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FINAL DRAFT
PARKING MASTER PLAN 2015 UPDATE
Prepared for City of Columbia, South Carolina
Prepared by
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Master Plan Update Executive Summary Key Findings The original Parking Master Plan laid out key objectives in developing a customer service based parking system that was transparent. In general, the recommendations in the Plan were followed to the extent that they could be, but the supply of spaces in the Main Street corridor remains below the demand. As the market for downtown office space continues to strengthen, this gap becomes more noticeable and the market becomes more sensitive to it. The Cannon garage has provided some relief, but is quickly filling. The investment in new facilities through the 2005 bond issue has changed the face of the Vista, providing convenient and reliable supplies of parking both north and south of Gervais Street. The resulting new hotel and entertainment uses have created a 24 hour environment that is as vibrant as any city in the country. These garages are also beginning to fill. Recently, the solicitation and successful selection of a developer for vertical development above the existing garages has generated an exciting opportunity for Columbia to rise to the forefront of parking asset management and enhancement. The creation of taxable real estate out of air above the public asset is public private partnership at its best, and will set a course that many other cities will follow. The planning and operational challenges however are quite real, and we would strongly urge that the same level of intensity be maintained through the execution of the projects as exists now in the negotiation of the deal. A summary of our key recommendations follows: The City should explore and actively negotiate for a site in the Main Street corridor to substantially augment the existing public parking supply. Office space remains below its full occupancy due to a lack of parking and the inability to lease blocks of parking spaces (see also financing recommendations).
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The City should review its current parking assets and consider disposition of garage or lot assets that either (1) do not present adequate long term growth in income to cover operating expenses or (2) do not fulfill the core mission of economic development. Related to the above, the City should analyze the costs and options to its existing tax exempt financing to provide more flexibility in leasing parking to tenants or buildings instead of to individuals. At this time, interest rates and security requirements are so low that the costs to the City are comparable to the existing tax free rates. This would also enhance the ability to provide P3 opportunities in the future. The CIP program recommended by the structural engineers should be implemented immediately (all priority 1 improvements). This has been lacking in the past and must be caught up to maintain safety in the garages. City Council has approved a CIP program for the current year to implement the priority recommendations. In order to fund the CIP program in future years, along with additional customer service and market driven needs, the rate structure should be adjusted and dynamic pricing should be initiated. The recommended garage rates are: Facility Capacity Permits Unreserved Reserved
Current Recommended Current Recommended Arsenal Hill 150 57 $57 $60 None Cannon 532 443 $65 $70 $85 $100 Lady Street 1006 924 $78 $90 $105 $125 Lincoln Street
675 359 $65 $70 $80 $90
Park Street 850 238 $65 $70 $80 $100 Sumter Street
816 843 $78 $90 $105 $125
Taylor Street
388 203 $52 $60 None
Washington Street
447 191 $78 $90 $105 $125
The report also contains detailed recommendations regarding hourly rates and on street rates. Most importantly, LMG recommends a pilot program for dynamic pricing in high demand on street areas to manage
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the supply more effectively. With the current sophisticated meters and pay be cell technology this can be easily accomplished. The City should explore the creation of a parking authority or a parking corporation (similar to the development corporations) to enhance its ability land bank for future growth and finance through parking revenues. The City has recently become aware of an opportunity to create a venture with a group of Downtown property owners and provide public parking for the Main Street corridor. This should be pursued vigorously as it represents the last large consolidated parcel in the downtown. Replace parking meters on the 1600 block of Main Street as discussed in the turnover study conducted by LMG in April 2014 (see appendix for a copy of the presentation made to Main Street stakeholders). Continue operational enhancements to Five Points parking and be prepared to cooperate in potential P3 opportunities. Explore the potential for new parking supply in the south Vista. The loss of 1700 spaces within four blocks of the Colonial Center and new student housing projects has shifted the center of gravity for demand into this area. Consider a more nimble mechanism for financing economic development parking projects such as leaseback or other means that will rely upon parking revenue and projections rather than city guarantees. Perform a technology review of the parking operation to analyze how the different hardware currently interacts, the ability to provide management with real time information, interfacing with payment technology, and the incorporation of license plate recognition and updated ticket writing software.
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Section 1 Existing Conditions
Included in this Section: Overview
Review of Original PMP Recommendations Inventory of Existing Assets
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OVERVIEW Since the publication of the 2002 Parking Master Plan (PMP) over a decade ago, the face of the City has changed dramatically and parking resources have been challenged to play a vital role. More so than in the past, the City is moving in a more progressive manner toward embracing modern parking challenges and opportunities. Thanks to the vision of the mayor and city council, Columbia’s inner city commercial areas are more vibrant that ever, attracting an eclectic mix of retail, entertainment and housing opportunities. Every success has meant more people coming to these areas, more traffic congestion and an ever increasing demand for parking. Downtown Columbia (Main Street) has been revitalized with a mixture of exciting new retailers and restaurants; the conversion of the Palmetto Center to a dormitory; and a change from an area that rolled up its sidewalks at 6 p.m. to a growing evening destination location. The Vista has grown up from its days when it was primarily a warehouse district with scattered pockets of commercial use. A walk down Gervais Street in the evening provides visitors with a view of sidewalks filled with pedestrians. Five Points has largely continued to be successful by staying the same. On the retail side, it continues to feature one of the most interesting mixes anywhere. A broad range of restaurants and nightspots cater to a wide range of clientele. There is no doubt that parking challenges continue to exist in all three commercial areas. Yet there have been parking improvements in all three areas which have helped with growth and economic development. The addition of parking meters in Five Points and the construction of garages in the Downtown and Vista areas, as recommended in the PMP, has stimulated growth in these areas. The City’s Parking Services Department has guided major growth in facilities; made a strong beginning in cleaning and upgrading older facilities; and managed to keep its financial head above water through the Great Recession and the loss of SCANA, its largest single parking customer at the time of its departure from Main Street. The department was able to accomplish these and many other recommendations of the PMP in large part because of the consolidation of parking related tasks into a single department. The PMP continues to serve as a major roadmap to the evolution of parking services in Columbia. The purpose of this updated report is to reinforce the philosophy of the original plan, where applicable, and to add new recommendations which will help
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the Parking Services Department continue to work to assist in Columbia’s goal to make the Capital City a world class city. The PMP set out in plain language the guiding philosophy for the operation of the city’s parking services. The PMP recommended that the City create a City Center parking system built around the following “Guiding Principles”:
• The parking system should be customer-‐oriented, not violator-‐ or revenue-‐oriented. If customers see the system as fair and friendly, increased revenues will result.
• The parking system should seek to provide customers with “an experience worth having.” All aspects of parking should reflect an understanding of what the customer desires in terms of a positive and memorable Columbia experience whether that is a work trip or a pleasure trip.
• The parking system should be managed by a single entity capable of addressing both operations and capital improvements, including enforcement. The parking system needs to maintain a “voice at the table” and continue to be involved in planning and development discussions.
• The parking system should be seen as an essential and integral part of the community’s economic development strategies and programs.
The PMP further recommended the following goals for City leaders to adopt: 1. Achieve a unified, centralized management structure that anticipates demand and responds appropriately. Results:
• Promotes and supports economic development • Creates policies that encourage private investment • Coordinates and plans with private and public developers • Responds effectively to area stakeholders • Provides increased tax revenues that support neighborhood development • Enhances downtown promotion and communication • Maximizes the efficient use of current parking resources • Provides an important partner for the regional planning authority on
environmental needs • Provides a consistently high level of customer service • Influences the quality of customer service at private parking facilities • Develops measures of success and routinely surveys customer satisfaction
2. Create a City Center parking system that makes parking an incentive rather than a disincentive to City Center revitalization and improvement.
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Results:
• Reviews and adjusts prices based on user behavior and resource management
• Maintains clean, attractive facilities staffed by friendly personnel • Assures accessible and convenient parking • Creates an image and identity for the parking system that is positive and
easily recognizable • Provides a parking experience that is consistently positive
3. Organize and manage the parking system into an authority or development corporation so that it is self-‐supporting. Results:
• Encourages efficient and effective administration • Reinvests surplus revenues in system improvements • Increases flexibility to address evolving nature of City Center • Promotes planned rather than reactive management • Generates revenues to finance future capital investments • Delivers improved services related to rate adjustments
This report contains four discussions of the following which will serve as a beginning point for planning the next decade:
1. Recommendations of the PMP which have been implemented 2. Projects underway or in the planning stages which further implement
recommendations of the PMP 3. Plan recommendations which are no longer valid 4. A scope of work for a new plan
PLAN IMPLEMENTATION As originally recommended, the PMP should be coordinated with other asset and performance management plans currently underway at the City, such as the Bike and Pedestrian Master Plan to ensure implementation of both is complementary. Management The plan recommended the “parking system should be managed by a single entity capable of addressing both operations and capital improvements, including enforcement.” This portion of the plan was finalized in 2006 with the creation of the Parking Services Department. The department has three divisions: Administration, Operations (customer service and enforcement) and Facilities (buildings, lots and meters).
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The creation of a department working in an enterprise fund environment has seemed to work quite well. It is important that the public can be shown that operational and capital costs of parking services comes from user fees rather than taxes. Recommendation: LMG recommends consideration of utilizing a parking corporation for financing purposes along with some form of employee leasing within the current operation as detailed later in this report in the Management & Operations section of this report. Customer Service One of the prime "guiding principles" set forth in the PMP was: "The parking system should be customer-‐oriented, not violator-‐ or revenue-‐oriented. If customers see the system as fair and friendly, increased revenues will result." The City's Parking Services Department has taken a number of steps to improve customer service. Efforts have included the opening of a Customer Service Office at 820 Washington Street; continuing training sessions in customer service; a streamlined departmental organization; and the introduction of new technologies such as SmartCards and automated pay-‐in-‐lane devices. The introduction of pay by cell technology; the ability of citizens to pay parking citation online; and the introduction of new enforcement and payment software add greatly to this effort/ Part of the training is now scheduled to include emphasis on the City's vision statement and strategic goals. It cannot be emphasized enough that this strategy must be continued in order for parking employees to understand their individual roles as part of the overall goals of the City. The initial steps for the appearance of the garages to match up to this vision has been successful and needs to continually improve.. Recommendation: There are two major areas which need strengthening in terms of customer service: event parking and marketing to parking stakeholders: Event parking has and will continue to grow, both through the Downtown hotels and the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center and the surrounding venues. Customer service and security for these events is crucial to meeting customer expectations. Parking Services needs to contract for outsourced personnel to a company which can provide unarmed uniformed certified security agents. These agents could assist a lead City employee in managing entry and exit of large numbers of parkers attending events. Currently, Parking Services is relying on schedule changes and overtime to service events. Outsourcing can provide two major benefits:
1. Reduce the cost of personnel and prevent burn-‐out by employees working too many hours.
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2. Provide security patrols within the garage during events to provide parkers with a greater comfort level.
