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Home My WebLink About2009 01 26 Informational 102 Heritage Park Current Parking SituationCOMMISSION AGENDA ITEM 102 January 26, 2009 Meeting CONSENT INFORMATIONAL X PUBLIC HEARING REGULAR MGR \\~ /DEPT ~~i~ REQUEST: The Public Works Department is providing the City Commission information on the current parking situation in Heritage Park PURPOSE: The purpose of this agenda item is to provide the City Commission information on the current parking situation in Heritage Park CONSIDERATIONS: Heritage Park is a 158-unit townhome community located on the south side of State Road 434, directly opposite of Central Winds Park. The community is gated and the internal streets are owned and maintained by the Heritage Park HOA. The project was developed along the following timeline: o Conditional Use Approval for Multi-Family in C-1 Zoning -July 2001 o Development Agreement Approval -February 2002 o P&Z Board Approval - Apri12002 o Final Engineering Approval by Commission -November 2002 o Sitework Complete -June 2004 o Completion and Occupancy of Final Townhome Buildings - 2006 • Soon after project buildout, it became apparent that the number and layout of the parking spaces was not sufficient to meet the parking demand. The Police Department has issued a disproportionately high number of warnings and citations for parking on the street in Heritage Park compared to other multi-family developments, and it continues to be a problem. Summary of parking spaces provided in Heritage Park: 0 316 oil street spaces, consisting of one (1) garage space and one (1) driveway space per unit (several units have more than 1 driveway space) 0 46 visitor spaces located in groups of 2 to 7 spaces at various locations January 26, 2009 Informational Agenda Item 102 Page 2 of 4 0 362 total spaces, for an overall parking ratio of 2.3 spaces per unit • City Code Pazking Requirements: o Heritage Park is zoned C-1 Neighborhood Commercial with an approved conditional use for multi-family residential. At the time the conditional use was approved, the City Code did not have specific pakking requirements for multi- family developments zoned C-1. In this case the minimum parking requirement was the general minimum multi-family parking requirement under Section 9-277.3 of the Land Development Code of one (1) pakking space per multi-family dwelling unit. In 2006, Section 20-234 of the City Code was amended to require multi- family residential developments zoned C-1 to have at least two (2) parking spaces in an enclosed garage. • Limited On-street Parking Options: o City Code Section 12-65 prolu~bits pakking on any roadway, although it can be permitted at certain locations by resolution of the City Commission o The streets in Heritage Park generally have a 26-foot wide hazd surface, consisting of 24-feet of asphalt and a 1-foot wide ribbon curb on both sides. These street dimensions would normally be sufficient to support on-street pakking; however, the density of the driveways is such that it severely limits the available curb space for parallel parking that would not obstruct a driveway (see photos below). A, ~. F '~~ `~~ A January 26, 2009 Informational Agenda Item 102 Page 3 of 4 • Staff performed a detailed parking analysis of Heritage Park in May 2006. Parking field counts taken in Apri12006 and again in January 2009 indicate the following: Date Time of Count Visitor Spaces Occu ied Visitor Spaces O en Vehicles Parked on the Street A ri127, 2006 10:00 PM 39 7 8 Janu 15, 2009 10:00 PM 42 4 3 Janu 20, 2009 10:00 PM 43 3 1 • Based on StafJ's field reviews and discussions with Heritage Park residents, the pazking situation is summarized as follows: o The overall parking ratio of 2.3 spaces per unit met the minimum Code requirement in place at the time of development approval, but it is too low and not practical for this community o The parking ratio assumes one pazking space is available in every garage; however, field observations indicate that many garages are being utilized to store belongings rather than as parking spaces o The one-caz gaaages are too small for some larger vehicles o Residents in some cases are using the visitor spaces for convenience, rather than reserving them for visitors and households with three or more vehicles o Having the driveway spaces stacked directly behind the garage spaces is an inconvenient setup that encourages use of nearby visitor spaces or on-street parking January 26, 2009 Informational Agenda Item 102 Page 4 of 4 o The overall distribution of visitor parking spaces onsite is inconvenient, as many units do not have a visitor space within reasonable sight or walking distance o Some residents and visitors still park on the street, even when visitor parking spaces are available onsite o The high driveway density makes on-street pakking unavailable in most places o There was poor communication of the parking limitations from the builder to potential buyers • Staff met with the Heritage Pazk HOA in May 2006 and provided the following recommendations to better manage the pakking problem: o Use all garages and driveways as parking spaces to the extent feasible o Reserve visitor pakking spaces for visitors and 3+ vehicle homes o Determine the total number of resident-owned vehicles normally pazked in Heritage Park o Implement a permitting system to better manage the 46 visitor pakking spaces, so that these spaces can be utilized only by visitors and households with 3 or more vehicles o Pursue a shazed parking arrangement with the proposed HSP Office building at the southwest corner of S.R. 434 and Heritage Pazk Street o Add more visitor parking spaces where possible o Petition the City Commission to establish site specific parking zones on streets where feasible • On new townhome projects, Staffs recommended pakking guideline is 2.5 spaces per unit, with at least one visitor space for every two units. In addition, the number of garage pakking spaces is discounted by 50% to account for the high number of garage pakking spaces used to store belongings instead of as parking. For example, atwo-caz gazage would be given credit for one parking space towazds meeting the 2.5 spaces per unit guideline. • In 2006, Staff performed a comprehensive field review of parking at multi-family developments in the City, including townhome, condominium, and apartment projects. The field data indicates that the overall pakking demand is consistently less than two vehicles per unit for all types of multi-family developments. Garages, private driveways, and reserved pakking spaces reduce the number of shared parking spaces available and must be factored into a pakking evaluation of any multi-family development. FUNDING: N/A RECOMMENDATION: N/A ATTACHMENTS: None COMMISSION ACTION: