Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-313JULY 28, 2009 AUGUST 11, 2009 09 -291 09 -313 ORDINANCE FIRST READING SECOND READING (CARRIED 7 -0 LOST LAID OVER WITHDRAWN ) PURPOSE: APPROVAL OF PARKING REGULATIONS CHANGES ON CEAPE AVENUE, COMMERCE STREET, MT. VERNON STREET, NEW YORKAVENUE, 8TH AVENUE AND 11TH AVENUE INITIATED BY: TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT A GENERAL ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF OSHKOSH AMENDING SECTIONS 27- 23(A-3)(A)(B)(C) AND 27- 23(A -11) OF THE OSHKOSH MUNICIPAL CODE PERTAINING TO PARKING METER REGULATIONS AND PARKING REGULATIONS ON DESIGNATED STREETS AND ALLEYS. The Common Council of the City of Oshkosh do ordain as follows: SECTION 1. That Section 27- 23(A -3)(A) of the Oshkosh Municipal Code pertaining to one hour metered streets is hereby repealed. SECTION 2. That Section 27- 23(A -3)(B) of the Oshkosh Municipal Code pertaining to two hour metered streets is hereby repealed. SECTION 3. That Section 27- 23(A -3)(C) of the Oshkosh Municipal Code pertaining to twelve minute meters is hereby repealed. SECTION 4. That Section 27- 23(A -11) of the Oshkosh Municipal Code pertaining to parking regulations on designated streets and alleys is hereby amended as follows: A -11 PARKING REGULATIONS ON DESIGNATED STREETS AND ALLEYS CEAPE AVENUE Remove Therefrom No parking, north side, from North Main Street to State Street. No parking, south side, from North Main Street to State Street. No parking, both sides, from Main Street to Commerce Street. Add Thereto No parking, both sides, from Commerce Street to State Street. JULY 28, 2009 AUGUST 11, 2009 09 -291 09 -313 ORDINANCE FIRST READING SECOND READING CONT'D Add Thereto No parking, south side, from State Street to the north - south alley adjacent to the Oshkosh Convention Center 2 -hour parking, north side, from State Street to 177 feet west of Court Street. 2 -hour parking, south side, from the north -south alley adjacent to the Oshkosh Convention Center to 60 feet west of Court Street. COMMERCE STREET Remove Therefrom 2 -hour parking, east side, from 138 feet south of High Avenue to Pearl Avenue between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. daily, except on Sundays and New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. 1 -hour parking, east side, from High Avenue to 138 feet south of High Avenue between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. daily, except on Sundays and New Year's Day, Memorial Day, Fourth of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day. Add Thereto 1 -hour parking, east side, from High Avenue to Pearl Avenue between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. daily, except on Sundays and holidays. MT. VERNON STREET Remove Therefrom 2 -hour parking, west side, from 425 feet north of Washington Avenue to 24 feet south of Merritt Avenue between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Add Thereto 2 -hour parking, west side, from 425 feet north of Washington Avenue to 79 feet south of Merritt Avenue between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. 2 -hour parking, east side, from Washington Avenue to 107 feet north of Washington Avenue between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. daily, except on Sundays and holidays. JULY 28, 2009 AUGUST 11, 2009 09 -291 09 -313 ORDINANCE FIRST READING SECOND READING CONT'D NEW YORK AVENUE Remove Therefrom No parking, north side, from North Main Street to Broad Street. No parking, north side, from North Main Street to Algoma Blvd. No parking, north side, from 65 feet east of Broad Street to Bowen Street. No parking, north side, from Bowen Street to 76 feet east. Add Thereto No parking, north side, from Algoma Boulevard to 76 feet east of Bowen Street. 8TH AVENUE Remove Therefrom 2 -hour parking, south side, from Oregon Street to Nebraska Street between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Add Thereto 2 -hour parking, south side, from Oregon Street to 147 feet east of Oregon Street between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. 