Testing of such a system by the department for events has met with great success. Marketing parking services is a key to managing current and future growth. Parking Services has done a credible job in marketing to business associations and working on medium to large individual projects. Where the department is lacking in in day to day contact with individual businesses. LMG suggests the new position budgeted in the Parking Operations Division for the current year make those contacts. This position should also be directly involved with event planning. A detailed recommendation is included in this report in the Marketing section. Parking As An Economic Development Tool “The parking system should be seen as an essential and integral part of the community’s economic development strategies and programs.” An ongoing collaboration with economic development entities has resulted in agreements for parking with the Hilton Hotel, Mast General Store, Agape Senior, the Hyatt and Aloft hotels and others as the Parking Services Department has been involved from the beginning stages of project development. In addition to working closely with the Economic Development Department and the various Development Corporations, Parking Services employees serve on the Open Space Committee of the City Center Partnership, as members of the Vista Guild and maintain close ties to the Five Points Association. In addition, Parking Services has developed strong ties with the managers of Downtown’s office towers as well as commercial real estate companies. LMG recommends this work continue and expand to include two new elements:
1. Parking Services should contact all owners of private parking to see where partnerships can be beneficial in increasing parking supply during all hours. Preliminary work has begun in this area in discussion with Parking Services staff by LMG. As nighttime hospitality venues continue to grow, Parking Services has initial discussion with several property owners whose surface or garage parking sits idle nights and weekends. The Bull Street project is a great example, where tentative agreement has been reached to allow parking services to manage all the parking in the development as a whole.
2. Parking Services should be proactive in working with the City’s economic development operations to develop new concepts rather than reacting to recommendations from others. Concepts such as vertical development above garages and developing surface parking to attract new business development in outlying corridors should be generated within the department and in collaboration with other city agencies.
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Residential Parking The PMP states “the City should reevaluate its existing programs and policies, to ensure that parking is not a barrier to downtown residential development.” Residents in the Downtown area park at discounted rates through programs designed for on-‐street parking as well as in garages and lots. Residents can also take advantage of a program which bags meters for “move in” and “move out” days. Parking Services has also increased attention given to parking in Columbia’s residential neighborhoods, implementing staggered parking on narrow streets, working with neighborhood organizations to improve safety through signage and yellow curbing, and successfully recommending enhancements to the residential parking permit ordinance. Residential parking permit districts have recently been established recently in the Granby, Whaley Street, Wales Garden and MLK neighborhoods. LMG recommends continuation of these programs and expansion as needed. Facilities The firm which developed the PMP also completed a financial analysis for the 2005 Parking Revenue Bond issue. That document recommended garages in the Downtown and Vista areas. During the summer of 2012, the garage construction was completed with the Park Street Garage in the south Vista, the Lincoln Street garage in the North Vista and the P. J. Cannon Garage Downtown at Taylor and Sumter. These three facilities have added 2,057 off-‐street spaces to Columbia’s garage inventory. The PMP further recommended the operation of clean and customer friendly garages. Parking Services has completed only a portion of this recommendation. New lighting has been added to all its older garages. The department has increased the painting of ceiling areas; made changes to accommodate the handicapped; begun a re-‐do of signage in all garages with Lady and Sumter completed. New on–street signage has been placed in strategic area directing motorists to garages, including the addition of lighted “P” signs at Sumter and Lady. A new emphasis on cleaning garages has resulted in improvement in the appearance of garages. LMG does not believe this effort can be sustained without either the addition of personnel or the outsourcing of tasks such as sweeping and pressure washing. Two new positions have been approved in the current fiscal year budget as well as an upgrade of existing positions.
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Status of Original 2002 Master Plan Recommendations The following is a detailed review of each recommendation in the 2002 plan and the current status: Recommendations Status Comments/Remarks 1.1 System Wide Residential Parking Recommendations
a. Qualified properties within a designated sub area which generate new residential development, should have guaranteed parking spaces from the City;
Residential permits have been issued and other residents have been provided garage parking at residential rates. In some areas, tenant visitor permits were appropriatelyeliminated when demand rose higher than on-‐street availability.
We have run out of parking spaces for Downtown residential in most areas. The lease of 339 spaces in the Sumter Street Garage to Core Campus left us with an oversell in the garage. Since Core Campus will use the spaces 24-‐7, we are no longer renting spaces in this garage for residential.
b.. The city should issue residential parking permits based on need as follows:
Þ free on-‐street parking from 6 p.m. to 8 a.m.
Þ free off-‐street overnight parking Volume has kept the City from doing this
Recommend a reduced rate for residential
Þ off-‐street daytime parking (50 percent reduction in fee for 1st vehicle, 75 percent reduction in fee for 2nd vehicle); and
????
Þ on-‐street loading zones added as necessary.
c. “Rebate” a portion of parking revenues to those who generate large volumes of new monthly parkers (City would negotiate terms of rebate, such as identifying candidate projects and recipients, the percentage of revenue rebated from sale of permits, and the length the rebate would remain in-‐place).
Parking has been used as an incentive for new businesses. The first full month, called a "move in" month is given to a newly developed business at no charge. A reduction is then given to the business for the next 11 months. These rates are negotiated on a case by case basis, with priority given to new businesses moving in to renovated buildings.
1.2 System Management Recommendations
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a. The parking system should be customer-‐oriented, not violator-‐ or revenue-‐oriented. If customers see the system as fair and friendly, increased revenues will result.
Parking Services employees are provided ongoing customer service training through the Convention & Visitor's Bureau and other sources.
b. The parking system should seek to provide customers with “an experience worth having.” All aspects of parking should reflect an understanding of what the customer desires in terms of a positive and memorable Columbia experience whether that is a work trip or a pleasure trip.
Improvements in lighting, painting and other areas have been made to all the older garages. Newer garages feature higher ceilings and better lighting. Cleaning the garages has become the number one priority.
c. The parking system should be managed by a single entity capable of addressing both operations and capital improvements, including enforcement. Further exploration of local and state regulations is needed to determine the most appropriate mechanism, but most often this will be the establishment of a Parking Authority.
In 2006, the City Manager created the Parking Services Department. The department was not added to the City code.
d. The parking system should be seen as an essential and integral part of the community’s economic development strategies and programs.
1.3 Arsenal Hill Sub Area Recommendations
a. Coordinate with the Federal Agencies Operations. The City Parking Division must maintain an open dialogue with the Operations Management of the Federal facilities. During the Stakeholder meetings, it was clear that there will be significant relocation and reorientation of many functions unrelated to the Federal Courthouse due to new space available in existing facilities. The future operations will also require third party coordination with the Police Department, as it should be expected that the post 9/11 environment will require more coordinated responses to potential threat issues. While not obvious from observation, the Federal installations near the courthouse, specifically Social Security and Veteran’s Affairs activities generate extremely large visitor traffic volumes (upward of 2,000 vehicles per day), which do
Parking Services works with both the General Services Administration and the U.S. Marshall's Office to assist in the coordination of parking in the area of the federal complex, including the Federal Courthouse. Since the 2002 Master Plan was developed, the General Services Administration constructed a 759 car garage at Richland and Assembly streets.
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have a substantial influence on parking demand. As plans are finalized for relocation of facilities within the Federal complex, the City Parking Division should be a part of the process to ensure adequate service to these patrons. b. Monitor pressure for building demolition. It is likely that as the courthouse is completed, economic pressure will increase in the immediate area to demolish historical structures to develop surface parking facilities. These could come in the form of free standing parking facilities or support facilities as buildings are converted to office space. The building department and Parking Division should coordinate a review process as demolition permits are applied for to ensure that City and Neighborhood goals are achieved to meet a balance between parking needs and historical preservation.
We have not seen area demand result in the demolition of existing structure for the construction of parking lots or garages. Arsenal Hill Garage continued to have a high vacancy rate.
c. Install meters along streets near the Courthouse. The residential area in close proximity to the courthouse and governor’s mansion will experience high demand for the on-‐street parking as the demand for residential parking conflicts with demand by jurors, employees, and visitors. A coordinated program of residential permits giving preference for metered spaces will provide adequate parking and provide an incentive for employees to park in off-‐street parking facilities.
Parking Services has installed new signage in the impacted area to denote a residential parking permit zone.
d. Coordinate with the Governor’s mansion. New security issues and limited on site facilities limit the ability to park at the Governor’s mansion. The Arsenal Hill garage is an ideal facility to accommodate this demand. Currently, visitors to the mansion have little visual cue that leads them to this garage. A coordinated program of signage and parking for some of the State employees can enhance this important public monument
Parking Services works closely with the Bureau of Protective Services and other state agencies to coordinate parking needs for the Governor's Mansion complex.
1.4 Vista Sub Area Recommendations
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a. Provide temporary parking facilities during the Lady Street reconstruction. Many of the buildings in the area were originally manufacturing, warehousing or even confederate money printing plants, so the provision of parking is severely limited on individual parcels. Lady Street is currently utilized for office employees and retail patrons for parking throughout its length. Therefore, it is critical to provide temporary parking during the reconstruction. During the course of this study, the City was advised that an opportunity existed to purchase the Pleasant’s Hardware site. This purchase has since been closed and the property will serve as an ideal staging and/or temporary parking area as the streetscape work proceeds. Once the drawings are finalized for this streetscape project, the 46 parking spaces that are currently in use along Lady Street should be replaced to provide convenience for the existing users
Temporary parking was provided during the Lady Street Beautificaiton project. The City purchased the Pleasant's Hardware property where the Lincoln Street garage, with a capacity of 675 cars, now stands.
b. Install meters on Lincoln Street. Office employees are currently occupying the majority of prime on-‐street parking along Lincoln Street between Gervais Street and Lady Street, as well as north of Lady Street approaching the police station. Meters should be installed in conjunction with the development of surface parking on the Pleasant’s Hardware site (see Figure 2.3) to provide an alternate parking location for these employees. Until construction of the Lincoln Street improvements begins, there is space at the south end of Lincoln Street that could also serve as temporary parking. With the reopening of the Blue Marlin restaurant, the demand for short-‐term spaces has increased significantly throughout most of the day and evening. The loading zones located along Palmetto Candy and Lewis and Clark should be designated for businesses located along the west side of the street to accommodate the need for frequent loading operations (see Figure 1.6).
