City Council Combined Special Meeting/Work Session

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Meeting Date:	01/31/2023
From:	Gail Brockman, Park Flag
Department:	Economic Vitality
Co-Submitter:

TITLE:

Parking Update and Discussion

DESIRED OUTCOME:

Provide Council with information on the current City parking program and receive input regarding possible program changes.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The ParkFlag program is in its sixth (6th) year of operations. This Staff Summary Report is intended to update the Council on the following items.

Program Background
- Why Parking
- Previous Program Changes and Improvements
- Program Suspension
- Program Re-implementation
Current Program Update

We are also seeking Council direction on the following proposed changes:

Purchase and use of a License Plate Reader
Implementation of a One (1) Year Multi-Use Permit Pilot Program (for residents)
Addition of a Second Mobile Payment App/Text to Pay
Southside Street Management
Ordinance changes to support Immobilization of Frequent Offenders on our Scofflaw List in the Paid Parking District

INFORMATION:

Background

Why Parking
For more than twenty-five years, Flagstaff struggled with parking. There was a lack of employee parking, only one public parking lot on Phoenix Avenue, and although there was two-hour time-limited parking available on public streets the City was unable to effectively enforce this limit because people would simply move their cars. The City had two main problems:

Employees parking in prime parking spaces leaving no place for Downtown customers to park; and
Downtown and University parking needs spilled over into surrounding residential neighborhoods leaving no place for residents to park on public streets.

ParkFlag
In 2017 ParkFlag was implemented to address the issues of not having enough parking and not efficiently managing what we do have. The City established a parking district area covering about 100 City blocks, which grew over time. The City purchased and installed parking kiosks to establish paid parking on public streets at a rate of $1 per hour during set hours. The City also established a comprehensive parking permit system, to include employees and residents. The program’s mission was to “Create a fair and balanced parking system providing the most benefit for all,” by achieving the following goals:

Set aside 20% of all paid parking sales to acquire additional parking supply/facilities (the “Lock Box”)
Better manage our existing – and limited – parking supply
Provide a more convenient and positive experience for patrons, employees and residents

Initial Program Success
ParkFlag operated successfully for its initial two years. Parking was both fluid and available, supporting a vibrant Downtown; we were fully staffed; parking behaviors were changing; and ParkFlag saved nearly $800,000 in the Lock Box to invest in future parking supply. After two years we re-assessed the needs of the program and the community to find areas for improvement.

Program Changes
In February of 2020 the City Council was asked to consider the following possible program changes:

Changes to Parking Hours
Reduction in cost of an Employee Parking Permit

The changes were proposed after considering occupancy counts, requests from the public, stakeholders, and the Downtown Business Alliance, the times parking management is most needed, and the potential impact on the ParkFlag program’s long-term fiscal stability.

Council approved a resolution on February 11, 2020, reducing the cost of Employee Parking Permits from $45 a month to $10 a month, and reducing paid parking hours to the following:

From 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM Sunday through Thursday, and
From 9:00 AM – 8:00 PM Friday and Saturday

Suspension
Shortly after changes were approved, the City suspended its paid parking program to support local businesses, residents, and visitors as we all adjusted to life in a COVID pandemic. During this time ParkFlag, with a small staff, enforced the City Code Title 9 Traffic parking regulations except for paid parking and issued mostly warnings. During the suspension we replaced signs to reflect the new hours of operations, re-zoned several blocks of underutilized paid parking spaces as employee permit parking zones, and assisted Public Works in painting lines and marks in the Downtown.

In the meantime, Council approved a contract for upgraded enforcement and back-office software and enforcement hardware. ParkFlag worked with the vendor to employ the software as quickly as possible in preparation for the time when paid parking would resume.

Re-implementation
In October of 2020 ParkFlag presented possible re-implementation strategies to City Council. Per Council direction, the decision was made to re-implement the paid parking program on March 1, 2021, allowing for free parking to encourage increased visitation in Downtown during the 2020 holiday season and the slowest winter months. Prior to re-implementation we provided community updates and outreach through social media and the local newspaper, the Daily Sun. On March 21^st we began a one-month warning period to provide further notice to persons parking in Downtown and residents.

Current State of the Program

Ambassadorship Enforcement Model
We continue to manage the ParkFlag program through ambassadorship and enforcement. Daily, we offer quality customer service, conduct essential parking counts, and obtain behavior correction through warnings and violations when needed. We have been successfully been achieving overall behavior change while using an intentionally gentler approach.

ParkFlag currently services approximately 64 square blocks of metered parking and 84 square blocks of surrounding residential areas. There are 14 installed residential zones which are monitored on a regular basis. We remain open to resident concerns and promptly respond to incoming concerns and complaints.

Warnings Issued (FY2021): 5549
Citations issued (FY2021): 1291
Total Warnings Issued since inception (2017): 44,920
Total Citations Issued since inception (2017): 12, 266

Revenues

Currently the program is generating approximately 70% of the revenues that were being received before the initial program was changed in February 2020.

Pay-to-Park revenue for FY 2021/22: $1,060,000 (approximately)
Lock Box reserve as of FY2021/22: $1,037,660 (unaudited)

However, ParkFlag is experiencing rising operational expenses, including compensation rates, parking lot maintenance, and impacts from inflation. ParkFlag is currently able to meet operational needs. The hourly parking rate remains the same as it has been since 2017, $1.00 an hour.

Staffing
The program is currently operating with 4 staff members:

Parking Manager
Parking Lead
2 Parking Aides

The City has budgeted for additional staff to better support the parking program:

1 Full-time Parking Aide
2 Part-time Parking Aides
1 Full-time Parking Aide to assist with the new paid parking program being implemented at the Airport (part of Airport's budget)

Program Improvements
This past year we introduced our new VIP commuter pass program in cooperation with NAIPTA and the Flagstaff Downtown Business Alliance to improve Downtown employee commuter options. Employees may now purchase an employee parking permit and apply for a free Mountain Lion bus pass, giving employees the opportunity to choose how they want to commute on a daily basis. ParkFlag pays $3,000 annually to NAIPTA for this public transit incentive which increases the supply of available parking and support the Climate Action Plan.

The City of Flagstaff recently opened two parking lots on the north side of Downtown with a total of 154 parking spaces, as part of the Municipal Courthouse project. The Cherry lot is leased, and the old Courthouse lot is owned by City. ParkFlag manages both of these multi-use lots, which are zoned for employee permits facility permits, facility permits, and paid parking.

We are currently researching additional contact-less payment options including text to pay, to improve the overall customer experience.

Upcoming Items for Council Consideration

License Plate Reader (LPR)
ParkFlag will be asking City Council to approve purchase of a license plate reader (LPR) at a Council Meeting in February. A LPR is a piece of equipment that will be attached to a ParkFlag electric vehicle and it scans license plates. Currently parking aides walk the streets, handtype license plate numbers (leaving room for errors) and photograph vehicles. It can take about an hour to cover 3 blocks of a street. The LPR collects all this information in the time it takes to drive the 3 blocks. The LPR will be used as follows:

Uses

Monitor time limited parking (e.g. 2 hours, 30 minutes)
Easily check for Permits
Parking Counts
Parking Duration Studies

The LPR will enable ParkFlag to meet enforcement needs in all zones within the district, providing better customer service and parking management. Attached is a CCR that was released late 2022.

ParkFlag requested and received approval from the Budget Team to purchase a License Place Reader (LPR). The LPR has not yet been purchased. The startup cost will be about $50,000, and there will be relatively modest annual subscription cost. City Council will have the opportunity to approve a contract for an LPR in at a public meeting in February 2022.

Input Request Items

City Code Changes
ParkFlag will be asking the City Code to consider City Code changes related to parking enforcement, hopefully prior to Council break. ParkFlag will be proposing to:

Enable ParkFlag to enforce parking violations through an administrative procedure that meets all due process requirements, and enable the ParkFlag to "boot" a vehicle after the vehicle owner has received three (3) citations but failed to pay applicable fines.