11TH AVENUE Add Thereto No parking, south side, from 268 feet west of Michigan Street to 298 feet west of Michigan Street between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. SECTION 5. This ordinance shall be in full force and effect from and after its passage, publication, and placement of the appropriate signage. SECTION 6. Publication Notice. Please take notice that the City of Oshkosh enacted ordinance #09 -313 (A GENERAL ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF OSHKOSH AMENDING SECTIONS 27- 23(A -3) AND 27- 23(A -11) OF THE OSHKOSH MUNICIPAL CODE PERTAINING TO PARKING METER REGULATIONS AND PARKING REGULATIONS ON DESIGNATED STREETS AND ALLEYS, on August 11, 2009. The ordinance pertains to parking regulations changes on Ceape Avenue, Commerce Street, Mt. Vernon Street, New York Avenue, 8th Avenue and 11 th Avenue. JULY 28, 2009 AUGUST 11, 2009 09 -291 09 -313 ORDINANCE FIRST READING SECOND READING CONT'D The full text of the ordinance may be obtained at the Office of the City Clerk, 215 Church Avenue and through the City's website at www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us Clerk's phone 920/236-5011. 0 QIHKOlH ON THE WATER MEMORANDUM TO: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager FROM: Christopher Strong, Transportation Director DATE: July 22, 2009 RE: Explanation of Traffic Regulations Ordinance Changes SECTION 1 • SECTION 27- 23(A -3)(A) ONE HOUR METERED STREETS There are no longer any one -hour metered streets in the City. SECTION 2• SECTION 27- 23(A -3)(B) TWO HOUR METERED STREETS REMOVAL OF ON- STREET METERS FROM CEAPE AVENUE AND MT. VERNON STREET This item is following up on the Commission's resolution at its April 8 meeting supporting the removal of parking meters. a) Ceape Avenue both sides from State Street to Court Street Currently, there are twenty -six (26) 2- hour meters. The utilization rate of these spaces in 2008 was approximately 1 percent. Usage of these spaces should increase with the re- opening of the Convention Center. I propose that these spaces be converted to two -hour unmetered parking spaces. This is consistent with other on- street parking in the BID district. PASSED BY PARKING UTILITY COMMISSION (3 -0) PASSED BY TRAFFIC REVIEW BOARD (6 -0) SECTION 3: SECTION 27- 23(A -3)(C) TWELVE MINUTE METERS There are no longer any twelve minute meters in the City, SECTION 4: SECTION 27 -23 (A -11) — PARKING REGULATIONS A REQUEST FOR 2 -HOUR PARKING ON BOTH SIDES OF CEAPE AVENUE FROM STATE STREET TO COURT STREET BETWEEN 8:00 A.M. AND 6:00 P.M. (CURRENT CONDITION: METERED PARKING.) This is a Transportation Department request. The Parking Utility Commission has recommended removal of the on- street parking meters on this section of roadway. These are 2 -hour meters. The request would keep the parking on a 2 -hour time limit. The time limits would be consistent with much on- street parking within the Business Improvement District (BID). PASSED BY TRAFFIC REVIEW BOARD (6 -0) Page 2 of 3 7 -22 -09 A REQUEST FOR ONE -HOUR PARKING ON THE EAST SIDE OF COMMERCE STREET FROM 138 FEET SOUTH OF HIGH AVENUE TO PEARL AVENUE BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 9:00 A.M. AND 6:00 P.M. DAILY, EXCEPT ON SUNDAYS AND HOLIDAYS. (CURRENT CONDITION: 2 -HOUR PARKING BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 9:00 A.M. AND 6:00 P.M. DAILY, EXCEPT ON SUNDAYS AND HOLIDAYS.) This is a Transportation Department request. The Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) has generally supported keeping on- street parking free for two hours in the downtown area. Some exceptions have been established when special circumstances have been involved. In one such case, a two -hour free parking zone on Commerce Street was changed to a one -hour free parking zone in 2006, because the two -hour spaces were being used by employees and therefore were unavailable to customers. The request at that time dealt with the section from High Avenue to 138 feet south of High Avenue. This request extends that section all the way to Pearl. Avenue, and is motivated by the same reasons as the previous request. There are reasons against making this change. I think it is valuable to preserve uniformity and consistency in on- street parking regulations, and the two -hour duration for free parking seems to work reasonably well throughout the downtown area. In addition, this recommendation may adversely affect businesses which depend on customers who may need more than one but less than two hours. There are also reasons to support this request. This issue with employee parking has been an ongoing problem in this area. There is adequate capacity in the High Avenue parking lot available for employee parking. While