess the utilization and parking turn-over. According to this evaluation, parking was nearly 100% utilized along the street with little or no parking turn-over noted. The parking survey results showed that there were varying opinions about the need to change the parking prohibitions, and the type of parking prohibition that should be designated along Hunt Street. Attached are the survey results showing parking prohibition preferences and also comments concerning the need to change the prohibitions. As indicated, the survey shows that most residents and property owners would prefer that the 4-hour parking limit be abolished during the day. It also shows that there are almost an equal number who would desire to maintain the daily turn-over period opposed to having parking permanently on one-side or a weekly change-over period. After reviewing the survey results and evaluating the parking conditions along the street, staff believes that the parking prohibitions should be changed to include a 9:00 p.m. to midnight change-over time with no 4-hour parking limit. Conditions indicate that the street is 100% utilized throughout the day with the 4-hour time limit posted, and it is observed that the time limit has little or no effect on the parking turn-over along the street. By eliminating the 4-hour time limit, staff does not believe that either the utilization or turn-over rate will significantly change during the typical day. Staff also believes that the change-over time should be changed from a 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m." to a "9:00 p.m. to midnight" period to better accommodate residents who do not want to switch their vehicles to the other side of the street during the late evening period. CAF — Hunt Street Parking October 10, 2000 Page 2 In evaluating conditions, staff does believe that the alternate-side parking prohibition should still be designated along the street to provide turn-over and to enhance street maintenance activities. Without the daily parking turn-over, staff believes that vehicles will be stored for long periods along the street with almost no parking turn-over for short- term parking needed by residents. With no daily parking turn-over, it would also be very difficult to maintain streets, including plowing snow in the winter and sweeping/maintaining streets during the other periods of the year. Both problems have been experienced in the past along streets within the Campus area and they have led to establishing either alternate side parking prohibitions or other parking limits. ALTERNATIVES: 1. Direct the City Attorney to draft an ordinance changing the current alternate-side parking prohibitions along Hunt Street (Sheldon to Hayward) to eliminate the 4-hour parking limit (7.00 a.m to 7.00 p.m.) and to provide a more accommodating " 9.00 p.m. to midnight" change over period. 2. Modify the proposed parking prohibition stated in Alternative #1. 3. Do nothing and retain the existing parking prohibition on Hunt Street. MANAGER'S RECOMMENDED ACTION: It is the recommendation of the City Manager that the City Council adopt alternative number 1, thereby directing the City Attorney to draft an ordinance changing the current alternate-side parking prohibitions along Hunt Street (Sheldon to Hayward) to eliminate the 4-hour parking limit (7.00 a.m to 7.00 p.m.) and to provide a more accommodating "9:00 p.m. to midnight" change over period. COUNCIL ACTION: r r CAF APPROVAL SS—JV BK SL JK t91 JP SR V IN To be sent to j 1 2644 Hunt Street ' �` , Apt.96 U Ames,IA 50014 292-2209 June 27,2000 a=a �— fi' is City Council Members Ames, IA Dear City Council Members, CITY C^_-i6,� L @ CITY OF ,cS,INA Subject- Parking Regulations on Hunt Street I am writing to you in hopes for a change of the parking regulations on Hunt Street. I have just recently moved to Hunt Street and am now residing at 2644 Apt. #6. Since I have moved here I have been given over $130.00 in parking tickets which, at $5 per ticket, means that I have been cited for 26 parking violations. I would not mind paying these parking tickets if the parking regulations on Hunt Street were not so absurd. The problem with Hunt Street parking is that the signs now state that the time you must move your car is at 11 pm. I believe I'm in the majority when I say that I have to get up early in the morning to go to work, 5am to be exact. Staying up until 11 o'clock just to move my car to the other side of the street is a ridiculous notion. That is what the parking signs states now and I believe that could, and needs, to change. To put it in perspective, how many of you want to be woken up and then have to get fully dressed at 11 o'clock at night and go out into the cold of winter just to move your car to the other side of the street? It's bad enough having to do that in the moming, let alone only a few hours before also! To