City Council Minutes 2010 05 18 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

City Council Meeting Minutes May 18, 2010 Page 10 of 13 Staff requested direction from Council on the fee- in- lieu of providing parking spaces in the downtown area. The current fee -in -lieu is $3,600 per parking space. The following parking space cost estimates are for surface parking space, above ground parking structures, and underground parking structure: Surface Parking Space $10,000 $15,000 /space Above Ground Parking Structure $15,000 $25,000 /space Underground Parking Structure $25,000 $40,000 /space Staff has prepared the following three options for Council's consideration to help guide discussion of the issue: Option 1 Take no action. The fee -in -lieu of parking will remain at $3,600 /space. Option 2 Set a date in the future when the fee -in -lieu will increase to a set level. Option 3 Increase the fee -in -lieu of parking to $15,000 /space (cost of surface parking space including the cost) PUBLIC COMMENTS Michael Menaker, 1827 W. Choke Cherry Drive, Louisville, CO, supported the increase in the parking ratios and noted since the 1999 Study, traffic has been greatly reduced at the critical intersections. He stated the study is proposed for today and does not eliminate new development to add additional parking spaces. He was skeptical over the shared parking concept and did not think it was good policy. He supported the implementation workshops. COUNCIL COMMENTS Councilor Dalton asked if the floor area cap and the parking ratio would not be changed until the final action plan is approved. Planning Director Russ did not believe the implementation plan and the square foot cap or the parking ratios are impacted by the timing of the community workshops and creation of the action plan. The action plan is the realization of the new ordinance. Councilor Muckle voiced his concerns relative to the executive summary on how many public spaces are free and what percentage is on the street. He asked if there was any idea what the occupancy of the downtown buildings was at the time of the study. Planner II McMillan explained since the study was done some businesses downtown have been vacant, but noted the vacancy rate will always fluctuate. Councilor Muckle was concerned with the overall traffic downtown and raising the cap. He felt increasing the cap is anti-preservation. It was his hope downtown developers would preserve historic buildings instead of knocking them down.