Roundtable Parking Discussion With City Planner Michelle Gagnon

Thursday, June 14^th  at 8:30 a.m. at the Maine Grind

Invitation/Introduction by Denise Hue:

Michelle Gagnon, City Planner would like to share parking planning ideas and concepts in a round table discussion. The City has hired Tom Gorrill of Gorrill-Palmer Consulting, to conduct a Downtown Parking Study. A continuous dialogue with Michelle will better ensure that the parking study and subsequent implementation plan addresses Downtown needs.

Some problems identified to date are the use of street parking by business owners and employees, potential for lost revenues to store/restaurant owners by all day on street parking, poor and unappealing condition of some of the Downtown parking lots, lack of way finding and parking signage, poor pedestrian walkways from parking to stores/offices, confusion as to what is private and what is public parking.

The roundtable discussion will provide us with a forum for creative thinking about how we can work together to address parking and way finding problems. If you have any knowledge or information about how other communities deal with the parking squeeze, please bring that to the meeting.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Meeting Notes by Deputy Planner Jef Fitzgerald:

City Planner Michelle Gagnon gave an overview of the Parking Study efforts to gather information and ideas that will help the Downtown area’s parking system work better for businesses and visitors. The study’s progress may be viewed online at http://www.cityofellsworthme.org/planning/parking.htm .

• Answers/comments added later.
• Create a voluntary system of parking guidelines for downtown employees. Card “tickets” could be uses to notify people when they are not in compliance.
• Learn about what is being done in other communities.
• Create an incentive program for employees to park in more remote lots such as:
• Using some kind of direct compensation such as "Downtown Dollars" or employee discounts.
• Registering participants for a periodic drawing for a prize.
• Having random awards to cars parked in remote lots.
• Find ways to make the downtown more handicapped accessible. Grant $?
• Use the school parking lot, which is vacant in summer.
• Install blue/white directional signs to parking in approaches to downtown.
• Collect data from downtown owners to find out where employees and visitors are parking now.
• Allocate spaces to downtown parking users.
• Find out how much value each parking space represents for retail/other use.
• Find out how much a parking garage would cost.
  • In 1996, the International Parking Institute estimated that new parking garages cost between $4500-$15,000 per space. The price per space was dependent on the type of construction, number of special features added, location etc. A reliable average is approximately $7,000 per space for multi-level garages. So, a simple structure to contain the 150 spaces south of City Hall would likely cost about $1,000,000. You may read more about parking garages at: http://www.parking.org/Value/FAQ/Default.aspx
• Get an article in the Ellsworth American.
• Create a “We Walk” program for downtown employees to encourage healthy activities.
• Create identifying stickers and wallet cards for downtown employees that will help with parking supervision. The sticker could have a slogan and/or a symbol of community pride.
  • The stickers would have to show a benefit to the DBA and driver and a participating business handing out the stickers would have to direct and educate employees about them.
  • Emphasixe benefits so that the enforcement or downside of the stickers was not its primary selling point.
  • We don't want to institute this sticker program without ensuring that it will not skew the results of the parking study however and we will need your guidance on preferred timing
  • Implement this kind of program with patience.
• Work with the Highway Department to assure that striping and crosswalks are painted in a timely fashion.
• Coordinate with the County Courthouse.
• Make pedestrian connections to parking more attractive and visible.
• Lighting is needed for some lots.
• Pedestrian signals at Main/State/Water Streets do not function properly.
• See if the former Morrison lot can provide some public parking.
• Make the downtown more bicycle friendly
• Provide a shuttle bus to move shoppers.
• Explore different ways to survey parking lot usage such as counting empty spaces over time.
• Gather information from business owners on parking needs and preferences.
• Clarify where parking is allowed on Store Street.
• Parking fines, though a useful deterrent to illegal parking, may also be a deterrent to downtown shopping.

  Would the City consider the following?

  • Waive the first parking ticket fine and only penalize repeat offenders.
  • Tuck a map under the windshield wiper of a vehicle showing where all the public parking lots are located when a ticket is issued.
  • Invite repeat offenders to inform the City Planning Department and DBA of their parking problem in an effort to find solutions.