St. Johnsbury Parking. Description of Existing Parking Program in St. Johnsbury

Transcription

1 St. Johnsbury Parking Description of Existing Parking Program in St. Johnsbury Permitted Parking Lots Main Street Lot- The Main Street Lot is located behind the Public Safety building on Main Street. There are ninety-six (96) parking places that serve residents, Community College of Vermont students and faculty, Department of Labor employees, patrons of the Athenaeum, police staff, and fire department staff. All parking spaces require a permit M-F, 7am 5pm, except the ten (10) metered spaces available for short-term and long-term parking. Evenings and weekends parking is free and does not require a permit. Overnight parking is not allowed and is defined as parking of a vehicle between the hours of 12am and 6am. Railroad Street Lot- The Railroad Street Lot is located behind the Railroad Street stores on the east side of the street. One hundred and twenty spaces are available for shoppers, employees, business owners, and professionals. Three-hour free parking is available M-F, 7am 5pm, and permits are required for long term parking (more than three consecutive hours). Limited overnight parking is allowed in a designated location along the wall on the east side of the lot for Passumpsic View Apartment residents. Evenings and weekends parking is free and does not require a permit. Overnight parking in any other area is prohibited and is defined as parking of a vehicle between the hours of 12am and 6am. Town Parking Locations (Short-term & Long-term) # Parking Spots Municipal Lot- Pearl St. 127 Railroad Street Lot- (behind Taproom) 120 Main Street Lot-(behind Fire Station) 77 Armory (North & South) 18 Pearl St. North (Republican Block side) 36 Pearl St. South (Street permit parking) 10 Pearl Street Lot (& Calderwood Lot) These lots are Total 388 managed as one through an agreement with the State of Vermont who leases the Calderwood lot from its owner. The Town provides maintenance and enforcement in order to have this lot open and available to residents evenings and weekends free of charge. The Town manages 53 of the 127 parking spaces in the Pearl Street Lot. Permits are required M-F 7am 5pm. Limited overnight parking is allowed in a designated location for Depot Square Apartment residents. Overnight parking in any other area is prohibited and is defined as parking of a vehicle between the hours of 12am and 6am. Pearl Street North Is located on Pearl Street between Eastern Avenue and Maple Street. There are thirty-six (36) parking spaces. These parking spaces provide three (3) hour free parking, permitted parking Monday - Friday, and permitted overnight parking daily. Armory North and South The Town has nine (9) parking spaces on each side of the Armory. The South lot is rented by Dr. Richard Koslowski for his dental practice. The North Lot provides overflow parking from the Main Street Lot along with four (4) overnight parking spaces rented by Colonial Apartments residents. Street Parking Metered Parking St. Johnsbury has 198 meters in town located on Main Street, Eastern Avenue, and Railroad Street. All meters are set to $.25/hour Monday Saturday. Payment is typically required between the hours of 8am and 6pm Mon., Tues., Wed., Thurs., and Sat. (Fridays 8am 9pm, Sundays are free all day some exceptions may apply). # Metered Parking (Short-term) Parking Spots RR- McDonalds - Horizon's 64 Main St. 55 Eastern Ave. 79 Total 198