ParkFlag's mission statement is to provide a fair parking program for all. Unfortunately, there are multiple individuals who continue to disregard pay-to-park parking regulations creating an unfair environment in the pay-to-park district. There are 30+ vehicles with more than three (3) unpaid and uncontested parking citations on our records. The current City Code requires at least three (3) citations to have been filed with the Municipal Court before City can "boot" or "tow" a repeat offender. However, the Court is not equipped to handle all the parking citations issued by ParkFlag and payments. Therefore, ParkFlag currently only files contested citations with the Court, which are handled by the Court.

Multi-Family Residential Permits
When ParkFlag was implemented in 2017, permits were not available for residents living in multi-family housing units (apartments, condos, duplexes, townhomes). City Council was very involved during the development of ParkFlag, and agreed to this decision for several reasons, including the following.

Large number of housing units
Residential permits combined with employee permits would overwhelm the available parking supply
Limited parking options

Ultimately Council members supported the idea that landlords should be responsible for their tenants’ parking.

Since ParkFlag resumed paid parking operations in spring 2021, staff has seen a decrease in employee permit sales due to more people working from home. Even with the reduction in the employee permit cost we are seeing reduced sales. This change in parking habits has resulted in more available parking space, We currently have about 60% use of available parking spaces during regular business hours, and additional parking availability during off-peak hours. At the same time, ParkFlag continues to receive requests from residents of multi-family residential housing complexes seeking parking permits. With the addition of close to 150 new spaces at surface lots for public and employee parking, we now have capacity to address the requests from our multi-family housing residents.

ParkFlag is proposing a pilot program for multi-family housing residents and is seeking City Council guidance on:

Proposed monthly fee
- $45
Issuance of multi-family residential permits
- 1st come-1st served, or lottery system?
- After permit is issued, monthly or annual renewal is offered
The number of permits to be offered
- City has about 100 excess permits on the north side of Route 66, and about 100 on the south side
  - Initially offer 50% of the available permits and reassess at one year

The initial cost of the pilot program would be limited, because the permits would only be issued for employee parking zones. Based on the usage and success of this pilot program, we may consider expanding this program for vendors and delivery drivers as well. Attached is a detailed memo including parking and permit statistics.

South Side Street Management
City staff is seeking Council guidance on:

Add 2-hour time-limited parking on one block of S. Leroux St, between Phoenix Ave and Cottage Ave.? (Staff Prefers)
Add paid parking?

Business owners have contacted us on multiple occasions stating that there is a lack of parking for their customers, employees, and/or future developments on S. Leroux St. between Phoenix Ave. and Butler Ave. The street does not have pay-to-park or time-limited regulations. the cost of adding signs would be approximately $6,000. The cost installing an existing kiosk would be $2,500. If there is a 2-hour time limit there would be additional staff enforcement/monitoring costs.

Financial Impacts

The initial purchase of an LPR is over $50,000 and would need future approval by City Council. There will also be a minimal annual software subscription included in the purchase. It could be a net cost savings if allows more efficient use of staff time in the long term.

The introduction of a Multi-Use Permit may generate additional revenues to the parking program through the sale of excess parking permits.

The change in the current immobilization ordinance could possibly generate revenue for the City of Flagstaff Court through citation payments (ParkFlag does not receive any revenue through citation payments.)

Policy Impacts

Creating a pilot permit program would change ParkFlag policy and allow those who were previously excluded from purchasing permits to apply. This would serve both the community and the parking program.

Regional Plan Objectives
Provide sustainable and equitable public facilities, services and infrastructure systems in an efficient and effective manner to serve all population areas and demographics.

PBB Priorities
Would support efficient parking operations including enforcement and possibly gain revenues through the sale of excess permits.

Attachments
CCR License Plate Reader
Multi-Use Permit
Parking Update Power Point