Meters were not only installed on the street, but in a private lot through a lease arrangement.
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c. Install meters throughout the Vista. As the Lady Street improvements are constructed, angled parking will be added and the supply of on-‐street parking increased by well over 100 spaces. Two-‐hour meters should be installed in these spaces to ensure retail and restaurant patrons have adequate short-‐term parking. This concept could easily be extended throughout the Vista to ensure that short-‐term, high-‐turnover parking spaces are available and to force long-‐term parking into off-‐street parking facilities.
Parking Services coordinated the metering of a number of on-‐street spaces with area merchants and the Vista Guild.
d. Construct a parking garage on the Pleasant’s Hardware site (see Figure 2.4). This facility would serve long-‐term parking needs of the relatively dense employment base and the courthouse/police department complex. This site is ideally located in the center of these two high parking demand generators. The redevelopment of the Columbia Supply property is expected to generate additional parking demand. A parking garage site and financial feasibility study will be necessary in the short term to determine financing options.
The garage was constructed using proceeds of the 2005 Parking Revenue Bond. The Columbia Supply property is now the site of a Hyatt Place Hotel, which leases parking in the Lincoln Street Garage.
e. Provide parking for the courthouse. This parking should be immediately added to the rear of the Pleasant’s Hardware site. Reliable off-‐street parking is needed for judicial staff, jurors, police officers, defendants, and others using the courthouse. A separate rear lot can be outfitted with a gate and card reader at minimal cost so that permits can be sold for monthly parkers. In addition, meters should be installed on the street around the courthouse and police department to ensure short-‐term parking for visitors.
Jurors can now park in the Lincoln Street Garage. The garage also offers the first hour free, so that citizens may pay parking citations at Parking Services and traffic and other fines at Municipal Court without paying for parking.
f. Place gates in the parking lot behind the Ben Arnold building. This parking located at Lady Street and Wayne Street could separate parking for the building from other parking users. In addition, install meters on the Wayne Street right-‐of-‐way parking to generate additional revenues.
Meters have been installed on Wayne Street along with some monthly rental spaces.
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1.5 Arena District Recommendations
a. Implement uniform control for sports facilities parking. The surface lots south and southeast of the arena will meet the majority of parking needs for events at the arena, Coliseum and commuting students. To ensure safe and efficient operation, there needs to be consistent management of these facilities. Ideally, the City should sell the two square blocks they own in this area to the University and reinvest the capital in the design and construction of new parking facilities to serve the Convention Center and Lady Street business area. The City has already undertaken these negotiations and HNTB supports this effort. See Figure 2.5 for an overview of the Arena District.
The City leased the two blocks between Blossom and the Colonial Center to USC for student and event parking. The City did a property swap with SC DOT to provide property for the construction of the Park Street Garage with a capacity of 850. SC DOT then entered into an agreement with USC for the construction of a 1400 car deck bounded by College, Park, Greene and Lincoln. SC DOT also provides a portion of its existing garage to USC for overflow for Colonial Center events in the evening and on weekends.
b. Swap land for Convention Center parking. Currently, SCDOT employees and students use the City-‐owned surface lot west of the Koger Center. Another surface parking lot that is located directly east of the Convention Center site is owned by SCDOT and is primarily used by SCDOT employees. Swapping these two pieces of property would provide positive benefit to both parties, providing SCDOT convenient parking for their employees and increasing the supply of convenient parking for the Arena and Koger Center. The City would benefit through the acquisition of a key parcel to serve the Convention Center parking needs and preferred hotel site.
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c. Construct a garage for the Convention Center. The current parking demand forecasts for the Convention Center forecast by the City are likely too low if the facility is marketed as a regional convention and meeting facility. Attendees of regional or statewide events typically travel by personal automobile and do not fly and take taxis. While this generates higher demand for the proposed hotel, it will likely result in a shortage of parking. In addition, the hotel will need its own parking supply, and the businesses located along Gervais Street appear to be generating high-‐turnover short-‐term parking demand. Additional market research should be undertaken to ensure the proper number of parking spaces are provided for the Convention Center and hotel. The nearby State employees as described below would contribute additional demand.
The garage was opened in 2006 with the adjacent 200-‐room Hilton Hotel opening simultaneously.
With the current construction of the USC Alumni Center adjacent to the garage on the north and the elimination of two blocks of parking west of the Coliseum for student housing, additional parking needs to be developed within walking distance of the venues. One property to be considered would be the railroad property west of the Convention Center.
d. Coordinate State Capital parking demand. Immediately adjacent to this district is the State Capitol and substantial state office facilities. Informal contact between the State facilities planners and the City parking staff indicates that substantial demand exists for additional parking that could be accommodated in the convention center garage proposed above. The City should undertake discussions immediately with State facilities planners to determine the nature and extent of that demand so it can be positively incorporated into this facility.
Parking Services works closely with State parking for special events at the State House. In addition, the City provides parking for pages in the Legislature in the Park Street Garage at a state rate discount.
e. Acquire or control the railroad land behind convention center. The results of the parking analysis and stakeholder meetings confirms that the railroad parcel remains critical to the surface parking and truck parking needs of the convention center.
See "c."
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f. Prohibit on-‐street parking on Lincoln Street. With the reconstruction of Lincoln Street, no on-‐street parking should be allowed, especially during events. This should be rigorously enforced, including tow away zones along the blocks near the Arena and Convention Center. This corridor will be critical for pedestrian flow and safety access for fire and police vehicles.
This was done during the construction of the Convention Center and the improvements on Senate Street.
g. Manage the on-‐street parking. Long term parking along other streets in the area must be carefully managed in concert with development of other parking facilities. The area is currently not vigorously regulated. In fact, many areas have no curbs or regulatory signs. As the University grows and becomes more aggressive with its efforts to curb commuter students from parking on campus and the Arena reaches maturity, the pressure to park on-‐street all day or all night at no cost will be great. Already, patrons are parking in construction areas and dirt lots during hockey games. Metered parking must be installed before the Arena opens or this influx of free parkers will use spaces needed for events at the Arena. This area must be regulated and carefully managed to ensure continuity with the City’s goals and objectives.
In addition to the location of parking meters and some timed parking, enforcement has been stepped up in this area to coincide with enforcement in other heavily commercial areas.
h. Coordinate with access needs of arena and convention center operations. As this area develops, it will be critical that an open and regular dialogue exist among the facility and parking management entities of the Arena, Convention Center, Coliseum, Koger Center, SCDOT, future hotel and Vista businesses. A regular coordinating committee and meetings must be undertaken to help event planners work together and maximize positive benefit of the limited parking assets.
Parking Services works closely with USC parking to coordinate parking for events. Regular meets are held with all venues in the area and USC and City parking to coordinate events. The Park Street Garage is the primary parking area for the Hilton Hotel (built adjacent to the Park Street garage) and the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.
1.6 Main Street District Recommendations
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a. Vigorously monitor meters and enforcement. These are critical to control short-‐term parking in the Main Street corridor. The locations of parking garages and lots are not convenient to shopping on Main Street, nor are they operated in a way that would be convenient for the short-‐term visitor. Therefore, the success of Main Street as a retail center has more to do with its ability to capture business from office employees in the corridor and the redevelopment of residential uses than with the availability of parking in large quantities. It remains necessary to provide for high turnover along the street frontages, and this can be accomplished by vigorously enforcing the parking regulations. Figure 2.6 shows an overview of the Main Street District. This effort must be done in conjunction with improving the supply of long-‐term parking for the area's employees and encouraging them to use it, as it is typically these employees that are filling the existing short-‐term spaces.
Enforcement has continued at a high level. The Cannon Garage constructed at Sumter and Taylor streets features a well-‐lit and beautified alley from the garage to the 1600 vblock of Main Street. In addition, new lighting and cameras were added to the Taylor Street garage. New lighting was also added at the Sumter, Washington and Lady Street garages.
b. Encourage parking in the back of buildings for owners/operators/employees. In the stakeholder meetings, a proposal was made to create rear lot parking for limited use by demolishing portions of the extremely deep buildings along Main Street. This is a reasonable proposal for otherwise unmarketable space and should be carefully coordinated to ensure consistent cross access agreements for the parcels deep within the blocks.
One project was completed on the 1200 block of Taylor Street with the assistance of Economic Development and a private developer. The City paid for improvements and the developer rents the spaces.
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c. Construct a Parking Garage at Washington and Sumter. Consistent throughout the Stakeholder meetings was the statement that leasing along the Main Street Corridor is negatively impacted by the ability to provide parking. The largest employers along the street related this same observation. The data collected in the Study reinforces the fact that occupancies are well above practical capacity in the south end of the corridor. Given current office occupancy rates, there is a latent demand for 800-‐1200 spaces in the area. A clearly defined pedestrian crossing should be installed from the parking garage to the Adam’s Mark Hotel. Such items as brick pavers or a continuation of the concrete sidewalk through the bituminous roadway could be used to differentiate the crosswalk for drivers. Large planters or other architectural treatments near the roadway at this crossing could also be used help drivers key in on the need to be aware of pedestrian traffic.
A private garage was built on this location to serve a new adjacent office tower fronting on Main Street. This garage provides limited relief for the parking deficit in the area. The City built a new 532-‐car deck at the corner of Sumter and Taylor Streets. The site did not have enough length to construct a more efficient garage.
d. Construct a Parking garage at Assembly and Hampton. As described above, demand exists for more off-‐street parking and this might be another site to analyze. Though it does not provide as convenient pedestrian access to the existing garage, it would be better located for cultural facilities nearby. Detailed feasibility studies should be undertaken to determine how this combination of sites along with the Tapps Building site might serve the current shortage of parking.
The City was unable to come to an agreement for the purchase of this property. It remains a surface lot.
e. Accommodate busses for Art museum parking. The Art Museum receives numerous busloads of children and visitors daily, and is coordinating educational programs with the school district. The Main Street Streetscape should (and currently does) include accommodation for a bus turnout and loading areas for these patrons.
The bus area remains. Parking Services works closely with the museum to provide bus parking at additional locations as the situation demands.
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f. Develop Library parking. The library processes large quantities of visitors on a daily basis (upward of 3,000), and parking is at a premium. The City should coordinate with the County on future planning to ensure that the pressure to provide accommodation for its patrons does not result in County actions that might adversely affect the City’s plans.
No action taken.
g. Coordinate with developers. As development along Main Street moved north in the past, large office buildings were constructed with private parking facilities, using valuable CBD land for parking which only served one user. As new projects are proposed, the City should open a dialogue early in the planning process to determine whether its interests can be best served by creating additional general supply or allowing private entities to control more parking.
Parking Services works closely with the city's economic development staff to locate parking for new developments. This has resulted in a large amount of construction in the block adjacent to the Cannon Garage at Taylor and Sumter.
1.7 CAPITAL/UNIVERSITY DISTRICT RECOMMENDATIONS
a. The Canalside project indicates a proposed parking garage in the hotel and office area of the site. This garage should be developed in concert with the later phases of the project to defer this expenditure until the initial buildings are complete and occupied. The BellSouth parking facility should be sold to BellSouth to make capital available to the Parking System for the new facilities recommended in this study. An overview of the Canal district is shown in Figure 2.8.
The Canalside project's first phase only included residential with adequate parking for the new housing units. The Riverfront Garage was sold to the developer of the adjacent office buildings with evening and weekend parking for Riverfront Park included in the agreement.
1.8 Trolley Operations
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a. Modify the trolley routes and headways. The existing trolley routes do not appear to serve the potential clientele or parking garages with timely or reasonably convenient service. A separate study should be undertaken to determine the optimal routes to capture the most riders for two separate user groups: lunchtime City Center employees and parking related users. Special event and evening users are somewhat more straightforward and can be planned internally as occasions arise. The existing bus system is privately owned and operated. However, negotiations are proceeding to transfer control of the buses to the City. The City should integrate the bus system with its trolley operations under the direction of a new transit authority to improve the function of both systems. The integration should be coordinated between the new transit authority and parking operations to provide the best service to both sets of customers.
Trolleys are now the responsibility of the RTA.
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Existing Assets (Garages) Arsenal Hill Garage -‐ This garage is a condominium garage with 250 spaces, 150 owned by the City. It serves offices in the vicinity of the Governor's Mansion Complex as well as the Strom Thurmond Federal Building. There are 10 metered spaces in the garage. Cannon Garage -‐ The newest garage in the system, this facility serves the northern end of the Main Street corridor and is close to reaching maximum capacity. There are 66 hourly spaces on the first level and first ramp with monthly and event customers above the first ramp. This garage features a beautified alleyway to Main Street. There are a growing number of residential customers in the garage, providing for a dayttime and evening customer base. A banquest hall adjacent to the garage also provides event customers. Lady Street Garage -‐ The largest garage in the system benefits from a major office tower adjacent to the garage. In addition to monthly customers, the garage has a steady stream of hourly customers coming to a rejuventated Main Street. New control and pay in lane equipment will enable the City to capture daytime, evening and weekend revenue. A major developer is planning to construct 250 non-‐student apartments above the garage which will secure a major evening revenue stream. Lincoln Street Garage -‐ Although well below capacity during the recession, the occupancy rate is rising with the completion of a new Hyatt Place Hotel and the current construction of an Aflot Hotel adjacent to the garage. Located in what was once a warehouse district, the garage is seeing a major increase in tenants as older buildings are converted to office use. The garage sits next to a major hospitality area and is gaining a number of nighttime hourly customers as well as monthly customers in the daytime and at night who work in the hospitality industry. This garage is also used for events several blocks to the south when the Park Street Garage reaches capacity. Visitors are often shuttled from venues to the garage. Park Street Garage -‐ Built to serve the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center and the adjacent Hilton Hotel, this garage stays relatively full from events at those venues as well as at the University of South Carolina's Colonial Center and the Koger Performing Arts Center. The USC Alumni Center has been built next to the garage and opened in August, 2015. Sumter Street Garage -‐ Accommodating a large number of hourly patrons, this garage serves the adjacent Marriott and Sheraton hotels and their meeting space. Monthly rentals are at their maximum with the addition of a student population in a n adjacent dormitory/apartment complex. The gates in this garage stay down 24-‐7 thanks to an upgrade in control equipment and the addition of pay in lane equipment.
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Sumter Street Lot -‐ This lot stays full with a combination of monthly parkers and meters. Nearby residents use the lot in the evenings along with visitors to nearby restaurants. Taylor Street Garage -‐ The oldest garage in the City's system remains viable thanks in large part to new development on Main Street. The garage houses a police substation and features ground level hourly parking. The number of monthly spaces stays near the maximum capascity. Washington Street Garage -‐ While serving city employees in an adjacent office building, the are a number of monthly customers and limited hourly spaces. This garage is also used for storage of valet parked vehicles from a nearby hotel.
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Section 2
Management and Operations
Included in this Section: Discussion of Management Structure
Operations and Existing Codes Rate Survey and Recommendations
Capital Improvement Plan
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Management Structure The Parking Services Department was created by the city manager in July, 2006, as part of the recommendations made in the 2002 Parking Master Plan. Prior to 2002, parking tasks were fragmented in many areas of city government. Separating Parking as a distinct department operating as an enterprise fund provided Columbia with a transparent method to show that large capital programs, such as the construction of the three newest garages, were all funded without the use of tax dollars. Standard & Poor’s continually affirms the City’s rating, in part due to the stability of the operation. Appendix A shows an organizational chart of the Parking Services Department for FY16. This organization has served the department well in its two divisions: the Operations Division and the Facilities Division. Operations handles the sales of garage and lot spaces; the sale of permits for residential parking and loading zones; the enforcement of all parking regulations; event parking; and the staffing of the Customer Service Center at 820 Washington Street as well as staffing the larger garages in the parking system. Parking Facilities is responsible for the operation of approximately 4,600 parking meters and for the maintenance and cleaning of the eight garages owned by the City. Parking Operations In addition to its daily tasks, Parking Operations provides outreach to neighborhood and business groups. Its success in working with neighborhood issues has led to excellent partnerships with many community organizations, especially through the development of residential parking permit districts. Parking Operations has been instrumental in assisting the Granby, Whaley Street, MLK and Wales Garden neighborhoods develop successful petitions for Residential Parking Permit Districts. The division has also helped a number of neighborhoods by coordinating the installation of “No Parking” and other signs, along with yellow curbs, to reduce problems within neighborhoods. The enforcement arm of the division issues an average of 160,000 parking tickets per year with 15 employees. Enforcement has developed a well-‐deserved reputation for efficiency. It should be stressed that aggressive enforcement of parking regulations, including parking meters, exists in order to create much needed turnover of parking spaces in commercial areas. Without strong enforcement, on-‐street parking would have reduced turnover, traffic congestion would increase and businesses would suffer.
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Overall, this division operates very effectively. Customer service personnel seem to be very customer oriented and complaints appear to be low, although the division should implement a tracking system for complaints as well as positive feedback. The enforcement and collections activities have been hampered by an aging software system. City Council last year approved the purchase of new hardware and software from T2 Systems which is expected to increase the efficiency of these operations and provide customers with new levels of service, including online payment of parking citations and the ability to roll out the new pay by cell service to allow customers to utilize various payment forms for meters. LMG sees two major deficiencies in the Operations Division: 1) The lack of a cohesive marketing and communications program with commercial customers; and 2) Inefficient event parking due to a lack of staff. Marketing LMG strongly recommends a marketing position (business liaison) be added to the division to develop ongoing relationships with the businesses in the Downtown, Vista and Five Points areas. This position would provide businesses with information regarding available parking and parking programs. This is especially critical as the Parking Services Department moves toward the implementation of pay by cell and other technologies which will enable businesses to validate parking for their customer, whether it be on street or in parking garages and lots. This position would also develop agreements with owners of private lots for parking services management. As of this writing this position has been approved. By engaging these stakeholders on a regular basis, Parking Services should see a reduction in complaints and in many cases an increase in revenue. Events Several factors have impacted the number of event which should be manned by the department: an overall improvement in the economy which has resulted in more events; the newer equipment at the Sumter and Lady garages which demands more staff time in the evening to manage events; the increased demand on City facilities in the area of the Park Street Garage; and new facilities such as the USC Alumni Center and other venues. Event parking is generally broken down into two phases: revenue control and customer service. For typical events, staff collects a fee as customers enter the garage, the revenue control. Later in the day or evening, several hundred cars may try to exit the garage at the same time. This is where customer service is critical. Staff must be on hand to assist customers exiting the garage. For evening and weekend events, this produces a dilemma as to what the employees do during the event.
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Since events don’t occur on a regular schedule staffing with existing staff for daytime and evening events are becoming costly and daytime events take employees away from their normal functions. Parking Services has developed a pilot program utilizing part-‐time certified security agents to assist with events. One City employee is always present to account for cash taken up before the event and to insure all garage mechanical systems are working. The temp security agents assist in taking up money and are present after the event to provide traffic control in the garage. During the event, the uniformed security agents patrol the garage, giving parkers an increased feeling of safety and providing an extra layer of crime prevention. In addition, the fixed cost of temp personnel is less than the cost of overtime pay and eliminates taking revenue producing employees away from their normal tasks. In developing agreements with event sponsors, Parking Services has been adding an hourly fee for events to cover the cost of the temp workers. LMG recommends the City issue an RFP for this type of temp service to expand this type of service. Parking Facilities The parking meter operation has added new efficiencies by taking advantage of newer management philosophies. In addition to the primary tasks of keeping meters repaired and having coins collected on a regular basis, the Meter Shop has improved its efficiency in its major tasks, providing more time for such tasks as cleaning the glass on the City’s 4,600 parking meters. LMG believe the pay by cell technology will at some time in the future mean that many, if not all meters will no longer be needed. This is happening in many European cities where pay by cell has replaced individual parking meters as well as pay by space and pay and display machines. While Parking Facilities is taking advantage of newer technologies in garages, the cleaning of garages is the weakest part of the entire parking system. Many cities have as many employees cleaning a single garage than the City has cleaning eight garages plus several parking lots. Facilities is adding new positions and Is in the process of adding new cleaning equipment. In recent months, the cleaning of the garages has improved dramatically.. It might serve the City well to join with other owners of garages, such as the University of South Carolina, to do a joint bid for heavy cleaning services, such as prerssure washing exteriors. The alternative would be to add personnel and equipment. In any case, in order to provide the best possible customer experience, the City should maintain a cleaning crew with expanded duties, such as touch up painting and great attention to detail.