2 The St. Johnsbury Chamber of Commerce typically requests that the Town bag the meters for the month of December. The Town typically accepts this request and covers the meters between December 1 st and January 1 st. Town Parking Ordinances The St. Johnsbury Police Department enforces all parking in St. Johnsbury. Fines for parking violation range from $5 - $50 for the first offense. Typical Violations include: Expired meter fine $ 5.00 Night Ban Parking Fine $10.00 Parking in a handicapped space $50.00 Parking in front of a hydrant $ 5.00 Parking in permitted space w/o permit $ 5.00 Operations The Town Clerk s Office sells all parking products including day permits, monthly permits, and annual permits. The Town Clerk s office manages all communications and parking ticket data entry and is reimbursed $14,000 annually for their efforts by the parking fund. Annual permits go on sale in late fall early winter and are valid January 1 December 31, monthly and day permits are available M-F throughout the year. The St. Johnsbury Police Department provides enforcement, equipment maintenance, and coin collection services for the Town. The PD is allocated $42,000 annually to perform these duties. The Department of Public Works provides maintenance services to the poles that house the meters, installs parking signage, and performs snow removal. The DPW does not receive any allocation from the Parking Fund. The Restorative Justice Center acts as the Parking Board and hears parking ticket appeals from the community. The Restorative Justice Center is allocated $4,000 in the annual budgets for services they provide to the community. Fee Structure The Town of St. Johnsbury fee structure has remained unchanged for many years, and until recently, revenues received closely matched the expenses Annual Business Permit (M-F 7am - required to manage and enforce the parking program. 5pm) There have been some discussions amongst merchants and residents about paid vs. free parking and the effects each scenario would have on business levels. These discussions were anecdotal in nature with no empirical data to support either perspective (although both parties agree that a parking program that only brakes even is not an effective program). St. Johnsbury Parking Rates Market Analysis- compared with similar towns in Vermont that charge for parking St. Johnsbury s parking fees are amongst the lowest within the comp set. $ Annual Overnight Permit $ Monthly Overnight Permit $45.00 Day Permit $5.00 Parking Meter $.25/Hour

3 Permitted Parking Rate Analysis (M-F Business Hrs.) St. Johnsbury $ Barre $ St. Albans $ Montpelier $420 Rutland $420 Brattleboro $240 Burlington $900 Mean $355 Metered Parking Rates/Hour St. Johnsbury $0.25 Barre $0.50 St. Albans FREE Montpelier $0.35 Rutland $0.50 Brattleboro $0.30 Newport FREE Littleton NH $0.25 Burlington $1.00 Mean $0.45 Financial Performance The Parking Fund typically performed at break even with periodic contributions to a reserve fund. In the Parking Fund showed a loss of ($10,627) which was due to meter purchases of $10,961 that year. This year ( ) we are forecasting a loss of ($9,375) mostly due to the Railroad Street Construction Project that required the removal of the meters between Eastern Avenue and Maple Street. Recent Changes to the Permit Parking Program: IN 2017 the Town has reinstated a Hang-Tag permit system. Permit holders are required to hang the tags from their rear view mirror with the validation sticker pointed outwards from the car. This hang-tag is transferrable and is valid in any space within the designated lot. It is the responsibility of the permit holder to display the tag properly when using the permitted parking lot. Lost or stolen hang tags may be replaced for a $25 administration fee. Types of Permits and color-codes: Main Street Lot (valid M-F 7am 5pm) BLACK Railroad Street Lot (valid M-F 7am 5pm) BLUE Pearl Street Lot (valid M-F 7am 5pm) GREEN Overnight Parking Annual Permit (valid daily 9am 7am) RED Overnight Parking Monthly Permit (valid daily 9am-7am) YELLOW Daily Parking Permit valid in any lot YELLOW Revenue Permits Overnight Business Permits M-F Actuals Forecast $23, $25, Meters $33, $25, Parking Ticket $8, $7, Other $ $ Total Revenue $65, $57, Expenses Parking Fund Performance Sales $4, $4, General Admin. $10, $10, Enforcement $42, $42, Contracted Services $3, $3, Equipment $10, $0.00 Equipment Maintenance $ $1, Supplies $ $ Printing $ $1, Postage $ $ Equipment Fund/Signage $4, $4, Total Expenses $76, $67, Profit/Loss ($10,627.00) ($9,375.00)