provide the benefit of the doubt, maybe there is some street cleaning or snow plowing to be done at that time, none of which I have seen. Also,when I was speaking with the Assistant Chief of Police she read the regulation of parking on Hunt and said there was a grace period of 2 hours. I told her that's interesting; I've received tickets at 10:45 pm because I had switched sides to early in trying to get some more sleep. Someone needs to be corrected on what the exact parking law is on Hunt Street. Through talking to neighbors and a city official, I have been informed of a law requiring apartment owners to provide adequate parking for its tenants. I was told that adequate meant 2.5 stalls per tenant. If this is the case, then this law needs to be upheld, even where students live. Our apartment owner may be abiding by this law if they count the street as parking stalls. This would still bring up the case of having to stay up till 11 pm just to move my car to the other side of the street,a mere 16 feet. May I offer some suggestions? 1. Have alternate side parking change every week at a decent time, not every night at 11 pm. 2. Allow parking on one side of the street all of the time. 3. Change the time from 11 pm to a reasonable time like 8pm allowing more people to be home and actually awake. Thank you for your time and consideration, Nathan Guerdet Hunt Street Parking Survey Results Parking Prohibition Type Number of Residents in-favor of this Parking Prohibition 1. One-side parking 3 2. Alternate side parking/change-over every week 3 3. Alternate side parking/change-over daily (9 — midnight) 2 4. Same as #3 with 4 hour time limit 1 5. No change 1 6. Parking meters on both sides 1 Comments • One-side parking is the best solution alternating which side of the street we are allowed to park on gets confusing. Allowing people to park on both sides of the street makes it hard to drive down the street (This happens late at night). If there is a worry about people parking in the same spot for extended periods, then the 4 hour limit should be enforced. It currently is only enforced at random. • 1 have had in the past to deal with the inadequate street parking and although I am now provided with an off-street parking place, I do appreciate your review of the current situation. I do not feel the current parking laws are any bit convenient. I would like to request the option of alternate street parking with changes every week. I feel this would be most adequate for residents as well as snow removal. Thank you so much. • We think 24 hour parking meters on both sides of the street would be a good solution to the parking problem on Hunt Street. • Parking is already a problem. Please don't make it worse by allowing these changes. In "old days" vehicles were parked for months. Never moved cars/could never have guests. I would oppose the change. Thank you. • 1 think the only change that should be made is to do away with the 4 hour parking. It never is obeyed or meter people don't do every four (4) hours. If you change to every other week, the same cars will be there all week — that doesn't help anybody. With all of the students that live on the street now, and the crazy parking the City has for 1.5 cars for each apartment, the students have only one place to park and that is on the street. I like the alternate parking on Hunt Street because I can at least park on alternate days — long enough to drop off groceries. • We are homeowners on Hunt Street with our family. Here are our desires for parking. (1) Please do not remove the four-hour limit. Many houses on our street are over capacity and have more students and cars than parking spaces. It is hard already for our guests to find parking on the street. If the four-hour limit is removed, it will be even harder. The four-hour limit also helps discourage students from more distant areas from parking on our street and walking in to class. (2) Please do not eliminate the alternate side parking every day, since it discourages residents from parking permanently on the street. (3) Please do change the change-over time from 11:00 to 9:00. When our parents visit or one our children is home we have an extra car and it is annoying to have to stay up till 11:00 to move to the other side. A 9:00 change-over time would seem to accomplish the same goal as an 11:00 one. Thank you for your oversight of this matter. • One-side parking is the only answer for Hunt Street. I don't know why it took 15 years to see this problem! • I feel that changes every week is the best way to handle this matter. The nightly ritual that goes on right now is mass chaos. Every night around midnight people are moving cars up and down the street. This creates a disturbance that needs to stop. I realize during the winter that a change-over time is necessary, so at the very least please make it earlier.