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   Downtown Parking Study Presentation

   discussed

   The Genesis Group consultants presented a downtown parking study to the council. The study, conducted in August-September 2017, identified 2,318 parking spaces in the downtown study area (US-19 to Madison, Indiana to Montana), with a code-based deficit of 538 spaces concentrated in zones 5 (Main Street/theater area) and 3 (City Hall complex). Consultants discussed future demand from Main Street Landings, Orange Lake residences, and the Hacienda Hotel, and outlined options including Land Development Code revisions, shared parking, and emerging trends like ride-sharing and golf carts.

   📍Davis Islands, Tampa📍Main Street📍Sims Park📍US-19 to Madison Street, between Indiana and Montana Avenues🏢FDOT🏢Genesis Group🏢Hacienda Hotel🏢Lyft🏢Main Street Landings🏢Orange Lake🏢Pasco County Property Appraiser🏢ULI🏢Uber👤Brian👤Bruce Kashek👤David Fleeman👤Lisa Manns#2017 Parking Study#Downtown Parking Study#Golf cart ordinance#Hurricane Irma (impact on study schedule)#Land Development Code parking requirements#Shared parking strategies

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   [00:00:27] As part of that project, they were to calculate our existing parking supply, collect and analyze [00:00:36] parking demand and utilization figures, and identify whether or not there's an observed [00:00:42] or perceived shortfall of parking in the city's downtown. [00:00:48] The work was conducted during the months of August and September of 2017, and included [00:00:55] deference to both land use and the city's parking code regulations. [00:01:02] The district that was identified to study spanned from U.S. 19 to Madison Street and [00:01:11] between Indiana and Montana Avenues. [00:01:15] And with that being said, I'd like the consultants to present their report to you. [00:01:21] Again, Bruce Kashek, Genesis Group, and again, my name is David Fleeman, who you have... [00:01:34] Thank you, again, Mayor, Vice, Deputy Mayor, thank you for being here. [00:01:44] As Ms. Manns was describing, parking is always important to any successful downtown and to [00:01:50] businesses and so forth. [00:01:52] And what we started off with in the, hopefully, do I just press the clicker? [00:01:57] There we go, okay. [00:02:01] Okay, all right, I'm sorry, thank you. [00:02:06] Okay. [00:02:07] Thanks, Brian. [00:02:08] What we're going to talk about tonight are basically six topics that we went through [00:02:14] in defining this. [00:02:15] And again, first of all, going to be the study area, as Ms. Manns kind of described. [00:02:21] And we'll go into that in more detail. [00:02:23] Also, the methodology in which we went through into looking at the parking along with the [00:02:28] utilization. [00:02:29] What were the facts? [00:02:30] What did we find out of that study? [00:02:33] The parking demand, which is really kind of looking at code and square footage and looking [00:02:39] at some of those factors. [00:02:41] Future demand, what is going to be happening downtown? [00:02:43] What is it that we also anticipate that will be impacting, in the foreseeable future, the [00:02:48] parking and development of downtown? [00:02:50] And then looking at what are some of the options and strategies that the city might want to [00:02:53] consider going forward. [00:02:55] And it's really kind of, that's what I think is really going to be the benefit of this [00:02:59] effort, is really what is going to be the discussion items that come out of it as to [00:03:03] what does the city want to consider going forward or not? [00:03:07] And so with that, the first area we're going to talk about is, again, the study area. [00:03:14] The handy dandy laser. [00:03:18] Can't I use mine? [00:03:22] Again, the study area, of course. [00:03:29] Went from US-19 to Madison, up to Indiana, and down to Montana. [00:03:34] When working with city staff, and I have to say that I appreciate the efforts of not [00:03:39] only city staff, but also the availability of other city employees that helped us through [00:03:43] this entire effort, because it was very encompassing. [00:03:48] We defined the area, looking at where the parking is, where the anticipated demand is. [00:03:54] We divided the area into five zones. [00:03:57] But what's interesting right from the get-go is, of course, the way the river, Cody River, [00:04:02] kind of separates the two sides of the downtown. [00:04:07] You have the west side, which, of course, is closer to 19, which is really kind of more [00:04:11] relevant or reflective of the current land development code policies, of where you build [00:04:16] a building on your property for a use, and you develop your parking in accordance with [00:04:20] the standards, and that's really kind of the development pattern you get. [00:04:26] Of course, east side of the river is the historic downtown, which you can, in doing a little [00:04:31] research, again, from when the city began its beginnings, you can almost pick a date [00:04:36] in any time of the early 1900s as to when did Main Street really start taking its shape, [00:04:41] when, at best, there was even, if there were any cars around, let alone, there weren't [00:04:47] any standards, of course, and the size of a Model A car was a whole lot different than [00:04:52] what they are today. [00:04:54] Again, of course, that's the character of what makes Main Street in the downtown so [00:04:58] unique, but, of course, it creates with it the challenges that go with it. [00:05:03] I'll get into it in a little bit more detail, but, again, the five, we divided the city [00:05:08] into five zones, and you'll see that there's red lines, which were subzones, and now I [00:05:13] understand the benefit of one pointer. [00:05:16] I can do both at the same time. [00:05:20] So, the first thing was to do the, part of the methodology, as I mentioned, was we divided [00:05:25] it into five zones. [00:05:26] Well, so, first, let's do a ground truth as to how many spaces are out there, and so [00:05:32] we literally created a series of base maps that we gave, and here's where the first [00:05:39] utilized city employees was to literally go out and count cars, go out and count parking [00:05:45] spaces. [00:05:46] We went and asked them to go out and try to verify how many spaces were behind different [00:05:52] loading zones and likewise, and through that, we then did a confirmation just to make sure [00:05:59] that there wasn't any lost little nooks and crannies of a loading zone or a parking motorcycle [00:06:04] parking spot or something like that that was overlooked, and through that, we had identified [00:06:09] that there was 2,318 parking spaces within that five-zone area, of which 285 are on-street [00:06:17] parking. [00:06:19] And so, you know, again, the majority, or not the majority, but a good percentage of [00:06:24] it, is this the pointer? [00:06:26] Yay! [00:06:27] Okay, is in the zone one area on the west side, which is roughly 36% of the parking, [00:06:33] 912 spaces, I think it was 913 spaces. [00:06:37] The middle zones, two and three, has kind of an equal share, again, north and south [00:06:42] of Main Street, and you can see, again, further to the east was lesser percentages. [00:06:51] Within each, then you start taking it into sub-zones, and what we did was, the sub-zones [00:06:57] are reflective of what we, when we were trying to figure this out, and I'll get into a little [00:07:02] more detail, is what one person could count within about a 10 or 15-minute window. [00:07:08] And so, please, please, please. [00:07:10] 2318 parking spaces, that includes the private spots, correct? [00:07:13] Yes, yes. [00:07:14] Everything that we could find, everything that, yep. [00:07:17] And so, this just reflects, now, the