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HomeMy WebLinkAboutA002 - Council Action Form dated February 27, 2001 PJ l_ Item 3�dlac�c�t _a Date: February 27, 2001 COUNCIL ACTION FORM SUBJECT: FLORIDA AVENUE PARKING PROHIBITIONS BACKGROUND: A petition has been received from residents in the Florida Avenue area to prohibit parking on the west side of Florida Avenue along a 360 foot section from 100 feet north of 1033 Florida Avenue to the south property line of 1029 Florida Avenue. This was requested to alleviate traffic problems caused by the heavy utilization of parking along this section during the evening and weekend periods. Residents are primarily concerned about this parking situation since it does cause sight distance and traffic maneuvering problems. Due to the curvilinear design of the street, motorists are now having difficulty sighting opposing traffic since the presence of parked vehicles block the view. Also, motorist heading both north and southbound along this curved section are having difficulty maneuvering around opposing traffic when this parking is present. This is especially hazardous when snow accumulations are present and the traveled lanes along this 27' wide street are furthered narrowed. Currently, parking prohibitions are only designated along the east side of Florida Avenue. These traffic problems are primarily a result of the heavy utilization of parking along this section of the street. During most evening and weekend periods, this section of the street is filled with parked vehicles due to its proximity to area apartments. During warmer weather, this parking is heavily utilized when as many as 6 — 8 vehicles are parked along this section and fill the section completely. However, fewer vehicles have been observed in the past few weeks along the street due to the location of snow piles that provide difficulty for apartment residents to walk to their units. There are other concerns that have been expressed by residents in the area about the parking situation along the street. This includes the continual nuisance of having trash thrown on the properties by users who park along this section. Items such as beer bottles, fast-food sacks and wrappers, and other trash are often found along the area lawns. Also, adjacent property owners have expressed concerns about the sight and maneuvering problems experienced when backing out of driveways. It has been reported that in some cases the parked vehicles are almost blocking their driveway entrance. Lastly, area residents are concerned about the potential that neighborhood children could be hit by traffic. This is a higher potential problem since the nearest crosswalk is 500 feet to the north and children are prone to cross at midblock areas rather than walk that distance to the crosswalk. With the current parking situation, this would create a problem since the presence of the continual string of parked vehicles would block the sight of a child crossing the street in this area. Parking prohibitions should not detrimentally impact other property owners along the area. It should be noted that apartment residents in the area could also utilize on-street CAF — Florida Avenue Parking Prohibition February 27, 2001 Page 2 parking along Delaware Avenue. It should also be noted that some residents now choose to park on Florida Avenue due to its convenience since it is closer to the apartments units. According to the Polo Run apartment manager, there are an adequate number of vacant spaces in their parking lot during most periods. The manager of the Polo Run Apartments has been contacted about this proposed parking prohibition and has no problems with it. Also, staff has placed notices in parked vehicles along the street in the past several weeks concerning the parking prohibition. No comments or inputs have been received from these users. ALTERNATIVES: 1. Direct the City Attorney to draft an ordinance to prohibit parking on the west side of Florida Avenue along a 360 foot section from 100' north of 1033 Florida Avenue to the south property line of 1029 Florida Avenue. 2. Do nothing. 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 to prohibit parking on the west side of Florida Avenue along a 360 foot section from 100' north of 1033 Florida Avenue to the south property line of 1029 Florida Avenue. COUNCIL ACTION: Proposed Florida Avenue ia Aw" � ., H kw z 12 ,� TM #IKE 'lot j{[g { } 3 Aw e , g �#ns NMLI ff fr � ty� E 11 January 22, 2001 Scott Logan, P.E. City of Ames Public Works 515 Clark Avenue Ames, Iowa 50010 Dear Mr. Logan: A problem has arisen concerning the parking in the area of the 1100 block of Florida Avenue. This section of Florida Avenue has back to back curves with parking allowed on the west side of the street. A map was obtained and is enclosed for your convenience. This block of on-street parking is regularly filled with the residents and guests of the apartments at 1103/1107 and 1019/1025 Delaware Avenue. The parking situation has become a major safety concern for the following reasons: The sight distance is severely limited for vehicles traveling both directions. During the winter, snowplows clearing the street stay 3 to 4 feet from the parked cars, essentially limiting the street to one lane of through traffic, which only compounds the problems. There are a number of young children who live and play in the area. A child chasing a ball or losing control of a bicycle could easily go into the street, hidden from view of a passing motorist due to the curvature of the street and the number of cars parked along the curve. Children walk through this area to Sawyer school. The parked vehicles limit their view of oncoming motorists. This is a low density, residential neighborhood. The accesses to these apartments were intentionally limited to the high density zone of Delaware Avenue. The people from the apartments that use this parking show no regard for the neighborhood. Trash is regularly left on the street and noise is created by vehicles coming and going all hours of the night. Considering these factors, a solution could be eliminating on-street parking from the north drive of 1125 Florida Avenue through the drive of 1029 Florida Avenue. This would solve the sight distance problems through the curves and force the parking generated by the apartments back to the medium density zone. Your assistance in resolving this dangerous situation is greatly appreciated. Sincerely, Valley East Neighborhood (signatures attached) cc: Mayor City Council NAME ADDRESS /eoe-9-5- 9,;za G- 4k 'o,""'j— /9d-,uAj YFlevy'loT 2 1�� •J 1 � , j• / r /J L