Business Retention and Development Committee Agenda and Packet 2009 07 06

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The cost of constructing a parking space including the cost of acquiring land ranges between $15,000 for a surface space, to $30,000 for an underground structured parking space. Downtown Development The Louisville Municipal Code caps downtown development at 354,000 square feet (excluding city owned buildings). Including projects that have been approved but have not been built, there is room for an additional 21,000 square feet of development downtown before the cap is reached. THE VISION FOR DOWNTOWN The Downtown Louisville Framework Plan identifies the vision for downtown Louisville as follows; “That it will be a vital community center for pedestrian-oriented activity, including specialty retail, professional offices and housing that will occur in a manner that is compatible with the traditional scale and character of the area.” Parking policy in downtown should be structured to help realize this vision. Excessive surface parking can be detrimental to the creation of a pedestrian-oriented area that reflects the traditional scale and character of downtown. THE ISSUES Issue #1 – The cap on downtown development If the current cap on downtown development remains in place, there is not much need for additional parking supply downtown. Including entitled projects that have not yet been built, there is only 21,000 additional square feet of development that can be permitted downtown under the cap. The existing surplus of downtown parking could most likely accommodate the demand for parking created by 21,000 additional square feet of development. If the development cap is removed, there will be a need for additional parking downtown at some time in the future. If the cap is lifted, it will be important to address issues 2, 3, and 4 below. Lifting the cap on development could also have potential implications for the downtown street network and may require roadway improvements as additional square footage is added to downtown. A traffic study completed as part of the Framework Plan in 1998 found that when the downtown core area reaches a floor area ratio of .83 (293,000 SF), additional lanes and signalization will need to be added. The current floor area ratio of the downtown core area including projects which have been entitled, but not built is .69 (245,000 SF). If the cap is lifted it may be necessary to revisit the traffic study to better understand what the roadway options are moving forward.