different sub-zones that we identified to, again, to [00:07:22] try to help facilitate accounting of the cars, and it just, again, just shows you how the [00:07:26] breakdown of percentages. [00:07:28] Throughout the report, as well as in this presentation, the color intensity reflects [00:07:34] the utilization intensity. [00:07:36] So, the brighter the color was the higher utilization areas. [00:07:40] And, in this case, it was just the number of spaces where they were located. [00:07:46] Again, so what we did was wanting to capture, as quickly as, you know, as you want to capture [00:07:53] a snapshot in time, and, of course, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday are typically considered [00:07:58] the business days of a week. [00:08:00] Of course, different variations for Mondays and Fridays, so, again, that's typically the [00:08:04] three days you want to count. [00:08:05] We also wanted to make sure we had a morning count, as well as an afternoon count. [00:08:10] We chose 10 a.m., 2 p.m., which are pretty standard times for a parking study, which, [00:08:14] again, the purpose is you're wanting to make sure people who have opened a business, [00:08:20] they have opened their business by 10 a.m., like a number of users out on the US-19 open [00:08:26] their offices at 10 a.m. or the retail stores. [00:08:29] Also, that's when, you know, most people, their apartments are going, they haven't left [00:08:33] for lunch. [00:08:34] You know, it's truly a, typically considered the peak of the morning. [00:08:38] Same thing at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. [00:08:40] Wanted to make sure that we had a good reference or understanding of what was going on in the [00:08:45] afternoon. [00:08:46] People are back from the lunch. [00:08:47] They haven't left for, you know, the day. [00:08:48] It's typically a pretty much of a peak business time. [00:08:53] Also wanted to choose a Saturday. [00:08:55] Again, there had been discussion of, you know, the utilization of what's going on around [00:08:59] the boat ramp, but also what is going on in the downtown with, in the evenings. [00:09:05] And so, on that same Saturday, we chose to do a 6 p.m. and an 8 p.m. count. [00:09:11] Really more in the, I call it the Main Street Theater area, as well as then also the Sims [00:09:17] Park area. [00:09:19] And, again, the thought was that the 6 p.m. is that you're going to be wanting to capture [00:09:24] the restaurants. [00:09:26] People are coming and maybe getting, you know, come to a restaurant first before going to [00:09:30] the theater, and so forth. [00:09:32] And, again, we wanted to make sure we chose a Saturday in which the theater had a show [00:09:37] and a play going on. [00:09:38] We also wanted to make sure that we had something, there was a corresponding event of some sort [00:09:43] going on at Sims Park, which, again, we were able to do. [00:09:49] One of the things that we wanted to, after we had done, as you'll see throughout this, [00:09:54] we did do an adjustment factor for utilizing the FDOT 2016, which is the most recent seasonal [00:10:02] peak adjustment for the parking, which, in this case, in this particular time of year, [00:10:07] is a 1.14 ratio. [00:10:09] So, all the raw data was increased by basically a factor of 14%. [00:10:15] So, what did all this begin to tell us? [00:10:19] Is that, in summary, and, again, the colors, the blues, the darker of the blue is the less [00:10:28] utilization, and going up to the oranges and the reds are the highest utilization. [00:10:33] And what we learned was that on a consistent basis on the Monday, I mean the Tuesday, Wednesday, [00:10:39] Thursday, was that in subzone five, what we call subzone A, within five, was the highest [00:11:00] constant utilization for all three days, in both AM and PM peak. [00:11:08] The next was behind City Hall and Fire Station and Library, and was the second along with [00:11:18] then across the street. [00:11:20] The difference why I didn't make note of zone 4A here in my little list there was because [00:11:27] zone 4A was not always consistently in the high area. [00:11:32] It did fluctuate a little bit. [00:11:34] But, again, in zone 3B, behind City Hall, was always highly utilized, as well as in [00:11:41] zone 5A, south of Main Street, was also highly utilized. [00:11:48] And you can kind of see, this is the 2PM count summary. [00:11:55] As you're showing, this was the Wednesday 2PM, just as an example. [00:11:59] You can kind of see that, of course, on the west side, things were relatively light. [00:12:05] I mean, again, there's not much utilization on the boat area, and, of course, the south [00:12:09] where other stuff was happening, south of Main Street. [00:12:14] On Saturday morning, what had happened is a darn thing called a hurricane got in the way. [00:12:23] There was, we had done the Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday counts towards the end of August [00:12:29] with the goal of having done the Saturday counts that same week, but, again, IRMA had [00:12:34] other plans for us, and so we had to wait until, we wanted to wait a long enough time [00:12:40] that the weather was still good, or the weather was good, things had calmed down after the [00:12:46] hurricane, the theater was up and running with the play again, and there was an activity [00:12:50] going down at Simms Park, so the utilization study that occurred on Saturday was about [00:12:56] a month later, but it was interesting that, again, blue being kind of cold, meaning, you [00:13:02] know, just underutilization, it was at that whole zone one, 10AM, again, we chose a 10AM [00:13:07] count on a Saturday morning because, again, the thought was that if you're doing fishing, [00:13:11] you're not going to be back to probably the boat launch by 10AM. [00:13:17] Your trailer and your boat will still, you know, the trailer will still be there, and [00:13:22] if you're doing recreational boating, you know, you're probably going to hit the, you [00:13:26] know, shortly around that same time, so we thought 10AM was probably a relatively good [00:13:31] peak period for the Saturday, and, again, surprising utilization throughout that whole [00:13:36] zone one was really kind of less than 10%, and it really didn't seem to hold. [00:13:41] Is this? [00:13:42] Saturday, the 23rd. [00:13:43] No, the Saturday, the 23rd. [00:13:44] August 23rd? [00:13:45] No, September. [00:13:46] September 23rd. [00:13:47] You got your main boaters between Labor Day and Memorial Day. [00:13:51] And that's why we were trying to get it that weekend, but, again, we had a... [00:14:00] Then on the east side, on the Saturday evening, what we, this, again, looking at the Saturday [00:14:08] evening, 6PM, you can see where, again, zone 5A, subzone A behind the theater and so forth [00:14:16] was highly utilized, and then, again, there was good utilization to the south, I guess [00:14:22] being associated with the restaurants in that area. [00:14:25] Again, of course, nothing going on to the north yet, but then as you look at later in [00:14:31] the evening when there's now, I believe there was a movie being shown in Sims Park that [00:14:35] evening, parking, of course, had increased substantially to north of subzone 2, in zone [00:14:43] 2, subzone D. Again, 5A was still highly utilized, but, again, you can see, obviously, the shifting [00:14:51] of parking associated with the activity that occurred that evening. [00:15:00] So what does this begin to start telling us? [00:15:01] Is one of the things we went and now started doing [00:15:04] was we looked at what does good old Pasco County [00:15:08] appraiser, property appraiser website tell us [00:15:11] as to how many square feet were in the study area? [00:15:15] Which again is what we looked