one -hour parking may not be enough for some customers, it may work for some who may have no other options available to them. PASSED BY TRAFFIC REVIEW BOARD (6 -0) A REQUEST FOR 2 -HOUR PARKING ON THE EAST SIDE OF MT. VERNON STREET FROM WASHINGTON AVENUE TO 107 FEET NORTH OF WASHINGTON AVENUE,BETWEEN 8:00 A.M. AND 6:00 P.M. (CURRENT CONDITION: METERED PARKING.) This is a Transportation Department request. The Parking Utility Commission has recommended removal of the on- street parking meters on this section of roadway. These are 2 -hour meters. The request would keep the parking on a 2 -hour time limit. The time limits would be consistent with nearby on- street parking on Washington Avenue. PASSED BY TRAFFIC REVIEW BOARD (6 -0) A REQUEST FOR NO PARKING ON THE NORTH SIDE OF NEW YORK AVENUE FROM BROAD STREET TO 65 FEET EAST OF BROAD STREET. (CURRENT CONDITION: UNRESTRICTED PARKING.) This is a request from the Department of Public Works. In the midst of repaving this section of New York Avenue this year, it was made known that the paved road width is slightly wider in this area, in order to accommodate this parking zone on the north side of the street. This area is an anomaly on this street, as there is no parking on the north side of the road from Algoma Boulevard to east of Bowen Street, except for this small 65 foot section. We believe that on- street parking was allowed in the past because of a grocery store (Bucky's) that used to exist at 502 E New York Avenue. The grocery store closed some time before 1996, and the building has been converted to more of a general commercial /office type usage. The building has adequate off - street parking as well as on- street parking on Broad Street. Therefore, I do not expect this parking removal to Page 3 of 3 7 -22 -09 have an adverse impact on the affected property. Removing this stretch of on- street parking would have several benefits, including simplifying parking rules on New York Avenue, reducing the cost of the paving project, and improving safety. PASSED BY TRAFFIC REVIEW BOARD (6 -0) A REQUEST FOR UNRESTRICTED PARKING ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF 8 TH AVENUE FROM 147 FEET EAST OF OREGON STREET TO NEBRASKA STREET. (CURRENT CONDITION: 2 -HOUR PARKING BETWEEN 8:00 A.M. AND 6:00 P.M.) This is a citizen request. This section of street was designated as 2 -hour parking in 1991, in order to discourage employee traffic from the nearby Miles Kimball facility. Miles Kimball no longer operates in this area, so the 2 -hour parking restriction should no longer be necessary. The current ordinance carries 2 -hour parking all the way to Oregon Street. I'm recommending keeping the street as 2 -hour parking close to Oregon Street. This would be consistent with the restriction on the north side of the street, which supports higher vehicle turnover for customers in the Oregon Street business district. PASSED BY TRAFFIC REVIEW BOARD (6 -0) A REQUEST FOR NO PARKING ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF 11 AVENUE FROM 266 FEET TO 298 FEET WEST OF MICHIGAN STREET BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 7:00 A.M. AND 5:00 P.M. (CURRENT CONDITION: UNRESTRICTED PARKING.) This is a citizen request. This short section of roadway is to the west of the access driveway for Pingry- Caswell. Larger trucks will back into this driveway to access the company's loading dock. However, when vehicles are parked on this section of roadway, it makes it difficult to do so. This request would make sure that there is no vehicle parking in this area during business hours. State law prohibits parking within 4 feet of a driveway. I typically don't recommend extending the no parking zone around driveways, especially if the street has sufficient width. In this case, I can see how it would be difficult for trucks to make a backing maneuver if a car were parked in that location. In addition, there appears to be sufficient daytime parking elsewhere on the street, so that this should not cause problems for other properties. PASSED BY TRAFFIC REVIEW BOARD (5 -0) MEMORANDUM 0 OfHKOJH ON THE WATER TO: FROM: DATE: Mark A. Rohloff, City Manager Christopher Strong, Transportation Director July 22, 2009 RE: Items Defeated by the Traffic Review Board at their July 14, 2009 Meeting A REQUEST FOR NO PARKING ON BOTH SIDES OF THE NORTH /SOUTH ALLEY BETWEEN 21 AVENUE AND 22 AVENUE, EAST OF OREGON STREET