4 Committee Efforts This fall as the Railroad Street Streetscape Project began a local stakeholder suggested that the Town install parking kiosks instead of re-installing parking meters at the end of the construction project. Kiosks in other communities have been proven successful and have provided for a more enjoyable pedestrian experience for shoppers. Town officials began to investigate the kiosk option. During a September 2016 Select Board meeting a local merchant publically asked the Select Board to consider free parking in town vs. paid parking. In response to this request, the Select Board asked Town and Chamber officials to start a parking committee to research parking options for the town and present them to the Town Manager for consideration. The Parking Committee was formed, and members include; Joe Kasprzak, Tara Holt, Seleem Choudhury, and Scott Beck. Over the course of several months the Parking Committee worked on five initiatives: Parking Survey a survey was developed to garner information from merchants about parking in the business district. The survey was administered through SurveyMonkey and via one-on-one interviews during October and November of Twenty-nine surveys were completed by downtown merchants (7 on Eastern Ave.; 3 on Main St.; 17 on Railroad Street; and 2 on Pearl St.). Car Count Surveys- were administered by committee members during Dec. 2016, Jan. 2017, & Feb Market Research- Committee members researched other community parking initiatives, policies, and pricing. Product Research- Outreach to parking equipment and software providers continues. Parking Findings and Recommendations. Survey Results Include: Total number of employees of the surveyed businesses = 144 Average number of employees working during the busiest shifts = out of 29 businesses had their own private parking options (all businesses admitted that customers use public parking options) When asked if staff and residents parked in front of their stores? 6 said Never; 7 N/A; 5 said Frequently; 5 said occasionally; and 5 said Sometimes. When asked if a downtown business could discourage parking by staff and residents? 17 said No; 4 said Yes; and 6 were undecided. When asked if parking fees have a negative impact on sales? 14 said Yes; 12 said No; and 2 were undecided. When asked if merchants were supportive of finding a long-term solution to parking that included a parking system that could fund maintenance and upgrades? 16 were in favor; 3 No; and 8 needed to understand the details and costs of such a plan. When asked if you prefer installing the meters or kiosks if paid parking was the solution? 10 were in favor of meters; 7 in favor of kiosks; and 8 undecided. The biggest concern with kiosks was the technology and that residents (particularly seniors) would have a difficult time understanding how to pay). Other comments from merchants: It is not so much the fact that the customers have to pay, but the equipment is broken down, signage is not consistent, etc. If everything was functioning properly and there was clear and concise messaging then paid parking would not be that bad. Merchants also indicated a need for free short-term (15 or 30 minutes) grab-and-go spots Several merchants mentioned an Interest in re-establishing the Downtown Improvement District to fund capital improvements in the downtown district.

5 Car Count Survey Results Include: 41 Total Parking Spaces on Railroad Street We performed 27 car count surveys which included 2,214 spaces We logged 150 instances where a vehicle was parked for more than 2 hours (referred to as violations even though we do not have any such law and no signage was on display) Average # of violations = 5.56 per survey or 6.78% of the total available parking spaces per survey Average # of open parking spaces during our survey was 16 90% of all vehicles were from VT (5% NH, 1% MA, 1% NY,.5% CT,.5 % ME) 63 unique vehicles made up the 150 violations 7% of the violations were made up of out-of-state vehicle (note more than half of these were attached to merchants employees families and staff) 28 vehicles made up 114 of the parking violations (76%) 11 vehicles made up 72 of the parking violations (48%) Survey Conclusions No conclusive evidence that merchants support free vs. paid parking If we continued to have paid parking, there was no consensus on what type of paid parking we should install There was consensus that merchants did not feel that they could enforce parking policy themselves There was consensus that a parking policy that only paid for enforcement was not an effective policy There were also many comments about the disrepair of the equipment and the inconsistency of signage and messaging Almost everyone knew about the free 3-hour parking in the Railroad St. Lot (but many thought that people from out of town did not know) Car Count Survey Conclusions We have parking capacity on Railroad Street (average of 16 available spaces per survey) The concern of staff and residents taking up parking if it were to be free is unfounded (less than 6% and half of the violations were from only 11 vehicles which could be easily remedied) We have very few visitors from outside Vermont (and this is a real concern!) Committee Recommendations: Permitted Parking Lots The Parking Committee recommends that we continue with the permitted lot hang-tag program as outlined in this document and detailed in Attachment #1. Within the 10 year projection, an increase in the per-permit yield of 16.67% annually over five years is required. In order to achieve this forecasted yield a pricing strategy will have to be implemented (see pricing recommendations below). The Committee also has identified several contractual agreements and products sold in the past that have had an adverse effect on yield. These products will need to be phased out or eliminated to achieve the required yield (products to be phased out include: discounted temporary day permits issued at the Main Street Lot, discounted temporary over-night permits issued at the Railroad Street Lot, and discounted Business Permits issued at the Armory Lot). The Committee is confident that St. Johnsbury s permit parking rates will remain equal, or below, other communities rates within our comp set.