at. [00:15:16] And roughly there's 540,000 square feet [00:15:19] of commercial and office space in the study area. [00:15:22] Along with 78 residents. [00:15:24] What it really doesn't tell you is what the number [00:15:29] of bedrooms are in those residents. [00:15:33] So what we did was just strictly from an exercise [00:15:36] of comparing it to the city's code. [00:15:38] Just to kind of compare what is the current city [00:15:41] land development code say for parking requirements [00:15:46] for those types of uses. [00:15:47] And what's always interesting about a downtown is [00:15:49] and Newport Riches is no different in the sense [00:15:53] that downtown zoning is typically pretty flexible. [00:15:57] The intent is that, I always say that one day [00:16:00] you're opened as an accounting office [00:16:02] and the next day you open as a restaurant. [00:16:04] And the zoning allows for that but of course [00:16:06] there's always a change of use. [00:16:08] And different parking demands that could occur [00:16:12] based upon the change of use. [00:16:13] And so but what we looked at was again, [00:16:16] just from doing it, it's almost a mathematical equation. [00:16:19] What does the code say? [00:16:20] The code, the Newport Riches land development code [00:16:23] currently has written that one space [00:16:26] for every 200 square feet for retail, office and so forth. [00:16:31] And so if you simply do that math, [00:16:32] that would say you'd need 2,700 parking spots [00:16:35] in that parking area. [00:16:38] Then you do the same thing with the residents. [00:16:40] If you said, you know, since we don't know [00:16:42] the number of units, we chose two bedrooms per unit. [00:16:46] Which requires two parking spaces. [00:16:49] And that of course equates into another 156 parking spaces. [00:16:52] So mathematically, from a code perspective, [00:16:55] you're supposed to have 2,856 spaces. [00:16:58] We have 2,318. [00:17:01] So again, there's a deficit by code of 50, [00:17:04] you know, 538 spaces. [00:17:06] If you're, again, I go back to the caveat. [00:17:11] Of course historic New Port Richey [00:17:12] was built prior to any code. [00:17:14] So but again, that's just a little bit of background. [00:17:19] But again, so when you look at and you start [00:17:22] applying that deficit analysis to, [00:17:25] again, the study zone area, [00:17:27] you have the largest deficit area [00:17:30] for based upon the square footage. [00:17:33] And again, from a code perspective, [00:17:35] as you can see, is zone five. [00:17:37] Which is where we also always had the highest utilization. [00:17:40] And so there was a deficit from a code perspective [00:17:43] of 346 spaces in that zone [00:17:47] for the amount of square footage and the activities. [00:17:50] The other is zone three, [00:17:52] which again is part of the city hall, [00:17:54] fire station, public library complex, [00:17:56] which too has a deficit from a code perspective [00:17:59] of about 143 spaces. [00:18:01] Again, it's just to kind of give a good measuring stick [00:18:05] in a way to kind of say, [00:18:07] all right, we were still applying traditional code, [00:18:11] kind of where should things be at? [00:18:15] So then continuing the painting of the picture as it were, [00:18:18] you look at, okay, what's coming online? [00:18:20] What is also gonna be other considerations [00:18:23] that are gonna be impacting parking in the downtown? [00:18:26] You know, from a good perspective as well as, [00:18:27] because it's bringing activity and stuff into the downtown, [00:18:30] but gotta take notice of it. [00:18:34] And of course we have Main Street Landings. [00:18:35] You know, Main Street Landings has an approval [00:18:38] for its development, which has also 260 parking spaces [00:18:42] per, I believe it's the agreement. [00:18:44] 223 of them will be on site. [00:18:46] 37 of them will be on street. [00:18:50] And I'm not sure what, you know, where the 37, [00:18:53] if there's specifically a 37 identified on street, [00:18:55] but again, that's the way, again, the agreement is written. [00:18:59] Again, the residents at Orange Lake, 85 units. [00:19:04] The way my understanding is in looking at the documents [00:19:06] was that it's one space per unit plus 12 visitor spaces, [00:19:09] which means 97 spaces on site. [00:19:12] And then there's gonna be 32 new on street parking spaces [00:19:17] that will be created. [00:19:18] And again, just that there's also just gonna have [00:19:22] some sort of just impact as to what's going on here [00:19:26] with the other parking in that area. [00:19:28] The other, and of course, you know, [00:19:30] what happens with the Hacienda Hotel, [00:19:32] yet I think is yet to be determined. [00:19:34] But again, I know that there had been some discussions [00:19:37] about trying to recreate the Grand Lawn. [00:19:39] And then of course, depending upon what the use is, [00:19:42] it too may lose some parking, which again, [00:19:44] may or may not have some other impacts [00:19:46] onto that portion of the downtown. [00:19:50] So again, you have all those, [00:19:51] you have those three projects that I'm aware of [00:19:53] on the books, as it were, [00:19:55] or at least pending opportunities [00:19:56] occurring in the downtown. [00:19:59] That again, add vitality to the downtown, [00:20:01] which is what everyone wants, [00:20:02] but also you gotta just recognize, [00:20:04] you know, it's gonna have a parking, [00:20:06] you know, there's some parking considerations. [00:20:11] So going forward, you know, what we talked about [00:20:16] was just what do you, you know, [00:20:18] what can the city start considering [00:20:20] in dealing with knowing that, you know, [00:20:23] there's still a window of opportunity, [00:20:24] you know, you're still got time to think through things. [00:20:28] And, but this is really kind of where [00:20:29] maybe the discussion really starts occurring, [00:20:31] is, you know, you gotta look at what is, [00:20:34] one of the things to look at is the Land Development Code, [00:20:37] you know, should there be reconsideration [00:20:39] for east side versus west side of the river [00:20:42] on Land Development Code of where you have [00:20:45] much more shared parking scenarios in the downtown [00:20:49] as compared to, you know, out on the west side, [00:20:51] which is more standalone development. [00:20:54] There's ways you can do shared parking studies [00:20:59] and so forth, you know, you can look at the ratios, [00:21:02] you know, what is really relevant [00:21:03] to an accounting office versus a restaurant, [00:21:05] you know, and see what that really is. [00:21:08] There's also impacts of what's going on, [00:21:10] and I'm sure Lisa's been probably [00:21:13] to some of these planning conferences and so forth, [00:21:15] and there's ULI and planning things, [00:21:17] and this whole thing about what is gonna be [00:21:19] the impact of ride sharing into the, [00:21:22] you know, in parking demands, and, you know, [00:21:24] what is, you know, along with Uber and Lyft and so forth. [00:21:27] You know, and it's interesting because from, [00:21:29] and there's no doubt that it's going to be [00:21:30] having some sort of impact, but a number of our clients [00:21:34] are just from the development side of things, [00:21:36] just, it's interesting because I'm working on two projects [00:21:39] where the clients are trying to build more parking, [00:21:42] they're actually building parking garages, [00:21:44] because the ironic part is that more, [00:21:48] that employers are putting more people [00:21:51] into the same amount of square footage, [00:21:53] and so parking ratios are actually going up, [00:21:57] and it's not unusual to have a six per thousand [00:21:59] demand for office space in Westshore, [00:22:03] and for professional office space, [00:22:04] people are going to the stand-up cubicles [00:22:06] and so forth, workstations, and so it's just, again, [00:22:09] there's an interesting dynamics going on in the marketplace [00:22:12] where you have ride sharing coming in [00:22:14] that is helping with a lot of, you know, things, [00:22:18] but then also you have demand of where [00:22:20] you're having more utilization of office space. [00:22:23] Also, along those same lines is utilization [00:22:25] of alternative forms of transportation, [00:22:27] motorcycles, bicycles, in our office, [00:22:30] we're downtown Tampa, you know, [00:22:31] we have people who ride bicycle, you know, [00:22:34] who live in downtown and ride their bike to work, [00:22:36] and so, you know, it's still, you know, [00:22:38] there's a growing, you know, a consideration, [00:22:40] and I have to give the city of New Port Richey [00:22:42] credit for, you know, I hear, you know, [00:22:44] Lisa and Ms. Mann shared with me [00:22:46] the recent ordinance on golf carts, [00:22:48] I mean, it's actually a growing trend, [00:22:52] I mean, the city of Tampa is looking at [00:22:54] implementing a similar program for Davis Islands, [00:22:57] where golf carts can be, you know, [00:23:01] driven legally on the streets and stuff like that, [00:23:03] because obviously it's a smaller vehicle, [00:23:05] you know, it's very efficient, [00:23:07] and so it is, that's actually a growing trend as well, [00:23:10] so I, you know, give the city credit [00:23:12] to having already put that in place. [00:23:15] Something to think about, and again, [00:23:17] just, these are just, this is a palette of ideas, [00:23:20] you know, this is not intended to be [00:23:22] any particular recommendation, [00:23:24] but just different things that I, [00:23:26] that we think that could be considered, [00:23:29] and when I say it in lieu of parking charge, [00:23:33] or a fee, is, you know, for example, [00:23:34] if using my cliche of the accounting firm, [00:23:37] that one day is at, you know, two per thousand, [00:23:39] I mean, one space per 200 square feet [00:23:42] to a restaurant the next day, [00:23:45] I mean, it changes the parking demand, [00:23:47] and the, instead of, [00:23:53] it would not be uncommon, [00:23:55] or, you know, in a more traditional scenario, [00:23:57] is that the user, the new user of the restaurant [00:24:00] has to provide that additional parking, [00:24:03] and so, but again, we're dealing, of course, [00:24:06] with historic, where shared parking and stuff [00:24:08] is not uncommon, but, you know, [00:24:09] one could, it would be possible to say, [00:24:12] okay, today you needed 10 spaces, [00:24:14] but tomorrow you need 20, [00:24:16] you gotta fill the gap of those 10 spaces, [00:24:19] and it is not uncommon, or it's been seen, [00:24:22] that you have it in lieu of parking fee [00:24:24] that, in essence, replaces the, [00:24:27] it goes into a fund that, in essence, [00:24:31] is consideration given for not having the ability [00:24:34] to provide those 10 spaces on site. [00:24:36] What that does do, it starts creating a fund, [00:24:39] if over a period of time, [00:24:41] that could be then used to further enhance [00:24:43] other parking strategies in the downtown, [00:24:47] or acquiring land, whatever the case might be, [00:24:49] it could be, you know, a way to do that. [00:24:53] Another, one of the low-hanging fruit, as it were, [00:24:57] is just look at the existing parking lots. [00:24:59] Can they be re-striped? [00:25:02] Can they be redone in a way [00:25:03] that would make them a little more efficient [00:25:05] to gain them more spaces? [00:25:06] Can we implement some compact parking [00:25:10] that would provide, again, [00:25:11] provide some additional parking spaces [00:25:13] within the land areas that are already out there? [00:25:17] Another area that has been, [00:25:19] from doing some research and trying to get [00:25:21] back up to speed on parking concepts, [00:25:25] which I'm not sure I completely buy in on, [00:25:27] but it is out there, [00:25:28] is they talk about the removing the striping [00:25:31] on on-street parking. [00:25:33] You know, the parallel parking spaces, [00:25:35] because the studies show that people will try [00:25:38] to squeeze another space in or two out of an area. [00:25:41] And again, I'm not so sure I'm fully on board with that, [00:25:44] because I like having the room to be able [00:25:46] to get out of my space [00:25:47] without having to hit the other car behind me. [00:25:49] But that's a, you know, that is a strategy out there. [00:25:55] And then also, and I give, again, [00:25:57] towards this, I give city credit, [00:25:58] and I understand, again, you're beginning [00:26:00] to implement a wayfinding program. [00:26:02] Wayfinding really is becoming one of the more [00:26:05] important strategies, because as this man mentioned [00:26:08] in her introduction, you gotta make it sure [00:26:10] that you've got parking, people know where to go. [00:26:14] If they get flustered and not able to find a spot, [00:26:17] they will leave and may not come back. [00:26:19] And that is, you know, you don't wanna do that. [00:26:24] And so wayfinding is really important. [00:26:27] And what does wayfinding mean? [00:26:29] You know, it could very well be everything [00:26:30] from signage that's early out on US 19, [00:26:33] or early out on Rowan Road, or, you know, [00:26:36] so something that begins to identify to people [00:26:38] as to where they should park, [00:26:40] where the alternative options are. [00:26:41] They can start, you know, whether it's some sort [00:26:44] of landmark or feature or something [00:26:47] that they begin to recognize, that they say, [00:26:49] oh, okay, that's where I go to park. [00:26:51] And what it does, again, gives people a comfort [00:26:54] as to where parking is available. [00:26:58] And, you know, and so that whole process is important. [00:27:02] You know, websites and apps are becoming much more utilized [00:27:05] in technology, of course, as you're going to an event. [00:27:11] It's not uncommon to pull up your website, [00:27:14] or, you know, Parking Panda, for example, [00:27:16] is one of them where you pull up and you can say, [00:27:19] okay, I'm going to an event, and they'll tell you [00:27:20] the parking space, or parking lots that are available. [00:27:23] And so there are a number of new growing technologies [00:27:27] that are growing that helps drivers [00:27:31] and people coming into an area to find parking lots. [00:27:35] The more elaborate systems, but again, [00:27:38] they have a relevance in the long run, [00:27:43] is it's intelligent transportation systems, [00:27:45] known as ITS in its acronym, which is really where, [00:27:50] if you've probably been to, of course, the airport, [00:27:51] or the new garage out of Disney Springs, [00:27:54] it'll tell you on level three, there are 32 spaces available [00:27:59] and then it'll point you to which aisle there are the, [00:28:01] you know, it'll tell you on aisle row A, [00:28:03] there's five spaces available. [00:28:05] And, you know, obviously there's an investment there, [00:28:08] but again, it is very efficient [00:28:11] and helps make people feel comfortable [00:28:14] as to where they could find a parking spot. [00:28:16] And so there's, again, a growing number of technologies. [00:28:20] Some of it is good old basic stuff of signage [00:28:23] to, you know, point you in the right direction. [00:28:28] And then, you know, as part of that, [00:28:29] one of the things we looked at was, [00:28:33] where is the highest, constant highest utilization [00:28:36] that we learned from this effort? [00:28:37] And