Business Retention and Development Committee Minutes 2008 11 03

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City Council Business Retention & Development Committee Meeting Minutes November 3, 2008 Page 2 of 4 Members stated that the forum was very informative and gave them a great deal of new information. Dalton noted it was a very interesting discussion, but added that as there is no financial support for apublic/private partnership in Louisville and it seems unlikely to happen. Yarnell asked if the Committee should ask the private sector if there is interest. Fleming noted that the City doesn't hear from the private sector very often in general. One assumption can be that they are content with the current economic development structure. DISCUSSION/DIRECTION PARKING IN LIEU OF FEE FOR DOWNTOWN DEVELOPMENT Wood gave a brief history of the parking fee that is meant to allow developers to meet their parking requirements with a payment if they do no have enough land for parking. He noted that it was initially approved in 2000 for $10,500 per space and that was amended in 2002 to $3,600. $3,600 is approximately 1/3 of the total cost of a surface parking space. Fleming stated that based on what the City recently paid for the post office site, the cost of the ground, prior to installation of a surface parking space, would be $5800 per space. He noted that one alternative would be to set the price at a more realistic price and for those projects that City Council feels are specifically important, the parking fee could be an incentive in a Business Assistance Package. Dalton noted that alternatively such infrastructure could be funded with parking fees or taxes. Michael Menaker, 1127 West Choke Cherry Drive, stated that, in effect, the City is giving a $17,000 discount if the cost of a space in a parking structure is approximately $20,000. He stated that it is not economically viable for the City to continue such a large subsidy. He suggested the City needs to charge market rates. Dalton asked if such a large increase in the fee would stifle downtown development. Fleming added another alternative would be to have no parking requirements and let all parking be market driven. Lathrop stated that retail sites will provide some parking because they want to be able to provide it to their customers, but office developments are happy to let their employees park wherever. He added that the City needs to have very good numbers to back up any recommendation before moving forward. Meneker noted that the basic question is what does the City have to pay to build a space. Whatever number is chosen, it should allow for adjustments based on inflation. He added that the City will need to address with parking for new development and FasTracks to keep the parking from migrating into residential areas.