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The Parking Facilities Division recently had an engineering firm develop a five-‐year CIP program for its older garages. The recommendations of the engineer should be implemented. A CIP budget for FY 2016 has been developed and is being implemented to remediate the priority items identified by the engineer. Perhaps the largest single challenge facing the Parking Facilities Division is the fact that 3M, which only three years ago purchased Federal APD, has divested itself of its parking division. The City’s four gated garages (Lady, Sumter, Park and Lincoln) contain either Federal APD (Park & Lincoln) or new 3M software and hardware (Lady & Sumter). Federal APD was the largest producer of parking control equipment in the United States. 3M’s abandonment of its parking division and its manufacture of components leaves literally thousands of customers worrying about the future of their software and hardware. LMG believes some company, perhaps another company in the parking control equipment business, will pick up the pieces left by 3M. Privatization Any discussion of privatization in the parking industry must begin with a simple question with a never ending series of answers: What does privatization mean? Basically, there are five types of privatization:
• Selling the entire parking system • Selling components of the parking system • Hiring a private firm to operate a parking system • Hiring a private company or companies to operate portions of the parking
system • Outsourcing critical tasks needed to effectively run the parking system
Selling either an entire system or a component of the system (i.e., garages, meters) has traditionally been done by cities which are short of cash and believe they need a fast infusion of liquidity. Many in the parking industry point to Chicago’s sale (actually a long term concession of 75 years) of its parking meter system to Morgan Stanley. Chicago got a quick infusion of $1.2 billion for a 75 year lease. In return it got frustration on the part of its citizens which quickly turned to rage, not to mention a political nightmare. Chicago’s main problem was that the majority of the $1.2 billion was spent to cover debt in areas other than parking. Other cities and universities have done similar, but smaller deals, many of which have resulted in damaging the financial solvency of their overall parking systems. There is no doubt that some cities have had success with well thought out sales or long term leases.
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Many cities, most airports, colleges and private sector owners of garages have had great success with entering into management or operating agreements with private companies. In some cases ownership only involves one or two garages and a few lots. In other cases, major cities have privatized their operations. All parking systems are different and each privatization deal has to be tailored to specific needs. Privatization in some minds is always considered a positive because they see the public sector as a callous and sluggish bureaucracy and the private sector as inherently more innovative and efficient. In truth, both the public and private sectors have successes and failures. Government does a better job at some things and the private sector excels at others. The parking industry is somewhere in the middle, with examples of public and private successes and failures. Columbia’s parking system has been sluggish at times, especially with larger projects. On day to day activities, they respond quickly, greasing the proverbial squeaking wheel, responding quickly to any priority request. It should also be noted that Columbia’s system has been profitable. Until 2005, for example, the Parking Fund transferred between $1 and $2 million annually to the general fund. This stopped in 2006 due to the revenue bond issue which resulted in the construction of the Park Street, Lincoln Street and Cannon garages, along with improvements to many existing garages. The annual bond payment of $3.1 million and payment of all expenses to operate the parking system from parking revenues alone, speaks positively about the operation of the system. Unlike Columbia, many cities subsidize parking operations and bonded indebtedness from their general fund. LMG points this out to demonstrate a major reason why many private operators would be eager to run Columbia’s system. Two of the three garages built with bond funds, Cannon and Lincoln, are still ramping up. Private operators know that revenues from those garages will continue to grow and that for the time being, repairs to all the new garages will be minimal. Columbia’s system would be a prize for a private operator. Most of the garages are full. Meter and citation revenue are relatively constant with the exception of the removal of metered spaces near USC. Add to that the fact that Columbia’s prices for parking and tickets are among the lowest in the Southeast. Financially, there is a lot of room for growth in revenues. This is not to say that Columbia’s system doesn’t need some tweaking. It certainly does. It needs more employees or contract help. It needs better marketing and branding. It needs to continue on its current path of expanding newer technologies. It needs to face the challenge of increasing demand and decreasing supply. It needs tweaking, but not an overhaul. Many of the private companies are very good at running parking systems, some are not. All are about making a profit and all the good ones understand that keeping the
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end users happy is critical to the bottom line. Many cities and universities have excellent private operators who produce a good product at a reasonable cost. The private sector can reduce certain costs by providing their employees fewer benefits and/or salary than the City of Columbia. In some instances, they have national contracts which get them better pricing for everything from light bulbs to parking control equipment. When assessing the risks versus the benefits of this type of privatization, two items are often overlooked: control and unintended consequences. Any type of privatization comes with a certain amount of loss of control. What type of control are we talking about? The answer to that question depends on the details of a privatization contract. Does the private operator have control of rates? Do they do maintenance and not capital repairs? Do they share a percentage of revenues or operate on a flat fee? Does the City still maintain some type of parking staff or do they have one person serving as a contract administrator? When the City wants to change something, do they have to amend the contract? Does the private operator rely on other City departments for direct services? What happens if the City wants to end the contract? The private sector can deliver efficiencies when the task being sought is well defined, easy to measure, and subject to competition. In parking privatization, however, the devil is in the details…and in the exceptions. Consider the City hiring a company to manage its parking system. The contract calls for the company to receive a flat fee plus a percentage of increased revenue. The City wants to offer free parking to the Municipal Association for their annual conference or to the general public for an event at the Convention Center sponsored by the City. Or the City wants to bag meters for a one-‐time special event. The private operator would want to be compensated for such decisions by the City since that would cut into their profits. What happens to using parking as an economic development tool but offering a reduced parking rate for a new business for a year to entice them to locate near a parking garage? What other unintended consequences would there be? The last form of privatization may be the best fit for the City of Columbia, with specific tasks and specific task oriented positions being outsourced. Using private security agents (as currently being done on a trial basis) to man events could be broadened into enforcement. Private agents could be used to enforce parking regulations in the evenings and on weekends. If they are certified security agents, they could also write handicapped parking citations, which current City Parking Services staff cannot under current state law. Turnover in parking enforcement could become an advantage by outsourcing. Currently, there is only one enforcement monitor who has worked for the City
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longer than three years.. Walking 10 to 12 miles a day while being constantly criticized or worse by members of the public doesn’t lend itself to longevity in any city. Through attrition, LMG believes the City should begin to outsource its non-‐supervisory positions in enforcement. Based upon an informal survey of the hourly cost of certified security agents in the Columbia area, the City could save an estimated $120,000 per year by outsourcing non-‐supervisory parking enforcement officers.
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Existing Codes
LMG has reviewed the municipal codes relating to parking and has made a number of recommendations for changes in order to bring that section of the codes up to date. The major change recommended is to change parking violations from criminal to civil offenses and to establish an administrative appeals process which would no longer burden the City’s Municipal Court. This is a process already completed by many cities in South Carolina and throughout the Southeast. This recommendation is similar to one made by the administrative judge of the court. Some of the other changes are related to new technologies, such as pay by cell and SmartCards, which were not envisioned when the parking meter ordinance was adopted a number of years ago. Others suggest language changes to clarify or simplify the intent of portions of the codes. One example is to make parking on a yellow curb a violation without the need to clutter an area with unnecessary signage, especially in residential areas. The following presents the proposed code modifications. Note that these are changes for consideration as staff works with Legal to update all applicable codes. The suggested changes are illustrated in red:
Sec. 12-41. - Unattended motor vehicles. It shall be unlawful for any person driving or in charge of a
motor vehicle to leave such vehicle unattended on any street, alley, other public property, or new or used car lot, or on any private parking lot to which the general public is invited and at which there is no attendant, without first stopping the engine and locking the ignition and removing the ignition key from the vehicle; provided, however, the provisions of this section shall not be applicable to vehicles used for public transportation, vehicles used for delivery and emergency purposes, or vehicles owned and operated for governmental purposes by the city, county or state. Whenever any police officer or city employee charged with such duties, shall find a motor vehicle standing unattended with the ignition key in the vehicle in violation of this section, such police officer or city employee shall prepare a citation against the owner of the vehicle and shall affix the citation to the vehicle. The registered owner of a vehicle found in violation shall be held prima facie responsible for any such violation.
Sec. 12-42. - Storage of commercial vehicles, recreational vehicles or trailers on streets.
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No person shall store or permit to be stored any commercial vehicle such as a tractor trailer, recreational vehicle or trailer of any size or description, upon any of the streets of the city. For the purpose of this section, storage shall mean the leaving or parking of such vehicle unattended on a street for a longer time than two hours, day or night or unmoved from its location on a street for a longer time than two hours, day or night, with no obvious sign of continuous human use during the two-hour period. For the purposes of this section, the term "street" shall include any area within the street right-of-way including the area between the curb-line and adjacent property lines.
Sec. 12-43. - Parking prohibited during certain hours in designated places.
When signs are erected in each block giving notice thereof, no person shall park a vehicle between the hours and days so designated. on any day except Sundays and public holidays.
Sec. 12-45. - Stopping, standing or parking in loading zone. (a) No person shall stop, stand or park a vehicle for any purpose or period of time other than for the expeditious loading or unloading of passengers in any place marked as a passenger zone during hours when the regulations applicable to such passenger zone are effective, and then only for a period not to exceed three minutes. (b) No person shall stop, stand or park a vehicle for any purpose or length of time other than for expeditious unloading and delivery or pickup and loading of materials in any place marked as a loading zone during the hours of 7:00 a.m. 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m., Monday through Saturday. In no case shall the stop for loading and unloading of materials exceed 30 minutes. Unless otherwise posted by the traffic engineer, any vehicle may occupy a loading zone on Sunday, or for a period not to exceed 30 15 minutes after 11:00 a.m. and before 8:00 a.m. on Monday through Saturday. Sec. 12-48. - Parking between roadway and adjacent property line.
It shall be unlawful for any person to stand or park a vehicle upon that portion of a street between the curb lines or the lateral
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lines of a roadway and adjacent property lines or upon any portion of a street adjacent to the curb where the curb has been painted yellow; or in lots and garages owned by the city where reserved signs are posted unless authorized. Where a sidewalk exists, it shall be unlawful to park on any portion of the sidewalk or between the sidewalk and roadway unless marked for parking.
Sec. 12-49. - Parking for certain purposes prohibited. No person shall stand or park a vehicle upon any roadway for
the principal purpose of:
(1) Displaying it for sale; and/or (2) Washing, greasing or repairing such vehicle, except repairs necessitated by an emergency. (3) Sales of any kind or the distribution of any goods or materials unless permitted by another section of this code
Sec. 12-51. - Use of loading zones. (a) Parking places marked as loading zones shall be used only by vehicles actually engaged in loading or unloading, pickup or delivery of merchandise to or from a business which can be served from the loading zone within a period of 30 minutes. (b) It shall be unlawful for any vehicle, regardless of size or tonnage, to occupy any loading zone unless the owner has first obtained an annual permit from the chief of police, which shall run from July 1 to June 30. The chief of police department designated by the city manager shall issue permits only for those vehicles which have as their principal business purpose the transporting of goods and merchandise, and he shall collect an annual fee of $5.00 $10.00 for one vehicle permit, provided that additional vehicles under the same ownership may be issued permits for a fee of $2.00 $5.00each. as shown in 12-150. (c) The owner of any vehicle found in violation of this section shall be subject to the penalties as shown in Sec. 12-150. guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable, upon conviction, in accordance with section 1-5, and the permit, if any, issued for the vehicle, shall be revoked in addition to other penalties provided by law.
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Sec. 12-52. - Certain parked vehicles declared nuisance.
Any vehicle parked continuously in any metered, city controlled lot or garage space parking space for 24 hours or more or parked on any street or other public property, whether in an authorized or unauthorized zone, which is found to be the subject of $50.00 $100 or more past due on outstanding bonds under the city parking ordinance, is hereby declared to be a public nuisance.
Sec. 12-53. - Immobilization and impoundment of vehicles. (a) Authorized; procedure; fee. Any vehicle identified as a
public nuisance may be impounded by the city by giving authorization to a commercial towing or wrecker service to tow the vehicle away and store it in a safe place until claimed by the owner or by immobilizing it in such a manner as to prevent its operation.
(1) Immobilization shall be at the direction of a city police officer or other city employee charged with such responsibility.
(2) Upon immobilization, the officer or employee shall place upon the vehicle a notice sufficient to warn the owner or driver that the vehicle has been immobilized and that any attempt to move or drive it may result in damage. Such notice shall also inform the owner or driver of the reason for immobilization and the amount of the outstanding bonds then due.
(3) Immobilization shall remain in place for 48 hours unless sooner released in accordance with subsection (b) of this section. If compliance with subsection (b) of this section has not occurred within 48 hours, the vehicle shall be towed and impounded. (4) The owner of the vehicle immobilized or towed shall have the right to contest the validity of the action taken by the city by requesting a hearing by the city manager or
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his/her designee as described in Sec. 12-80. The request for a hearing must be in writing and delivered to the department designated by the city manager city manager's office within ten (10) days of immobilization or towing. Any person dissatisfied with the decision of the city manager’s or his/her designee may appeal the decision to a court of competent jurisdiction within ten (10) days after notice of the decision from which the appeal is taken. (5) The owner of an immobilized vehicle shall be subject to a fee as described in Sec. 12-150. $35.00 for the immobilization, which fee shall be exclusive of any bonds posted, fines imposed or storage costs assessed as described in Sec. 12-150.
(b) Release of vehicle to owner.
(1) No impounded vehicle shall be released without satisfactory proof of ownership. The owner of a towed or immobilized vehicle may secure its release by:
a. Posting the bond required by the municipal court for his appearance to contest the validity of the actions of the city and to answer for the parking violations. Paying all overdue parking fines and any accumulated late fees. b. Paying the fee imposed by subsection (a) (5) of this section.
(2) Towing and storage charges of a commercial towing or wrecker service shall be the responsibility of the owner.
Sec. 12-72. - Location and operation of meters. Parking meters installed in the parking meter zones
established by the provisions of this division shall be placed upon the curb immediately adjacent to the individual parking places described in this division. Each parking meter shall be placed or set in such a manner as to show or display by a signal or an electronic method that the parking space adjacent to such meter is or is not legally in use. Each parking meter shall be installed and set to display, upon the deposit of coins or by an electronic payment method for an amount shown in Sec. 12-150. Fees., a $0.25 coin of the United States, a signal indicating legal purchased parking for up to the maximum time allowed by the meter, one-
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half hour in such zones as are designated by the city council. Each meter shall also be arranged so that upon the expiration of the legal purchased parking time, it will indicate by a mechanical operation and the dropping of the proper signal or by an electronic method that the lawful purchased parking has expired. Parking payment devices such as pay by space and pay and display shall be installed in areas established by the city manager within parking meter zones to provide convenient methods of payment for parking. Pay by phone programs shall be used to allow the general public additional methods of payment for meters. Where meters or other devices are not practical in the judgment of the city manager, signage shall be erected at parking spaces and at the entrance to public off-street parking to allow members of the public to pay for parking using a pay by phone service. Payment for such parking spaces is defined in Sec. 12-150. Fees..
Sec. 12-73. Marking of spaces; vehicles to be parked within markings.
The city manager or designee is hereby instructed to have lines, or markings or signage painted or placed upon the curb or upon the street adjacent to each parking meter or other parking device or spaces controlled by a payment program for the purpose of designating the parking space for which such meter is to be used, and each vehicle parked alongside of or next to any parking meter shall park within the lines or markings so established. It shall be unlawful and a violation of this division to park any vehicle across any such line or marking or to park such vehicle in such position that the vehicle shall not be entirely within the area so designated by such lines or markings or to park a vehicle in a partially obstructed space which would prevent the vehicle from parking within the designated lines or markings.
The city manager or designee is hereby instructed to have lines, markings or signage painted or placed upon the curb or upon the street adjacent to each parking meter, parking control device or spaces controlled by a payment program, for the purpose of designating the parking space. Each vehicle parked within the space shall park within the lines or markings so established. It shall be a violation of this division to park any vehicle across any such line or marking or to park such a vehicle in such a position that the vehicle shall not be entirely within the area so designated
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by such lines or markings or to park a vehicle in a partially obstructed space which would prevent the vehicle from parking within the designated lines or markings.
Sec. 12-74. Parking position.
When a parking space in any parking meter zone is parallel with the adjacent curb or sidewalk, any vehicle parked in such parking space shall be parked so that the foremost part of such vehicle shall be alongside of and nearest to the parking meter. When a parking space on any parking meter zone is diagonal to the curb or sidewalk, any vehicle parked in such parking space shall be parked with the foremost part of such vehicle directed at and nearest to such meter. The total length of any vehicle parked in a designated compact space, shall not extend beyond the designated lines or markings.
Sec. 12-75. Deposit of coin. When any vehicle shall be parked in any space alongside or next to which a parking meter, parking control device or a space controlled by pay by phone signage is located in accordance with this division, the operator of such vehicle shall, upon entering the parking space, shall immediately purchase time by electronic method or the deposit or cause to be deposited a coin of the United States in such parking meter or other established devices, and the parking space may then be lawfully occupied by such vehicle during the period provided. If such vehicle shall remain parked in any such parking space beyond the maximum parking time limit, or beyond the time purchased,, the parking meter shall display a sign or signal showing illegal expired parking, and in that event such vehicle shall be considered as parked overtime and beyond the period of legal purchased parking time, and the parking of a vehicle overtime or beyond the period of legal purchased parking time, in any such part of a street, where any such meter is located shall be a violation of this division and subject to the civil infraction set forth in the following sections. Sec. 12-76. - Overtime parking.
It shall be unlawful a violation of this division for any person to cause, allow, permit or suffer any vehicle registered in his name, or which he has leased or rented from another person, to be parked longer than the maximum period of legal purchased
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parking time established for any parking meter zone as described in this division, as shown on the face of the meter or through other established devices or eapproved electronic methods. The provisions of this section apply whether or not; an additional parking time is purchased by an electronic method or by depositing additional coin is put in the meter after the vehicle has remained parked longer than the maximum period shown on signage, the meter face or parking control device.
Sec. 12-77. - Depositing slugs. It shall be unlawful a violation of this division to deposit or cause to be deposited in any parking meter any slug, device or metallic substitute for a coin of the United States or to use any method to alter any device or software to avoid paying parking fees. Sec. 12-78. - Defacing or injuring meters. It shall be unlawful a violation of this division for any person to deface, injure, tamper with, open or willfully break, destroy or impair the usefulness of any parking meter, parking device, signage or parking software installed or established under the provisions of this division. Sec. 12-79. - Violations; citations; penalty. Civil fines for municipal parking violations. All municipal parking violations established under this article shall be subject to civil fines only, and not subject to criminal penalties, except as otherwise mandated by the general law of the state. Enforcement and administration shall be pursuant to such written policies and procedures as are approved by the city manager for that purpose, inclusive of the amount of such fines, which shall be approved in reasonable amounts and incorporated into a schedule of fees. (a) It shall be the duty of city police officers, other city or contract employees designated by the city manager, or any other state or federal government agency designated by the city manager with such responsibility to report:
(1) The number of each parking meter or parking space which indicates that the vehicle occupying the parking space adjacent to such parking meter is or has been parked in violation of any of the provisions of this division; (2) The state license number of such vehicle; and (3) Any other facts, a knowledge of which is necessary to a thorough understanding of the circumstances attending such violation.
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(b) Each such police officer, other city employees or other as designated by the city manager, or any other state or federal government agency designated by the city manager shall also attach to such vehicle a notice citation to the owner thereof that such vehicle has been parked in violation of a provision of this division, stating the bond set by the city court in regard to such violation stating the amount of the civil fine only. (c) In any parking meter zone, every hour or fraction of any hour of overtime parking shall constitute a separate offense. (d) Persons who receive a parking ticket may elect to pay the bond amount of the parking ticket or they may invoke the right of trial upon their acceptance of a courtesy summons in substitution of each parking ticket issued. Upon receiving a request for such trial, a courtesy summons shall be issued and a copy of that courtesy summons will be mailed to the owner's address listed in the vehicle's registration information along with the date and time of the trial. The original courtesy summons will be served at the time of the trial. Service of a courtesy summons vests the municipal court with jurisdiction to hear and dispose of the charge for which the courtesy summons was issued and served. Upon conviction after trial, the person shall be punished for each violation in accordance with section 1-5 Sec. 12-80. Payment and administrative review. (a) Persons who receive such a parking ticket may elect to pay the civil infraction in the amount of the parking ticket. (b) Violations under this division are not criminal offenses subject to the criminal penalties prescribed in Sec. 12-150. Fees. (c) Any violation of section __- or section ___ shall be subject to an assessment or fee for the use of the space during the time use was not authorized in accordance with the fee or timed parking set forth in the city's schedule of fees, as revised from time to time. Sec. 12-801. - Disposition of revenue. The funds derived from parking meters, parking devices and pay by phone programs as provided in this division are hereby levied and assessed as fees to provide for the proper regulation and control of traffic upon the public streets, and to cover the cost of the supervision, inspection, installation, operation, maintenance, control and use of the parking spaces and regulating the parking of vehicles in the parking meter zones created by this division. Sec. 12-812. - Exemptions.
(a) All commercial trucks while actually loading and unloading are required to pull in to the curb without charge in metered spaces.
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(b) Any commercial truck parked in a meter space longer than while actually loading and unloading will be in violation of this division.
(c) Disabled operators of vehicles bearing license plates issued by the state highway department indicating that the operator is disabled shall be exempt from the requirements of this division pertaining to deposit of coins in payment of parking fees. All other parking and meter regulations, including overtime parking prohibitions, except timed parking shall apply to such operators.
(d) Witnesses who testify or are subpoenaed to testify in criminal cases in the circuit court, while in attendance at court, shall not be subject to parking meter requirements for deposit of coins or overtime parking, and parking meter tickets certified by the clerk of court as exempt under this subsection shall be cancelled.
Secs. 12-83—12-100. Reserved. 2Appeals of civil penalty assessments. (a) Unless another procedure is established for a particular violation by ordinance or state law, appeals of civil penalty assessments shall be governed by this section. (b) Any person assessed a civil penalty may appeal by filing a written notice of appeal with the city within 15 days from the date of assessment. Failure to file a notice of appeal within this time period shall constitute a waiver of the right to contest the civil penalty. (c) Appeals shall be heard by a hearing officer through a quasi-judicial process. The city manager may establish rules and procedures that govern the appeal and quasi-judicial hearing process. (d) A hearing officer's decision on a civil penalty appeal is subject to further review in the Circuit Court by proceedings in the nature of certiorari. Any petition for writ of certiorari shall be filed with the clerk of Circuit Court within 30 days after the date that the hearing officer's written decision is issued. Sec. 12-111. - Permit fees.
Fees will be charged as follows for permits issued under this division: shown in Sec. 12-150. Fees.
(1) Owner occupant vehicle permits: $5.00 per vehicle for a 24-month period
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(2) Tenant vehicle permits: $10.00 per vehicle for a 6-month period.
(3) Owner occupant visitor permits: $1.00 per vehicle.
(4) Tenant Visitor permits: $5.00 per vehicle.
(5) Transfer to another vehicle: $1.00 per vehicle.
Sec. 12-112. - Violations; citations; penalty.
(a) Except as otherwise provided in this division, it shall be unlawful for any person to parking a vehicle in a permit parking district without a permit or visitor's permit during any posted hours is subject to receiving a citation. The penalty amount is listed in Sec. 12-150. Fees..
(b) Upon violation of this division, there shall be attached to such vehicle a citation to the owner thereof that such vehicle has been parked in violation of a provision of this division, stating the bond set by the court for such violation. Every person convicted of a violation of any of the provisions of this division shall be punished for each such violation by a fine as shown in Sec. 12-150.
(c) Any vehicle parked in violation of a provision of this division for more than 12 consecutive hours shall constitute a public nuisance and shall be summarily towed at the expense of the owner. In such cases, a notice shall be affixed to the vehicle a minimum of 24 hours prior to towing.
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Rate Survey
Introduction Lansing Melbourne Group (LMG) performed a survey of parking rates in similar cities in the region. These peer cities were selected in discussions with City staff and represent characteristics that are similar to many of those found in Columbia. LMG reviewed rates for on street and off street parking in areas with similar urban conditions. The cities of Savannah, Georgia, Greenville, South Carolina, Raleigh, North Carolina, and Richmond, Virginia were surveyed in order to establish a comparative basis for the presentation of future parking rate options for Columbia. Peer Cities
The following section provides overall descriptions of the selected cities, highlighting specific characteristics that make them comparable to Columbia. It also discusses general parking rate levels.
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Savannah, Georgia is home to 4 college campuses (Savannah College of Art and Design, Savannah State, Armstrong Atlantic State University, and South University) and is known for its historic districts. It has a city population of 142,022 and metro area population of 366,047 spanning an area of 108.7 square miles. The city provides five parking garages with 3,415 spaces. Additionally, the city operates over 3,000 metered parking spaces and six surface lots in the downtown area. Metered parking rates range from $0.30-‐$1.00 per hour depending on the location of the meter.
Skyline of Savannah, GA
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Greenville, South Carolina is one of the fastest growing urban areas in the state with a metro population of 850,965 and a city population of 60,709 spanning an area of 26.1 square miles. Greenville has a host of institutions for higher education including the South Carolina College of Pharmacy. Located about halfway between Atlanta and Charlotte along the I-‐85 corridor, Greenville is a hub for travel and commerce. The city operates a total of 10 parking garages with 6,405 available spaces. “The Parking Division,” located in the Public Works Department oversees the operation of all City garages and parking lots. This includes ten parking facilities, which provide 6,320 parking spaces, two lots, and more than 700 free on-‐street spaces which are regulated by time limits. Street view of downtown Greenville, SC
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Raleigh, North Carolina has a total population of 423,179 and a metro population of 1,188,564 spanning 144.8 square miles. Being the state capital and an area known for higher education, Raleigh was used in the study due the many qualities it shares with Columbia. In downtown Raleigh there are 9 garages with 8,196 parking spaces. On street parking in Raleigh was transformed to a branded management program called “ParkLink” in 2010. ParkLink is responsible for parking enforcement, collections, parking meters, permits and maintenance/improvements of all City-‐owned parking decks and lots. Downtown view of Raleigh, NC
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Richmond, Virginia was chosen in the study due to its similarities to Columbia as a state capital, an area growing in density, and a southern city rich in institutions of higher education. Richmond has a city population of 211,172 and a metro population of 1,231,980 spanning an area of 62.5 square miles. The city has replaced nearly 950 meters with 120 solar powered pay stations since 2012 with a current rate of $0.75 per hour. There are 86 off street parking lots with 4 garages in downtown Richmond.
Aerial view of Richmond’s business district
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Parking Rate Findings Meter rates were compared; both on and off street values are shown in the table below: Savannah,
GA Greenville, SC
Raleigh, NC
Richmond, VA
Sub-‐Area 1 Sub-‐Area 2 Sub-‐Area 3 Sub-‐Area 4 on street meter rates
$1.00/hr (no meters) $1.00/hr $0.75/hr
off street surface lots
n/a $0.75/hr $5.00/hr $3-‐$19/day
The average rate for on street parking is about $1.00 per hour ($0.91/hr) except in Greenville, which only supplies off street parking. Both Greenville and Raleigh offer monthly rates in off street lots, costing $69.70/month and between $65.00-‐$154.00 respectively depending on the location of the desired space/lot. The only area surveyed that currently uses a pay by phone service is Richmond, with Savannah, Greenville, and Raleigh looking into implementing a similar service in the future. Garage/Parking Deck Data All four cities offer multiple garage-‐style parking decks with an average hourly rate of $2.19. The average monthly rate is $92.93. The table below illustrates the number of decks, spaces, average hourly rate, and monthly rate in the peer cities surveyed. Savannah Greenville Raleigh Richmond Number of Decks 5 10 9 4 Total Spaces 3,415 6,405 8,196 Unknown Avg Hourly Rate $1.00/Hr $1.50/hr $2.25/hr $4.00/hr Monthly Rate $102 $69.70 $105.00 $95 In Savannah, Raleigh and Richmond, the charge for an overtime violation is a flat fee of $20. In Greenville, the charge for overtime violation is variable, starting at $5 for the first 15 minutes, and an additional $8 every two hours thereafter.
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Data Sources The contact info for the peer cities that provided data for this study are listed below: Savannah Greenville Raleigh Richmond Dominic Ross Dennis Garrett John Wynn Jovan (Standard
Parking) (912) 651-‐6470
(864) 467-‐4900 (919) 996-‐3999 (804) 649-‐7275
Recommendations
The current parking rates in Columbia have been in place for an extended period of time (since December 2006) and require modification to maintain the economic viability of the system. It appears that similar size cities in the region have already recognized similar cost issues and adjusted their rates accordingly to levels above those found in Columbia. Municipal Garage Monthly Rates LMG recommends that the current rates be adjusted to reflect the rates shown in the following table, which was developed recognizing certain factors based on current demand and occupancy Facility Capacity Permits Unreserved Reserved
Current Recommended Current Recommended Arsenal Hill 150 57 $57 $60 None Cannon 532 443 $65 $70 $85 $100 Lady Street 1006 924 $78 $90 $105 $125 Lincoln Street
675 359 $65 $70 $80 $90
Park Street 850 238 $65 $70 $80 $100 Sumter Street
816 843 $78 $90 $105 $125
Taylor Street
388 203 $52 $60 None
Washington Street
447 191 $78 $90 $105 $125
The Cannon and Lincoln garages are close to full. Lincoln will be 75% occupied when the Hyatt Place and Aloft hotels are up and running. Lincoln also houses jurors for Municipal Court as well as parking, police and court employees. The Arsenal Hill Garage competes with a federal-‐owned garage, which offers federal employees discounted parking. The Taylor Street Garage provides free parking for jurors at the Richland County Judicial Center. Taylor Street also has no elevator, which is a consideration in keeping those rates lower.