again, that was in the zone five area, [00:28:40] again, south of Main Street, you know, [00:28:42] and then, of course, behind City Hall. [00:28:45] And so one thing is, you know, over some period of time, [00:28:48] you know, if the city can find, you know, [00:28:51] opportunities come up to purchase lots [00:28:54] or land or something like that, you know, [00:28:55] just like the, just north of here [00:28:57] was the little parking lot that we, you know, [00:28:59] did a number of years ago. [00:29:00] It used to be an old house on that. [00:29:02] And this nice little parking lot added onto City Hall. [00:29:06] I mean, opportunities like that should not be overlooked, [00:29:08] especially into those areas where we know, [00:29:11] as to where current demand is at. [00:29:16] There's been, you know, it's been thrown out there, [00:29:19] you know, parking garage, what about parking garage? [00:29:21] You know, I have a simple, you know, [00:29:23] parking garages are expensive. [00:29:25] They don't move. [00:29:26] And so, you know, garage can be anywhere from, you know, [00:29:30] anywhere from 13, 14, 15,000 up to $25,000 a parking spot, [00:29:35] depending upon, of course, how you monetize them, [00:29:38] you know, what you make them look like [00:29:39] and how attractive and so forth. [00:29:42] And of course, efficiency of size [00:29:43] and there's many things that go into that. [00:29:45] So, you know, the part of that whole discussion is, [00:29:48] is, you know, once you decide to do a garage, [00:29:50] it ain't moving. [00:29:52] And so you gotta make sure you put it in the right spot. [00:29:54] And it goes back into a little bit of a discussion [00:29:58] as to what is the downtown going to become. [00:30:00] And I know that the CRA is in place and so forth, but you want to make sure if you were [00:30:05] to go and make an investment like that, you just make sure you put it in the right spot [00:30:09] because it's something that downtown is going to have to live with for the next many years. [00:30:19] Connectivity, which kind of goes into the wayfinding concept. [00:30:27] One of the things, when you can't get your ideal parking spot in the front door and you [00:30:31] have to look for another location, if you can typically know that if I park a block [00:30:37] or two away and I have a safe, comfortable access point that I can start saying, okay, [00:30:43] I'm parked here, I've got to go over there, and you want to know that you are, again, [00:30:47] in a comfortable, safe environment, and typically speaking, most people will do that. [00:30:54] And so part of the concept is to make sure that if you explore maybe acquiring some lands [00:31:02] or improving some parking lots and so forth, is make sure the connections from those lots [00:31:07] to Main Street or to the major attractions is a good walking pathway, a good experience. [00:31:17] And again, it goes back with the wayfinding concept as well. [00:31:20] Along those same lines, valet parking, you know, does a certain uses have, you know, [00:31:25] we've all seen where you go to the restaurant and there's someone there to valet your car. [00:31:28] I mean, you know, and they park it off in a remote lot. [00:31:31] I mean, that is also not a, you know, that's also an option that could be employed [00:31:35] into the concept along with shuttles. [00:31:38] You know, that's not an uncommon thing to have shuttles run between lots. [00:31:45] We can get into another discussion of remote lots, you know, special events, [00:31:50] and that you really can't, hopefully you never have enough parking, [00:31:56] meaning you really can't divide, you can't develop enough parking [00:32:01] for a successful special event, and so you've got to look at all the alternatives. [00:32:04] And, you know, whether it's, you know, Clearwater Beach with their jazz festival on the beach, [00:32:09] you know, on the bluff, or, you know, of course what St. Pete does and Tampa does, [00:32:14] and, you know, you end up doing remote lots with shuttles. [00:32:18] And, you know, with some of the success, you guys, you know, [00:32:21] New Port Richey has with, you know, Chasco and so forth. [00:32:24] It's not, I would, you know, I think you should look at that. [00:32:27] I mean, I don't know what, really what all the full implementation you do have with that. [00:32:33] But what this graphic was, was to identify lots that seemed to be, dare I say, [00:32:41] underutilized that are surrounding the downtown that we thought most people, [00:32:47] kind of the comfort zone is about 10 minutes on the maximum shuttle ride. [00:32:54] You know, if you're more than sitting on a bus for a shuttle for more than 10 minutes, [00:32:57] you're probably going to say, gosh darn it, I'll go fight for, [00:33:00] I'll go back out there and look for a parking spot. [00:33:03] And so these were lots that we felt were probably within that 10 minute zone that, again, [00:33:10] some of them are commercial, church, you know, the rec center for the city, you know, [00:33:15] and just a variety of larger parcels that we thought, well, you know, it might be worthy [00:33:21] to see if you can enter in some sort of shared, you know, [00:33:26] remote parking for the special events. [00:33:28] Last was kind of the old charge for parking. [00:33:36] It says change for parking, it's supposed to be charge for parking. [00:33:39] And, of course, that opens up a whole other charge, business and political considerations. [00:33:46] But, again, you know, if you charge, if one lot has a fee associated with it and one lot is not, [00:33:52] you know, more is free, you probably might consider parking in the free lot [00:33:55] and walking a little bit as compared to paying for, you know, the spot that's, in essence, [00:34:00] you know, the cliché right next to the front door. [00:34:03] And, of course, there comes an enforcement component with that. [00:34:06] There comes a cost of implementing the improvements necessary, whether it's the meters [00:34:12] or other ways that they are doing that now. [00:34:16] But, again, there's a cost associated with it. [00:34:18] Of course, it doesn't generate the revenue. [00:34:19] Of course, it does. [00:34:20] But, again, you know, there's always the business, you know, the business side of, you know, [00:34:23] concerns of what does that do to their business. [00:34:25] And, of course, you know, there's just those considerations as well. [00:34:31] But, in essence, that's what we, the study, looked at. [00:34:35] And I'm open for questions. [00:34:41] Questions, anyone? [00:34:44] The only thing you, future things you looked at was just the HACI end of the landing. [00:34:55] Yes. [00:34:56] Yes, it's hard for me to get a sense of whether we're pausing [00:35:01] or there's somebody away from the microphone. [00:35:03] Councilman, can you bring that mic up closer to you? [00:35:07] Can you hear me? [00:35:09] Yes, I'm going to talk for a second, Judy. [00:35:12] Okay, thank you. [00:35:14] What are the future considerations that you have besides those three, [00:35:19] the two residentials and the HACI end? [00:35:22] Those were the three that I was provided and am aware of. [00:35:27] And if there's others out there, I mean, that's... [00:35:29] Well, we've gone from, for three or four years, we've gone from 50% occupancy [00:35:36] in the commercial area to 80%, so we're still short 20%. [00:35:40] Correct. [00:35:41] So, I'm just asking... [00:35:42] And that's why we looked at the code. [00:35:45] That's why I wanted to know what the code was saying as to help kind of factor [00:35:51] in what would be the demand, which was why we tried to get an appreciation [00:35:58] of how much square footage is in the downtown, in that study zone, [00:36:02] and