City Council Agenda and Packet 1998 12 01

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space areas that are not being addressed. This ordinance states that in the downtown area the dead space exemption does not apply. The current code uses gross floor area, which is everything within the four walls except vent space. Keany stated he: did not believe that it is appropriate to include pedestrian friendly areas when calculating the parking space requirement. He questioned how to address a current retail space that changes to an office space in the future. He suggested placing a restriction in the PUDs for those buildings that they can only be used for retail or restaurant or they are subject to the parking fee when they change use. Howard and Mayer agreed with Keany. Sisk stated that Council has yet to address the more difficult issue of the fee per parking space. He suggested that since it appears the cost for a parking space is $10,000, the amount of the parking impact fee should be $5,000 per parking space. Mayer stated that he agrees with Hartronft that a parking space should be guaranteed when paying the parking impact fee. He expressed concern that the parking permit fee would create problems. He predicted that as development increases downtown, more and more residential areas will insist on a residential permit program. This will create more pressure to obtain permits for employees. Businesses that did not have to pay for their employees to park would then be forced to do so. He stated that land values downtown have increased approximately 70% over the last five years, indicating downtown is vibrant. He did not believe the City should be involved in the parking issue and would prefer that downtown business owners resolve the problem. ~ Howard stated that historically the City has provided parking for restaurant and retail customers downtown and that practice should continue. He believes the cost for additional parking should be shared equally by the City and the property owner expanding their business. Keany agreed with Sisk that the parking impact fee should be $5,000 per parking space. He expressed support for both the parking permit fee and the parking impact fee. Davidson agreed that the City has had an unwritten policy to provide parking for downtown retail customers for many years. He stated that in order to guarantee business owners a parking space, it would be necessary to charge them for the entire cost of $1 0,832 to provide that space. He stated that there are many factors and assumptions to consider when determining the parking impact fee. He did not believe using land valued at $17/sfwas the most cost-effective use of that land. He suggested using land valued at $10/sf, which would bring the cost per parking space to $7,682. That would result in a charge of approximately $3,800 per parking space and a less expensive parking permit. Howard stated that he believes the cost is closer to $8,000 and suggested using the round figure of $4,000 per parking space. 16