SUPPORTS ITEM NO. 5
P&E COMMITTEE AGENDA
JULY 20, 1995
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT
Date: July 4, 1995
TO: Council Committee on Planning and Environment
FROM: General Manager of Engineering Services
SUBJECT: PNE Area Resident Parking Program
RECOMMENDATION
A. THAT Council approve a revised resident parking program as detailed
in this report and illustrated in appendix A, and authorize the
General Manager of Engineering Services to continue monitoring the
program and make necessary adjustments after discussions with local
residents.
B. THAT the estimated cost of $25,000 to change the signing be
approved with costs offset by any net decal fee revenues and the
balance provided from contingency reserve.
C. THAT Council approve the annual operating costs, estimated to be $
20,000, to be recovered by a decal fee of $16.00 for area A and
$8.00 for a two year permit for those residents only affected by
the annual fair and in areas where the permit program is to be
phased out (areas B and C).
COUNCIL POLICY
The City supports the protection of residential areas from overspill
parking, and recovers the annual costs to distribute resident permits
and to maintain signs by charging a permit fee (now set at $16.00
including GST).
On April 19, 1994 City Council as part of the 1994 Budget Management
program passed a motion that the PNE Parking Program be eliminated and
noted that if the community wished to continue the service, costs could
be recovered through a moderate fee, as in all other areas where permit
parking is applied.
PURPOSE
The purpose of this report is to review the PNE area resident parking
program and to propose changes to reflect the changes occurring on the
PNE site and the changing needs of the community. The report also
recommends a decalfee forcost recovery wherepermits areissued.BACKGROUND
The residential neighbourhood adjacent to the PNE has experienced
overspill parking and parking pressures for many years. To improve the
parking situation this neighbourhood was the first to have resident
permit parking regulations. The parking program was designed to respond
to many different types of events that happen on the PNE grounds. The
regulations in this area are permit parking only during posted event
times (these times are posted in special signs). Permits are issued to
residents and one visitor pass is issued to households. There is no
charge for permits as there is in other areas.
Over the next two years there are significant changes taking place at
the PNE. These include the Canucks moving to the new arena downtown in
September 1995, and the relocation of the annual fair at the end of
1996. These changes mean there will be far less pressure on the
surrounding neighbourhood with fewer large events. This allows the
parking regulations to be simplified and reduces the overall program
costs. In addition it is proposed that a permit fee be charged, where
permits are required, to offset the costs of issuing the permits and
maintaining the required signs.
PROPOSED CHANGES
Area A. The event times signing would be removed in September 1995,
after this year's fair, and be replaced by full time permit
parking. Permits would continue to be issued to residents with
the visitor pass phased out at the end of the 1996 fair.
Permits would cost $16.00 annually. Parking would be monitored
by Parking Enforcement, particularly during events.
This area is directly adjacent to the PNE grounds on the west side of
Renfrew St. It has and will experience the highest parking pressures and
will continue to need a higher level of regulation and enforcement,
particularly during horse racing events.
The main issue in this area is whether the visitor pass should be
maintained. The visitor pass is issued in this area to accommodate
visitors of the residents during events. With the changes to the PNE the
need for a visitor pass is reduced. There are fewer events and most of
area A has a very high level of off street parking. Indeed this area is
somewhat unique in the city as almost all of the backyard space of the
single family housing has been developed to accommodate parking. This
parking could be used by visitors.The visitor pass does create problems
for many residents during events and is abused; some residents make
passes available to friends and others that attend the events. This
means that parking on the street during events is often full and parking
pressures are not reduced. Because of these problems, staff recommend
that the visitor pass be phased out.
Area B. The permit parking during event times would be removed in
September 1995 and be replaced with resident parking only
signs. Street parking would be restricted to block residents'
vehicles only. Residents would not require permits which would
be phased out as they expire in 1996. Because the permits
would only be required until the new signs are installed it is
recommended that an $8.00 permit fee be charged to help offset
the administrative costs. Enforcement would be by complaint
only.