just kind of use that as a reference point. [00:36:06] They're going, okay, you know, there could very well even be greater parking [00:36:10] demand for spaces that are not occupied. [00:36:13] And without knowing what was yet to be done, [00:36:18] it was the best way we could figure out how to measure that. [00:36:28] One of the things that I saw a couple weekends ago, [00:36:32] we had the holiday Christmas street parade right downtown, [00:36:39] and I was actually helping doing parking in one of the lots that you did not have [00:36:45] in your study area, which is on the northeast corner of Adams in Indiana. [00:36:53] And we put, between the parking lot and the on-street parking there, [00:37:01] probably 125 or 130 cars into it. [00:37:05] The triangle that is in section two... [00:37:08] Go back. [00:37:09] Section two up near the top. [00:37:16] There you go. [00:37:17] You see the triangular parking lot? [00:37:19] Sure. [00:37:20] That's community congregational. [00:37:21] They filled first. [00:37:23] Once they filled the rectangular lot, caddy corner to them, to the northeast, [00:37:29] which is the first Methodist lot, that's the one we were working, [00:37:33] and filled it up plus, and that's close to 100 cars, [00:37:37] plus probably 20, 25 on the on-street parking right along Indiana as well. [00:37:48] And people had no problem walking that distance in. [00:37:54] The thing that got my attention, and I toss it out for some consideration, [00:38:02] if we had somebody that was willing to do shuttles from those lots [00:38:09] and perhaps the Ritchie Elementary lot, which you identified, and the rec center, [00:38:15] we could go a long way towards covering the crunch during the special events. [00:38:23] And for that matter, even on the busy Saturday nights, non-special events, [00:38:31] if there were shuttles and we had some sort of cooperative arrangement [00:38:35] with some of those remote lots to be able to be used, [00:38:39] that could well take some of the pressure off as well. [00:38:43] And the other thing, I made a note, we do have a lot of golf carts, [00:38:49] and one of the things that we could do that would help the parking, [00:38:53] and it's counterintuitive because we'd be taking parking spaces away, [00:38:58] but you can take one of our on-street parallel parking spaces [00:39:02] and get at least three golf carts into it, maybe four depending on how it's striped [00:39:07] because those are big, big parking places. [00:39:12] And along those lines, over the years I've done a lot of work up at the villages. [00:39:19] If I could enter the conversation. [00:39:21] You have to speak in the Michigan area. [00:39:23] Over the years I've had the opportunity to do a lot of work up at the villages, [00:39:26] which, of course, is very much driven, golf cart-based. [00:39:32] And it's exactly as you described, Mayor. [00:39:35] In essence, you can create almost angled parking spaces [00:39:40] within the same depth of a typical traditional parking spot, [00:39:45] which, of course, is going to be maybe up to ten feet wide. [00:39:48] A golf cart is, what, six, seven feet long. [00:39:51] And so, I mean, it's not uncommon to do that. [00:39:57] Can you let Judy go, and then we'll jump in after that because after that we'll get to where we are. [00:40:03] Thank you. [00:40:04] I appreciate it. [00:40:05] Yeah, it's difficult for me to gauge when there's a pause in the conversation. [00:40:10] So one of the things that I was thinking of, you know, maximizing perhaps the restriping. [00:40:17] I know that at one point there were several areas in the downtown that did not have parallel parking [00:40:23] but rather had hidden, I guess if that's the right word, or whatever, parking. [00:40:32] And also to maybe reclaim, if we're looking at a deficit of about 538 parking spots, [00:40:41] whether we rezone so that fewer parking spaces are needing to be for a commercial space or whatever, [00:40:50] you know, doesn't necessarily change the reality of it. [00:40:53] But if it's 538 spaces that we're short of on any given time, [00:40:59] then one of the things we really should be sensitive to is reclaiming parking that is critical to the downtown. [00:41:09] One of the areas that we were looking at was at Zone 5, which is between Bank Street and Lincoln and Adams. [00:41:21] And, you know, certainly with the on-site Defo Brady's, you know, their parking as well as the over-parking that happens in that area. [00:41:33] The parking lot behind the building on the corner of Bank and Main, [00:41:38] there's about 25, 26 county vehicles that are parked there overnight as well as weekends. [00:41:44] And that's a critical space for any, whether it's during the week activity, weekend activity, or special event activity. [00:41:53] So I think that's something that we need to look at. [00:41:56] I had mentioned that to a county commissioner recently, [00:41:59] they gave pause to assume, hmm, maybe they don't really need to be parked there. [00:42:04] So that would be one thing. [00:42:06] The idea of shuttle parking I think is a great opportunity for us because even with our own property, [00:42:18] one of the areas that you had mentioned on that map was our recreation and aquatic area, [00:42:26] currently the city property that we own, and then other smaller areas in the downtown, [00:42:31] or even perhaps off-site if we were able to have shuttle service. [00:42:37] And I think we might consider looking into the option that some cities have, which is, you know, trolley or shuttle service. [00:42:48] I know that the Jolly Trolley operates down in the beach areas. [00:42:51] They operate out of Belano Beach. [00:42:53] They also are in other cities that I've been to just recently down in the, well, it doesn't matter where it was, [00:43:05] but, you know, there are other cities that are utilizing those shuttles. [00:43:12] Even if we look at, again, the 538, you know, less than 1,000 parking spots for us to even be thinking about, [00:43:21] because I believe that that was almost like a go-to because of the idea of a parking garage, [00:43:25] but at the cost of, you know, $8 million to $13 million for that, I just don't know that that's where we need to be. [00:43:33] And it's good to know that we have those numbers now in front of us of just what kind of numbers are we looking at. [00:43:40] And I think we're talking more or less during a normal operation of our downtown. [00:43:48] So I think it would behoove us to look into a trolley or a shuttle of some type, [00:43:54] whether we bring in a vendor or certainly would be more, possibly more, [00:43:59] could be certainly more cost-efficient for us as a city to look into that rather than the parking garage. [00:44:07] And the other thought was, you know, if we do change the requirement for parking, [00:44:14] I know when at one time we had an office downtown with about 1,000 square feet, [00:44:20] and I guess utilizing the formula you were talking about before, [00:44:24] that would mean we would have needed to have five spots. [00:44:29] We were a business location. [00:44:33] Well, there's probably businesses in the downtown that don't necessarily need that, [00:44:39] considering if they, you know, their own employees park and then the people that can come in. [00:44:48] The other thing, yeah, a lot of cities are utilizing apps, parking apps, [00:44:54] people can use on their phone to ascertain where there might be parking. [00:45:00] I mean, we do have several parking lots ourselves, and if I think most of them right now have [00:45:09] the vertical parking or the nose-in parking, so if we're maximizing those parking lots [00:45:16] to their maximum, that would be helpful to people coming in to know where are those spots [00:45:23] available. [00:45:24] So