Memorandum
City of Lawrence
Planning and Development Services
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TO: |
Tom Markus, City Manager |
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FROM: |
Planning Staff |
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DATE: |
March 31, 2016 |
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RE: |
FDP-15-00642 - HERE Mixed Use Project |
This memo provides an update on the applicant’s efforts to comply with the Commission’s direction of March 22 and March 29, 2016 as it relates to the HERE mixed use project.
Based on Commission discussion, the applicant presents a plan that includes the following design elements:
1. Maintains 510 valet spaces in the garage with an internal ramp and a revised internal circulation system that negates the need to use Mississippi Street or 11th Street as part of the parking circulation.
2. Maintains 108 on-street metered spaces.
3. Revises the mix of commercial uses from all restaurant use back to a mix of restaurant and retail uses that is more similar to that originally approved. This has the effect of reducing commercial parking demand in order to gain more residential units than were discussed at the March 22nd Commission meeting after directing that the commercial uses be accommodated with this phase of the project.
The applicant’s submittals also include the following:
1. Provides an annual donation to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund of $100,000 generated from parking meter revenue.
2. Provides two parking diagrams reflecting self-parking space layouts – one that attempts to meet the precise standards of the code (24’ aisle width, 8.5’ x 18.0’ spaces, and no stacking of cars) and one where a reduction of aisle width from 24’ to 22’ is employed to provide as many spaces as can reasonably be provided.
The list below reflects the Commission’s March 22nd expectations of how the project should be revised to garner the Commission’s further consideration of the request to alter the parking number and type to accommodate the project. Language in bold red provides responses to the direction.
1. Access to and from the second level of parking on 11th Street is to be removed from the design. The applicant will pursue other design options to move vehicles vertically between floors of the garage, including the use of an elevator interior to the garage. The revised plan removes access from 11th Street and employs an interior parking ramp in the garage to access the second level.
2. The traffic circulation into and out of the garage should be reviewed to have the least and safest impact on Mississippi Street in the course of operating the valet service. Reversing the planned circulation of the staging area should be reviewed to accomplish this purpose. Employing sufficient staging area, an internal ramp to access the second level, and relocating the first level access aisle to a place in front of the staging area has negated the need to use Mississippi Street for parking circulation.
3. The appropriate number of on-street, metered spaces will be dedicated to the entirety of the planned commercial space of the project, thus making the commercial space eligible for occupancy at the time of the project’s opening for residential use and maintaining the project as a mixed use development from the commencement of its use. By modifying (reducing) the amount of commercial space dedicated to restaurant use, 88 on-street parking spaces are now required by code to accommodate the commercial space. These spaces will be dedicated to the commercial space within the building, thus making the commercial spaces eligible for occupancy upon commencement of use. As the on-street and garage parking was intended as a pool of parking to be shared by the mix of uses, the remaining on-street spaces will also be available for residents and visitors to the site.
4. Until and unless additional parking is provided off site, the level of occupancy afforded the residential units will be calculated based upon fully accommodating the commercial space and upon the final design of the two levels of parking garage after revising the design to implement internal vertical circulation. The plan has been revised to reduce the parking demand created by the commercial space. Capping the commercial space is a function of the final development plan and is implemented through the building permit process. If the plan assigns 88 spaces to the commercial space, then this will be the most commercial use able to be permitted for use without additional parking. The revised plan accommodates 548 of 624 bedrooms (88%). This converts to 31 units that will not be occupied under this parking scheme.
5. Staff shall provide its assessment on the level of parking enforcement service the city can provide to the project given current staffing levels. Staff would remind the Commission that the HERE parking fee and fine schedule is recommended to be 2-hour metered parking at $1.50 per hour with a fine of $15.00 per violation, increasing to $25.00 after 14 days. Assuming that 100 of the 108 spaces were used for 6 of the available 8.5 hours per day, annual revenue generated would be $279,000. (365 days – 55 days to account for Sundays and Holidays = 310 days per year. 6 hours per day x $1.50 per hour = $9 per day x 100 spaces = $900 x 310 days per year = $279,000). The applicant cites a need to maintain a certain portion of revenues to pay for the initial infrastructure associated with the on-street parking and its maintenance.
Teri Pierce, the city’s Animal and Parking Control Manager, provides the following information related to parking enforcement.
Fully staffed, 5.5 full time equivalent Parking Control Officer positions provide parking enforcement in the downtown area. When fully staffed, the Officers can complete 3 rounds of patrol on the downtown surface lots and garages. Depending on the type of meters/collection that is employed at the HERE site, Ms. Pierce assumes that an Officer can complete one round of enforcement at HERE in one hour. With current resources, one to two rounds of enforcement at HERE can be absorbed by the current program with negligible impact to the downtown area.
It is worth noting that staff does not know the level of fine revenue that will be generated by the HERE project. The entire program will need to be monitored and evaluated in terms of resources, revenue generation, and positive outcomes for all involved. Any request to modify staff resources or technology will need to be processed through the normal budget process.
6. A parking design compliant with the standards for a self-park system shall be provided in order to compare self-park with valet parking. The applicant submits two parking designs for the Commission’s consideration. One holds to the parking standards intended for use in self-park systems, except that it employs a mix of two-way and one-way circulation due to some of the aisles being less than 24’ in width and not able to accommodate two-way traffic (this is not preferred given the confusion it may cause patrons). This plan yields 218 spaces. This is a reduction in the number of spaces of 62% from the robotic parking and a 57% reduction from the valet operations (see attached plan).
Staff also requested that a design be created that reflects an aisle width of 22’ to determine how many spaces could be provided with a waiver from this standard (see attached plan). This plan yields 243 spaces and it also employs a mix of two and one-way design. This plan, with the highest number of self-park spaces, is a reduction in the number of spaces of 58% from the robotic parking and a 52% reduction from the valet operations. This design would accommodate all of the commercial use of the building and 215 bedrooms of the 624 approved (34% of residential use).
The closest comparison in design to the proposed parking design is the Oread Hotel, which Staff understands employs at least partial valet parking for its patrons. The Oread project was approved with spaces dimensioned at 8.0’ x 18’ and received a variance to reduce the number of spaces from 320 to 167 (a 52% reduction in the required number of spaces).
The City Attorney’s Office recommends leaving the existing Development and License Agreement, proposed Cost Sharing Agreement, and the NRA Performance Agreement as they are and entering into a separate agreement with HERE, to clarify the thresholds for eligibility with the existing NRA Performance Agreement and add requirements that will address other issues including:
1. A provision requiring HERE to staff valet parking 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The agreement will require HERE to deposit money in escrow with a liquidated damages provision in the event that the valet parking terminates and HERE does not replace the operator within 72 hours.
2. An acknowledgement that the proposed valet parking and future approved parking complies with the existing NRA agreement that references robotic parking.
3. Substantial completion of construction, for the purposes of the NRA rebates, shall be interpreted to mean that 100% of the parking to accommodate full use of the building would be provided. If HERE is not compliant with this provision by December 1, 2016, the first year of NRA eligibility will be lost. A similar annual timeline will determine eligibility for future years.
4. Assuming that it is feasible to access the second floor of the valet parking garage through the interior of the HERE mixed use development, a provision prohibiting vehicular access to the building from 11th Street.
5. A provision setting forth the pattern of ingress and egress from Mississippi Street to the valet parking garage.
6. A provision to the effect that all parking on Mississippi Street and Indiana Street needed to accommodate the planned commercial use will be allocated solely to commercial uses within HERE’s mixed use development and that all commercial space within the building will be available and eligible for occupancy at the time any Certificate of Occupancy is issued. HERE shall agree to endeavor to fill as much of the commercial space as possible.
7. A provision stating that HERE shall develop and implement a plan to provide the full amount of parking required to bring HERE’s mixed use development to full residential and commercial occupancy.
8. A provision stating that HERE shall not be eligible for rebate under the NRA Agreement until all of those conditions are met and continue to be met.
The City Attorney’s Office has submitted an agreement for the City Commission’s consideration that addresses the above points and includes an additional provision related to the annual donation to the Affordable Housing Trust Fund.
Conclusion and Staff Recommendation
The applicant has worked with Staff to revise the plan according to the Commission’s direction. This is not a situation in which any party wanted to find themselves, but instead parties have worked to find a reasonable response to the issue of the development’s robotic parking vendor declaring bankruptcy. Staff, in consultation with the City Manager, finds that the applicant’s proposal for full-service valet parking, with the reduction in standards from a self-park system, will permit this project to move forward without harming the neighborhood or tenants of the project.
Staff recommends approval of the revised Final Development Plan subject to the following conditions:
Recommended Actions
Staff recommends the following actions related to this request.