This area will continue to experience parking pressures. If there were
no parking signing it would be expected that the streets would fill up
during events such as horse racing. However the area could be controlled
by signing that acts primarily as a deterrent to parking. Residents
would not have to have permits and enforcement would only be on
complaint. This could return the neighbourhood to a more normal
situation and eliminate the inconvenience to residents of getting and
using passes. Enforcement would be readily available as enforcement
staff would be in the adjacent area A during events.
Area C. Street Parking would be controlled with the existing event
time permit parking signs until the end of the 1996 fair.
These signs are only in effect during the annual fair.
Residents would be able to obtain two-year permits at a cost
of $8.00 for the two years to help offset the cost of
issuance.
After the 1996 Fair much of this area will have the signing
removed. Any areas with localized problems would be protected,
similar to the proposal for area B.
Much of area C is further removed from the PNE grounds and after the
annual Fair would not experience parking pressures. Area C is only in
effect during the annual fair, however, the signing does act as a
deterrent and some of area C may experience overspill parking if the
existing signing were removed. Staff would continue to work with
individual blocks to deal with problems if they occur and would install
Resident Parking Only, as in area B, after discussion with the affected
residents.
TIMING OF PROPOSED CHANGES
The changes occurring on the PNE Grounds will happen at different times
and this complicates the timing of the changes to any of the parking
regulations. To maintain flexibility and to provide a smooth transition
from one set of regulations to the next it is recommended that the
changes be phased.
FLEXIBILITY OF REGULATIONS
The boundaries shown on the map are dynamic and will move to accommodate
the changing needs of specific areas and the wishes of individual
blocks. Staff would continue to work with the community to ensure the
regulations meet the needs of the community.
CITIZEN INPUT
A survey of the neighbourhood was conducted, meetings were held with
local community representatives, information on the proposed changes was
mailed to all residents, and they were invited to an open house to talk
about these changes.
The survey that was conducted noted the changes taking place on the PNE
grounds and asked if the existing regulations should be maintained and
if the residents would be willing to pay a decal fee to maintain a decal
program. In general the closer the residence was to the parking problem
and the greater the parking pressure the greater the desire to keep the
parking regulations and to pay for them. In Area A a majority of the
residents were willing to pay a decal fee to maintain the regulations.
In area B less than half the residents were willing to pay and in area C
very few were willing to pay.
A number of meetings were held with community representatives to discuss
the program and to evaluate options for the parking program. There was
general consensus that there would still need to be a program for much
of the area to protect the community from overspill parking from events
that would stay at the PNE site; in particular, horse racing and events
that would continue to be held at the Coliseum. There was also a
consensus that the existing program needed to be changed to better serve
the community, and to simplify the programs administration. With input
from this group the recommended parking program was developed and is
supported.
Information on this proposal was mailed to all the residents in the
affected area and they were invited to an open house that was held on
April 29, 1995. The open house was attended by 150 people from all areas
of the community. Everyone generally supported the changes with some
comments on area boundaries, and the need to maintain the program for
special needs in several parts of area C. There were also a number of
supportive letters received from residents in the area.FINANCIAL
IMPLICATIONS
The PNE area parking program is the only area in the city were there is
no permit fee and cost recovery of the City's costs. Because of this and
the changes coming to the PNE, City Council passed a motion on April 19,
1994 to discontinue the PNE area parking program in the fall of 1995.
There is a continuing need to keep parking regulations in parts of the
community and the proposed program will do this and achieve cost
recovery to fund decal issuance and sign maintenance. The costs are
significantly lower than the previous regulations. This is because of
reduced sign maintenance and fewer permits issued to residents, as much
of the area can be controlled without permits.
The capital costs to make these changes are estimated to be $25,000.
$5,000 of this cost is to remove signs that are no longer required. The
balance is to install the new signing proposed in this report. Funds for
this work are not included in this years budget. It is recommended that
this funding be provided from any net decal revenues with the balance
from contingency reserve.
CONCLUSION
Because of changes occurring on the PNE site, a number of changes are
proposed to the permit parking regulations in the surrounding
neighbourhood. These changes will simplify the program and reduce its
costs. It is also recommended that a permit fee be applied to recover
the administrative costs.
These changes have been reviewed with the community and there is general
support for the proposed changes.
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