I think a combination of those three things, you know, utilizing the spaces that we have [00:45:28] and maximizing them, and then I would think utilizing some type of a shuttle service, [00:45:36] whether we vend that out or bring a vendor in or create that opportunity for our city. [00:45:42] I know a few years back when I was serving on the board at the theater, we had entertained [00:45:48] the idea of valet parking and potentially utilizing the Davis Plaza up on 19 with the [00:45:57] use of a trolley that is available for the community. [00:46:02] So I think that those are some initiatives that we probably should look at. [00:46:06] Thank you. [00:46:07] Thank you. [00:46:08] Other comments? [00:46:09] I have some, but did you want to go? [00:46:12] No, you can go, Jeff. [00:46:13] Just a couple of quick things. [00:46:15] Is the health department leaving or staying, the Piscataw Health Department? [00:46:18] Their plan is to vacate the property, but it's likely within a two-year period of time [00:46:24] you find it. [00:46:25] So when they vacate, I suggest we try to purchase that parking lot from the county. [00:46:29] The county currently uses it to park fleet vehicles there as well. [00:46:33] They have a huge amount of land over there across from the West Pasco Board of Realtors. [00:46:38] They could park their fleet vehicles there if they need a fence in there and do whatever. [00:46:41] A huge amount of land. [00:46:42] So that's one thing I'd like to look into. [00:46:46] As far as connection shuttles, to me, it's a pretty simple plan if the county would be [00:46:51] on board with it. [00:46:52] We made it quite clear that the county is all for two or three big events such as Chasco [00:46:59] here in downtown. [00:47:00] The majority of people here aren't New Portuguese residents. [00:47:02] We pay for Sims Park. [00:47:04] Our residents do, not the county, right? [00:47:06] However, free fireworks, everyone comes here. [00:47:09] So I would suggest that we reach out, and I can do it on the NPO Board once we're ready [00:47:14] to do it or Ms. Manns can do it, and look into using their fleet vehicles, their shuttle [00:47:21] vans, the buses that they use for mass transit as shuttle vehicles during those large events [00:47:27] at preferably no charge to the city. [00:47:30] I don't think they use as many on the weekends as they do during the week. [00:47:34] They're just sitting there on a lot off of Ridge Road, bring those in, shuttle people [00:47:38] back and forth. [00:47:39] We're already running out of shuttle parking lots. [00:47:41] I don't know if you've ever spoken to Jeff Wright, but during Chasco, the Davis Harbor, [00:47:45] the old Davis Harbor Plaza, which is now the Dollar General Plaza, is basically maxed out [00:47:49] already. [00:47:50] I mean, he told me it might as well just shut down that weekend because during the street [00:47:54] parade there are no parking spots, and that's already a satellite parking spot. [00:47:58] One that I see that's not currently being utilized on these large events for the most [00:48:03] part is the plaza across from FI Gray and Sun where that tool business is. [00:48:07] Harbor Freight. [00:48:09] It's in bad shape. [00:48:10] The asphalt's pretty beat up and whatnot, but even during Chasco I see quite a few open [00:48:15] spaces there. [00:48:16] That could be a shuttle lot. [00:48:17] We could use the hospital. [00:48:18] We could use the Winn-Dixie Plaza. [00:48:20] There's a lot of off-site options within five minutes that I can think about for shuttle, [00:48:24] but as far as doing that connectivity for large events, I say we reach out to the county [00:48:29] and see if we can use their large buses that are just sitting there on the weekends because [00:48:32] we have a lot of county residents coming here, not just New Portagee residents. [00:48:37] One thing that concerns me on East Main is filling these retail, or excuse me, West Main, [00:48:41] is filling these retail spots downstairs of Main Street Landing. [00:48:44] I've talked to a couple of business owners that are interested in the spots. [00:48:48] They're not asking for too much money for the lease right up front, but where are people [00:48:52] going to park? [00:48:53] Are those, what's it, 260 spots you said for Main Street Landings? [00:48:56] That is what is required. [00:48:58] That's required. [00:48:59] And they got 223. [00:49:00] I mean, you mentioned 37 street parking spots. [00:49:03] I don't see that anywhere near there, so. [00:49:06] No, I'm not saying, you didn't make a mistake. [00:49:09] Maybe that's what we require, but there's not 37 street parking spots. [00:49:12] No, that's a deal we made with them. [00:49:14] Yeah, we made with them. [00:49:15] That's how we let them get their development permit, our TIF funds, our property from the [00:49:21] Great Preserve, development rights, we gave them all that in the deal. [00:49:25] I understand, Councilman, but however, whether we gave it to them or not, they're not there, [00:49:29] right? [00:49:30] So that's a concern I have. [00:49:31] I feel like a lot of those residents will leave during the day and go to work. [00:49:35] So retail spaces may be open during the day, but if you put a restaurant in there and someone [00:49:40] wants to come eat dinner, they don't have to walk across the bridge, which isn't that [00:49:42] big a deal to me either. [00:49:44] I am in favor of land acquisition. [00:49:46] I said, like I said, the Health Department. [00:49:50] One parcel of land I've brought up before, and I think it would benefit us to, even if [00:49:55] they're not willing to sell, to look in the eminent domain, is the community store directly [00:49:59] across the street here from City Hall. [00:50:02] That was one of the areas that we need more parking. [00:50:06] It's right across the street. [00:50:08] That particular business, in my opinion, doesn't do too much of a benefit for our downtown [00:50:12] and where we're going in the future anyway. [00:50:14] Maybe reach out to them, see if they'd be willing to sell, if not, look in the eminent [00:50:17] domain. [00:50:18] I don't have a problem with that at all whatsoever, because I think there's a high need for City [00:50:22] Hall and additional spots. [00:50:23] I had a lot of other stuff, but we're running out of time. [00:50:28] In a nutshell, you're saying, based on your study, it wouldn't be too prudent to go ahead [00:50:33] and look in a building, a parking garage at this time, correct? [00:50:37] My suggestion is I think you need to really look at your downtown and figure out what [00:50:43] you want downtown to be. [00:50:46] Because again, it's a significant investment, and again, it's not an investment you can [00:50:52] pick up and move. [00:50:53] But once you put it in its location, you want to just make sure it's going to serve [00:50:58] as much as possible of the whole downtown. [00:51:01] I feel that once these two residential units are finished, if they do rent like we're projecting [00:51:05] them to and hoping they will, that the parking's going to be even worse. [00:51:08] But people have to get in their heads, too, and we've said it up here before, that this, [00:51:12] if you're coming downtown, it's a walkable downtown now. [00:51:14] From here on out, it has been for a long time. [00:51:16] Don't think you're going to be able to park at Johnny Grits every time you go to Johnny [00:51:19] Grits. [00:51:20] You can walk in the city parking lot over by Fitzgerald's and walk across the street. [00:51:25] It seems like a lot. [00:51:26] It's like 50 yards. [00:51:27] It's not that big a deal. [00:51:28] But our residents, our visitors need to get it in their heads from here on out that this [00:51:32] is now a walkable downtown, especially as