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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 3a: Agreement with Walker Parking Consultants for Downtown Parking Study I I. . PP' PI 1'1 iii ill ii STAFF REPORT Arcadia Redevelopment Agency DATE: March 15, 2011 TO: Chair and Members of the Agency Board FROM: Jason Kruckeberg, Assistant City Manager /Development Services DirectorsGlG- SUBJECT: AUTHORIZE THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TO EXECUTE A PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH WALKER PARKING CONSULTANTS FOR A DOWNTOWN PARKING STUDY IN THE AMOUNT OF $93,345 PLUS A 10% CONTINGENCY Recommendation: Approve SUMMARY The 2010 -2011 Redevelopment Agency budget included a line item dedicated to completion of a Downtown Parking Study. The timing for such a study is important as the City is planning for the coming of the Gold Line, merchants in the area have recently reformed the Downtown Merchants Association, and the Development Services Department expects to receive applications and requests for new developments and new uses in the Downtown as a result of the recently completed General Plan Update. Parking resources are crucial to all these efforts. The Agency recently distributed a Request- for - Proposals to seven firms and three proposals were received. Walker Parking Consultants was selected based on their qualifications, their team's experience, and the scope of services. BACKGROUND While the City has an intact downtown area, complete with public right of way improvements, attractive streetscapes, and public parking Tots, the area needs additional attention. The City owns three separate parking lots grouped into two separate parking areas in the Downtown, which contain approximately 327 off - street parking spaces. The City had a Parking District Commission, established in 1956, that administered the operations of the two Districts and made recommendations to the City Council to set tax rates for maintenance of the Districts as well as recommendations related to lighting, landscaping, and safety. The 5 member Commission was dissolved in 2003 after a City Attorney finding that additional collection of maintenance assessment fees was questionable under Proposition 218. In addition, from 2000 -2002, the parking Tots were repaired, repaved, and re- landscaped and maintenance was being handled by City Staff Staff Report March 15, 2011 Page 2 so the District was deemed no longer necessary. However, the merchants and property owners are not assessed for parking and the maintenance costs are financed from the remaining fund balance in the Parking District. When these funds are depleted, the City's General Fund would be needed to finance maintenance, or other sources identified for this purpose. In addition, the City and Redevelopment Agency recently completed a significant update to its General Plan, which brought a renewed focus on planning and development in the Downtown area. As part of this, the City has been actively working with the Gold Line Construction Authority on the planned Arcadia Station as part of the Gold Line Foothill Extension project. The Gold Line project will include a 300 - parking space structure for Gold Line patrons and will be in close proximity to the City's existing parking lots. The requested parking study is a crucial piece of our Downtown planning efforts and we expect it will lead to a palette of options and recommendations for future enhancement of the City's Downtown. DISCUSSION The Downtown Parking Study will inventory current available parking, evaluate the demand and use of the City's parking spaces, review the effectiveness of existing public and private parking resources, evaluate creative methods of better utilizing existing public and private parking spaces, provide recommendations for planning and developing new parking resources, and provide recommendations for promoting the public parking resources available in the Downtown. The work program will include a community involvement component, which we anticipate will be working closely with the Downtown Merchants Association. The primary goals of the Study are twofold: first, to provide a detailed "snapshot" of the demand for the parking spaces as well as the type of use they receive (i.e. long term, short term, etc.). The demand for spaces will be evaluated at various key times of day in addition to the parking duration and turnover of parking spaces. The demand and use analysis will extend to on- street parking spaces and private lots as well. The consultant will also study the potential impacts of both non -Gold Line patrons using the parking structure and Gold Line patrons using other City parking facilities. The second goal is to be prepared for how future development and change of uses can be accommodated over time. The study will provide recommendations for striking the balance between allowing businesses to change and grow over time while ensuring that parking resources are adequate to serve such changes. Currently, new uses or expansions in the Downtown area are reviewed on a case -by -case basis and there is not a comprehensive analysis to determine the impacts of these changes on City resources. For example, some businesses enjoy nearly 100% of their parking for "free ", contained in the public lots. Others may be denied from changing uses or expanding because they cannot provide the additional parking on site. Downtown parking resources should be a long term benefit for the businesses as well as visitors to the Downtown area. Staff Report March 15, 2011 Page 3 A Request- for - Proposals was prepared and sent to seven qualified firms for their consideration. Three proposals were received as follows: Watry Design, Inc. Newport Beach $92,000 Walker Parking Consultants Los Angeles $93,345 Kimley Horn and Associates Orange $124,500 The proposals were evaluated based on the established criteria including the firm's professional qualifications, experience, understanding of the scope, proposed project approach, and proposed cost. Although all of the firms met the minimum requirements, it was determined that Walker Parking Consultants was the best and most qualified of the three firms. Parking is the entire focus of the firm; they have deep and varied resources in the field, including planning and community involvement, parking financing and economic models, design, and marketing and branding. Walker has completed a number of downtown parking projects for similar -sized cities and both urban and suburban -style downtowns. They have also been instrumental throughout the region in drafting the industry standards for shared parking and parking demand analysis. In addition, the firm's proposed cost is within the expected range. FISCAL IMPACT The Downtown Parking Study project in the adopted fiscal year 2010 -2011 Redevelopment Agency budget was allocated $100,000 of general Redevelopment funds. The base contract of $93,345 is within this budgeted amount. Should the entire 10% contingency be necessary, the overall budget would be $102,679 and an additional $2,679 could be appropriated in the next fiscal year. RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the Redevelopment Agency Board authorize the Executive Director to execute a Professional Services Agreement with Walker Parking Consultants for a Downtown Parking Study in the amount of $93,345 plus a 10% contingency. Approved By: P Donald Penman, Executive Director