AND WEST OF NEBRASKA STREET. (CURRENT CONDITION: UNRESTRICTED PARKING.) This is a citizen request. Parking prohibitions exist on some, but not, alleys within the City. This 10' paved alley is on 12' of public right -of -way. The citizen has observed vehicles parking into the alley, which significantly limits movement on an already narrow street. According to the City's traffic management guidelines, parking prohibition is recommended when the street width is less than 17 feet. Because there has apparently been parking problems on this alley, it is necessary to restrict parking in order to keep this as a viable public right -of -way. DEFEATED BY TRAFFIC REVIEW BOARD (0 -6) A REQUEST TO DESIGNATE JEFFERSON HARRISON STREET TO LINCOLN AVENUE. SOUTHBOUND TRAFFIC.) STREET AS A TWO -WAY STREET FROM (CURRENT CONDITION: ONE -WAY STREET, ....and... A REQUEST TO DESIGNATE MT. VERNON STREET AS A TWO -WAY STREET FROM CUSTER AVENUE TO LINCOLN AVENUE. (CURRENT CONDITION: ONE -WAY STREET, SOUTHBOUND TRAFFIC.) These requests are from the Department of Public Works and the Department of Transportation. Last August, I made a presentation to the Common Council regarding the use of one -way streets in the City of Oshkosh. In the presentation, I summarized some of the advantages and disadvantages associated with one -way streets compared to two -way streets. Some of the advantages include improvements in safety (due to reduced potential vehicle conflicts) and better utilization of existing right -of -way. Some of the disadvantages include spillover problems at other intersections, more circuitous trips for some users, and confusion for unfamiliar motorists. One of the major conclusions from the presentation is that one -way streets are appropriate in some, but not all, contexts. While one -way streets are typically less common outside of a city's downtown core, there are cases in Oshkosh where they make sense. In the case of these two sections of street, there doesn't appear to be a compelling reason from a traffic management perspective to preserve one -way flow. Both streets carry a relatively low volume of traffic. Both sections of street have adequate width to preserve the parking currently allowed under the municipal code. Jefferson Street is 36 feet in width from Lincoln Avenue to Tennessee Avenue, which is wide enough to support two -way traffic without any parking restrictions. Mt. Vernon Street is 30 -32 feet in width from Lincoln Avenue to Custer Avenue, which is also wide enough to support parking on either side of the road, although it is narrow Page 2 of 3 July 22, 2009 enough that parking restrictions could be considered. Given the relatively low traffic volumes, don't believe that it would be necessary to restrict parking. There are a couple of reasons which suggest that one -way flow on these streets should be re- examined. First, the trucks used for the forthcoming implementation of automated recycling collection are side - loading, which means that the trucks would need to drive against the flow of traffic to accomplish their work. Second, the recent Oshkosh Visioning effort recommended reducing the number of one -way streets in Oshkosh. In my review of minutes from previous years of Traffic Review Advisory Board meetings, it does not appear that the board has considered a specific recommendation regarding two -way flow on these streets. There was a 1998 agenda item which suggested that residents at that time preferred the current one -way flow, but it is not clear if that is still true today. This request would preserve one -way flow on each street south of Lincoln Avenue, where the streets are narrower. (Please see Figure 1.) This means that each street's intersection with Lincoln Avenue will be a transition point between one -way and two -way flow. Because Mt. Vernon Street has a split intersection with Lincoln Avenue, there will be no need to prohibit turn movements onto a one -way street. The southbound flow of Jefferson Street south of Lincoln Avenue should make this transition point operate safely as well. F- z O z W w LINCOLN AVE s U N � o W w U_ M Figure 1: Proposed Transition Points to One -Way Flow, Jefferson and Mt. Vernon Streets Both of these streets are likely used predominantly by local residents. These residents may be aware of some factors that would make it better to preserve one -way flow. DEFEATED BY TRAFFIC REVIEW BOARD (1 -5)