residential units going in. [00:51:36] You're not going to be able to park at whatever business you want to go to, especially your [00:51:39] retail, restaurants, bars, things like that. [00:51:41] But I still think we have a major problem, and I don't really see the fix to it other [00:51:44] than a couple of good suggestions, but I don't see a definite game plan for us that makes [00:51:49] me think, whoa, that's going to buy us 10 years. [00:51:51] So we need to, in my opinion, come up with a game plan and maybe have another work session. [00:51:56] It seems like we always run out of time in these work sessions. [00:51:58] No offense, but after the presenter presents, you know, Mr. Phillips hasn't even spoke yet. [00:52:03] We have four minutes left. [00:52:04] So I'm going to shut up. [00:52:05] But those are my initial thoughts is we need to come up with a plan, thanks to the study, [00:52:09] but I don't see any definite solutions. [00:52:11] Councilman? [00:52:12] Yeah. [00:52:13] I got four minutes. [00:52:14] I'm good. [00:52:15] Yeah. [00:52:16] There's a whole series of things that comes with the analysis, obviously, and, you know, [00:52:27] whether it's $4 million or $6 million on a parking garage, it doesn't, we don't have [00:52:35] those kind of funds right now, due to the fact we've got two big payments to make in [00:52:39] the next couple of years with developers that we've got online. [00:52:43] We've got other ones coming and asking us for money. [00:52:47] I do think there are some short-term options on the table that can bridge you to there [00:52:54] or at least show that you're making some steps. [00:53:00] I don't think the county is going to sell us their parking lot behind that building [00:53:04] because it goes with the property. [00:53:06] It's always been with the bank. [00:53:08] It used to be a bank years ago, and they wouldn't sell it to us. [00:53:14] They may rent it to us in a period of time, but to sell it takes away from the value of [00:53:19] that building, and people have always thought that whoever buys the Hacienda ought to think [00:53:23] about buying that building as a meeting place and get control of the parking lot behind. [00:53:29] That's a totally different story. [00:53:31] There's three immediate items that you could look at to get some additional parking in [00:53:36] the core. [00:53:37] You could look at the property adjacent to City Hall here. [00:53:43] I think it says Florida with Adams, and you've got the cross street behind the restaurants [00:53:49] and the alleyway over, so there's a place where you could put parking there right off [00:53:54] of the downtown. [00:53:55] That would address some of the things that are going to happen with the Orange Lake property [00:54:01] as well as half a block over in your main core next to City Hall, you would have another [00:54:07] parking area, which if you go out where you park your cars tonight, looks straight west. [00:54:16] There's at least the first two or three lots in there have had dilapidated houses or whatever, [00:54:22] so you could begin that progression, so you're there. [00:54:25] The second one is, you could do some street closures or take the street back is what I [00:54:33] call it, like we did on Grand Boulevard at Sims Park where we combined them together. [00:54:40] We don't have to promise Grady Pridgen. [00:54:42] We can give him a curb cut out of the back of his property, the old Altman property, [00:54:48] but you could take that street between Bank and Lafayette or whatever, close it down, [00:54:54] redo our parking area and expand it and still have the ability to add parking there on the [00:55:01] back side. [00:55:02] The other one gets to be a little more creative, but it's doable. [00:55:09] Behind the church over off of Indiana and Pennsylvania, which is your pyramid lot, you [00:55:19] could actually indent the road and leave access to the two properties on the end as [00:55:26] well as the access into the church, and you could close that road and combine it into [00:55:31] their parking and add additional and do some restriping there. [00:55:35] Now that gives you a bridge with additional parking, doesn't get you to 500, but it does [00:55:40] get you more in the core from that standpoint. [00:55:44] I'm not taking city money unless I get tourist development tax dollars, which I haven't seen [00:55:50] as been able to do, to do a trolley, us pay for a trolley, or I don't mind encouraging [00:55:56] it, but the other is I don't think until they're going to put money into the pot am I looking [00:56:03] to take city money to invest into those initiatives because once we do it on our dime, there won't [00:56:11] be any organizer of any event that will step up and do it for the benefit of their event. [00:56:19] It'll be another cost to the city, something else we have to manage, something else we [00:56:26] have to do before, during, and after the events, and at the end of the day, I don't think you [00:56:31] can design your invitation and your parking platform for special events. [00:56:38] It's like designing your flood plain for that 100 year flood. [00:56:44] You're going to get flooding. [00:56:45] You mentioned in your report in some place, we saw some place else, in your other initiative [00:56:50] that you're going to be presenting to us on our agenda tonight, that as we do our resurfacing [00:56:56] program, we're going to deal with places in the city that might flood differently. [00:57:01] Well, on any good wind driven, full moon, high tide, west to east activity, I don't [00:57:13] care how you design it. [00:57:14] There's going to be some standing water and some flooding. [00:57:19] I think you could do something short term, but then in the same thing, it takes a longer [00:57:24] look to decide where you're going to be in downtown, where you'd put the parking garage, [00:57:29] because I'm estimating it's between $4.5 million and $8 million. [00:57:34] I don't know how many spaces you're looking to put in it. [00:57:36] I estimated 225 to 300, because we have height restrictions and things in the city, and so [00:57:43] with that, and where would it be? [00:57:45] Everybody has some ideas where it might be, but at the end of the day, we don't have the [00:57:50] appetite nor the budget to take care of that in a five year time frame, in my mind, with [00:57:55] what we've already obligated. [00:57:57] Thank you, Councilman. [00:57:58] Councilman Davis, anything else? [00:58:00] Just one thing. [00:58:01] I think if there's any step that we should take a look at, it's just land acquisition. [00:58:06] That's something that we can afford, that's something we can put some parking spots in, [00:58:10] and some of that land acquisition might be just adjacent to parking lots or property [00:58:16] we already own. [00:58:17] Very good. [00:58:18] Thank you. [00:58:19] I love the comments that you guys have, and for your benefit, we can't talk to each other [00:58:24] outside of these meetings, but I like the idea of getting the TDC or the county to fund [00:58:32] some of the transport for the special events. [00:58:36] I had not even thought about the possibility of closing the street that's the old railroad [00:58:40] right away between Bank and Lafayette, but that's a great idea, because that would pick [00:58:46] up a bunch of spaces without any cost at all. [00:58:51] I like your idea, too, so I think we've got some things we can work on. [00:58:57] Anything else before we adjourn the workshop? [00:58:59] Mayor, I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to make the other meeting, I just want to [00:59:06] wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, God bless, it was a great conversation

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3. 3Adjournment▶ 59:10