6 Annual Business Permit (M-F 7am 5pm) Suggested Permit Rates $150 $175 $200 $225 $250 Annual Overnight Permit $380 $420 $460 $500 $540 Monthly Overnight Permit $45 $55 $65 $75 $85 Day Permit $5 $5 $5 $5 $5 Permitted Parking Marketing & Enforcement Efforts: In the 10-year parking model an increase in permit sales volume accompanies the increase in yield. To achieve this increase, a communication strategy and structured enforcement effort must be implemented. Recommendation - Every October a newsletter will be sent out to all permit holders informing them of any changes to the parking regulations, pricing, and enforcement. Existing permit holders will have the opportunity to purchase their permits prior to a public offering in November (this protects those businesses who count on the permits for their residents and employees). During the first week of December ads will be placed in the local papers and through social media informing community members of parking regulations and promoting sales of remaining permits. All sales, whether pre-season or not, will be first-come first-serve. Enforcement: In order to drive permit sales the Town must focus on a consistent enforcement efforts within the identified parking lots. Clear and concise signage will be required to be able to uphold violations. After review of the allocations for staffing the Committee believes this can be done within the existing labor budgets. Committee Recommendations: On-Street Parking After multiple meetings reviewing the data collected and the existing market conditions, the committee agreed on a recommendation that involves a combination of free parking and paid parking. The parking model was developed and reviewed and includes forecasts for a ten-year period (see attachment 2). During the first two years, metered spaces would be replaced with free parking. A two-hour parking limit would be implemented for the areas that previously were metered. The Committee believes this will be an effective policy that supports efforts to fill vacant storefronts, thus creating a higher demand for parking (car counts showed a lack of demand on Railroad St. with the average number of vacant parking spaces equaled 16 or 39% during survey periods). Suggested Parking Meter Rates/Hr. The Committee also noted that St. Johnsbury had the lowest parking rates in our comp set meaning that there was likely room to increase rates. The financial model describes a parking policy where paid parking is reinstituted in St. Johnsbury in 2019 with a structured increase in rates over a period of five years between 2017 and Smart meters that accept credit cards will replace all of the existing coin operated meters between 2019 and The Smart meters will be managed through Year Free Parking Model Paid Parking Model $0.25 $ Free $ Free $ $0.50 $ $0.50 $ $0.50 $ $0.75 $ $0.75 $ $1.00 $ $1.00 $1.00

7 a web-based interface that will provide important data that will help town officials manage the parking program more efficiently. Other components of the Committee s recommendation include: Free Temporary Parking Spaces - As a result of the input received from the merchants in our surveys the committee recommends reducing the amount of metered spaces in town from 198 to 174 and install 24 grab-and-go spaces that will allow shoppers to park in strategic locations for up to 15 minutes without paying for parking. This reduction in the number of metered spaces is reflected in the attached financial model. 2. Free Parking Message - The Committee also recommends that parking is free evenings, weekends, and during holidays, all of which are built into the model and an emphasis needs to be placed on an effective communication strategy that informs residents and visitors about parking policies and rates. 3. Fine Increases- Also recommended is an increase in parking fines from $5 to $10, and implementation of a parking fine of $25 in 2019 for parking in a permitted lot without a permit. Parking Assumptions: With the installation of Smart Meters, we may choose to calibrate parking fees in increments less than one hour. It is difficult to forecast how this could affect our financial model. The financial model is based on previous performance. The number of parking violations issued is calculated by dividing the total ticket revenue by the standard $5 fine. We adjusted the number of tickets issued by a factor of 20% as we thought that an increase in the parking fine rate would be a deterrent. Adjusted meter profitability by 15% for Smart meters (Company boasts 30%) We reduced the yield per meter by 30% to reflect free parking campaign on weekends and national holidays. The parking model includes free parking at metered spaces on annual basis between Dec. 1 and Jan. 1 30% of Smart Meter sales will be with a credit card with a 3% credit card processing fee During the free parking period, a two-hour parking limit will be enforced between 8am 6pm Monday Saturday.

8 Attachment 1

9