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Cannon Garage sells 72 reserved spaces out of 532 total. Lady Street currently sells 241 reserved spaces out of a total of 1006 spaces. Sumter Street, Park, Lincoln and Taylor do not really sell individual reserved spaces in any measurable quantity. Washington Street sells 21 out of 447 spaces. The Marriott Hotel has a contract with the City for the “exclusive use” of 300 spaces in the garage to meet the demand of their patrons. These spaces have been distinguished from those used by residents of The Hub, whereby students are to park on the top three and a half levels, consisting of 339 spaces. As occupancy reaches maximum levels, reserved parking rates should be adjusted up to achieve a maximum 15% of total capacity in any one garage to keep the majority of spaces available to permit holders. The City should also have the ability to offer discounts for rooftop parking at those garages where occupancy leaves the rooftop virtually vacant. The discount should be $15 below the market rate. There should be a charge to users of RFID Tags, likely a convenience fee of $5 per month to offset the cost of the tags and hardware. The value of the convenience will more than offset the cost. Rates in these and all garages should be reviewed every two years with adjustments being made based upon demand, private sector pricing and budgetary needs. It should be noted, however, that many private garages which support office buildings generally subsidize their parking operations through revenues from office space rental. Private Garage Rates Facility Capacity Unreserved
Monthly Reserved Monthly
Vista Center Parking Garage 764 $40 $65 Bank of America Plaza 770 $55 $65 Park Street Lot N/A None $65 1811 Main Street N/A $80 $85 Meridian Parking Garage N/A $90 $120 Keenan Parking Garage 800 $75 None 1334 1336 Sumter Street 117 $50 None Bank of America Tower 557 None None Discounted Rates for Governmental Entities/Residents Columbia has a range of rates for various governmental entities parking in municipal garages and lots, ranging from $50 to $55 per month. LMG recommends a monthly discount of 20% per space for unreserved and 10% for reserved spaces for governmental use.
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Similarly, the City has a wide range of residential rates in lots and garages. The introduction of a residential rate was initiated by City Council more than 20 years ago to encourage residential living in the Downtown area. This concept should be continued. LMG recommends the residential rate be identical to the governmental rate. Garage Hourly Rates In the cashiered and automated garages, The City now charges $1 for the first 30 minutes and $1 for the second 30 minutes and a dollar per hour after that. These rates should remain as they are. LMG further recommends a maximum daily charge of $15 in all gated garages. On Street Meter Rates LMG recommends a maximum rate of $2.00 per hour and a minimum rate of $0.50 per hour for meters to become effective once pay by phone technology has been implemented. The system should strive to maintain an average rate of $0.75 per hour except in high demand commercial corridors where the average rate should be $1.00 per hour. Implementation of this dynamic pricing should occur with approvals from the City Manager or a designated Assistant City Manager upon a recommendation of the Parking Services Director. In addition, LMG recommends that the City undertake more dynamic pricing schemes through the new pay by phone system that can reflect demand and influence behavior, and that those discussions include the University to ensure a consistent customer experience across the City. LMG would also like to consider variable rates based on time of day in various hospitality areas: for example: $1 per hour during lunch and between 50 cents and 75 cents per hour before the lunch hour and between lunch and Happy Hour. Consistent with LMG’s recommendations in the first Parking Master Plan, meters and strict enforcement in the commercial areas are critical to provide adequate turnover and space for customers to retail shops and restaurants. After conducting field observations of occupancy in the 1600 block of Main Street in 2014 after implementation of a trial section of timed parking, we observed that less spaces were available and vehicles remained for a longer period of time without meters present. Therefore we are strongly recommending that the meters be reinstalled to ensure more parking spaces are available. Off Street Meter Rates The concept of a “maximum” rate is that meters in the Cannon, Washington, Taylor and Arsenal Hill garages and in the surface lots operated by the City with meters could remain at 75 cents per hour to encourage off-‐street parking. It would also enable Parking Services to initiate higher and lower rates based upon demand in certain areas.
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Boot Fees LMG recommends that the City reinstate the boot process. City codes should allow a charge of $75 for booting, less expensive than the $125 violators would otherwise pay a tow company. Bagging Policy The City has traditionally bagged meters at no cost for public events and for government entities and educational institutions. In recent years, the number of requests has increased dramatically. The City has tried its best to accommodate a number of requests incurring the cost of personnel to place and retrieve bags; the cost of the bags themselves; and the loss of revenue from the meters. More importantly, wholesale bagging removes critical parking needed by the general public. This is a recommendation to distinguish between events that should be bagged at no cost to those that should be charged a bagging fee. Courtesy Bagging of Meters – LMG recommends that the following conditions receive a waiver of bagging fees:
• The placement of “Handicapped Parking” bags for events which anticipate attracting more handicapped persons than there are designated handicapped spaces in the area.
• Bagging meters to assist in preparation of closing streets. • Bagging meters for parade routes when requested by Homeland Security or
Columbia Police. • Temporary bagging for moving trucks moving residents in and out of
apartments in the Downtown area. • Bagging for infrastructure improvements such as street resurfacing and
utility construction. • Special events and festivals open to the general public sponsored by a
governmental or non-‐profit entity. • Funerals where specific parking is needed. • Bagging for Homeland Security; for the parking of vehicles needing
protective services. • Other circumstances as directed by City Council or the City Manager.
Charges for Meter Bagging – All other bagging will incur a charge as follows:
• Minimum Charge of $25 • ½ Day: $4 per meter • Full Day: $7 per meter • Locking Bags: $1 extra per bag per event
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LMG does not recommend a change in the current bagging rates for construction meters. Further, if there is a policy created for bagging, Parking Services should develop a procedure to monitor the number of bags issued to avoid any concentration of bags in one area. Additional Recommendations While not directly related to rate, we have observed in other cities the growth of car sharing programs directly sponsored by the parking management system. While still in their early stages, they most certainly give the user the impression that a system is customer sensitive and technology savvy, at little or no direct cost to the system.
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Capital Improvement Program The City has a significant financial investment in its eight parking facilities. In addition, the facilities provide a critical infrastructure element for many of the businesses, major public buildings and institutional users in the downtown and the Vista. The goal of its Capital Improvements Program (CIP) is to ensure that the parking facilities meet current safety and maintenance standards. Parking CIP programs are necessary to ensure the convenience and safety of parking customers and to extend the anticipated life of the garages. As such, the City undertakes an update of its CIP through outside third party engineers every ten years. In FY 2015, an assessment study was done by the engineering firm of Kimley Horn on five garages that identified areas where improvements were needed. (The other three garages were essentially new at the time). The garages included in the study were Arsenal Hill, Lady, Sumter, Taylor and Washington. The resulting engineer’s report provided a 5-‐year program for bringing and keeping the garages up to industry standards. As the CIP study included only the older garages in the City’s system, LMG recommends similar studies be done on the three garages built after 2005 as they near 10 years of age. LMG further recommends that these types of studies be done in ten year cycles on all the City garages with interim reviews every five years for structural inspections. Providing funding for a continuing and comprehensive CIP program is a prime reason LMG is recommending rate increases for garages. The cycle of formal CIP surveys should be augmented through staff training to recognize issues early and should include regular walk through surveys by the CIP engineer. The Kimley Horn report did not find any unexpected or major structural or safety issues, other than recommended changes in railings where building codes have changed since garage construction. For the current fiscal year budget (FY 2016), the Parking Services Department has a Capital Improvements program to make improvements at the five garages included in the study. Budgeted work includes all first year priority items in reports provided by the engineering firm of Kimley Horn during the 2015 fiscal year. For future years, LMG recommends that the CIP Engineer report be presumed to be the CIP work program for the next four years unless some justification can be presented during budget cycles to move work from one year to another. Prior to the current fiscal year, a number of improvements had been made since 2005 with proceeds from the 2005 Parking Revenue Bond. A number of improvements underway are also being funded this year from bond proceeds. The current CIP will cover such items as concrete repairs including spalls, delaminations, exposed reinforcement; water ponding; railing; fire suppressions
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systems; expansion joint replacement and other items. A listing of the current CIP projects and their estimated cost is attached as Appendix A.
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Section 3 Financial Analysis/System Analysis Review
Included in this Section: Financial History
Projected Performance
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Finances The following section presents information obtained from Parking Services regarding the financial performance of the system overall. Overall, the system is performing well enough to meet its debt obligations and fund the capital improvements required to maintain the facilities. The table below summarizes overall system performance. Five year System Performance
2011 2012 2013 2014
Unaudited 2015
Budgeted 2016
Revised 2016
Fines/Forfeitures $2,284,356 $2,179,960 $2,277,746 $1,974,919 $1,868,981 $2,100,000 $2,200,000
Meters 2,011,656 2,253,288 2,223,994 2,142,007 2,218,466 2,400,000 2,400,000
Taylor Street 92,565 85,175 97,473 103,985 110,255 110,000 110,000
Washington Street 188,523 149,341 155,883 169,418 200,089 245,000 245,000
Sumter Street 296,693 335,323 333,146 320,836 602,036 510,000 625,000
Lady Street 778,361 716,295 813,024 802,427 830,415 860,000 890,000
Riverfront 3,600 12,009 3,600 3,600 3,600 0 0
Arsenal Hill 64,221 48,252 50,827 49,939 47,488 47,500 47,500
Park Street Garage
367,549 388,235 446,582 459,095 490,444 465,000 500,000
Lincoln Street Garage
69,723 66,357 61,506 75,990 178,053 175,000 185,000
Devine Street
1,300 840 1,120 1,100 750 750
City Center Garage
36,711 82,839 180,996 200,000 200,000
Lots 57,608 54,880 30,758 28,335 29,550 29,400 29,400
In/Out Parking 47,902 37,630 34,778 38,488 48,834 40,000 45,000
Validations 14,738 11,961 14,152 14,326 13,550 12,000 12,000
Meter Bag Fee 11,020 17,025 21,141 36,255 57,907 20,000 20,000
Special Event Parking
40,541 52,093 58,487 61,692 132,880 75,000 125,000
Other 21,703 6,892 25,202 21,118 22,184 8,000 8,000
Total Operating Revenue
$6,350,759 $6,416,016 $6,685,850 $6,386,389 $7,036,829 $7,297,650 $7,642,650
Total Operating Expense
($3,684,095) ($3,045,933) ($3,299,708) ($3,073,503) ($3,332,188) ($3,736,124) ($3,736,124)
Depreciation ($1,244,904) ($1,240,936) ($1,228,628) ($1,483,042) ($1,483,042) ($1,483,042) ($1,483,042)
Operating Income (Loss) $1,421,760 $2,129,147 $2,157,514 $1,829,844 $2,221,599 $2,078,484 $2,423,484
Note: Depreciation is assumed constant at 2014 values
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At this time, the Fund accounts for depreciation, which is not an actual cash expense. To simplify the analysis, we have summarized the actual cash from operations based on the above data, as shown below:
Summary of Cash Flows 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 Revenue $6,350,759 $6,416,016 $6,685,850 $6,386,389 $7,036,829 $7,297,650 $7,642,650
Expense ($3,684,095) ($3,045,933) ($3,299,708) ($3,073,503) ($3,332,188) ($3,736,124) ($3,736,124)
Cash from Operations $2,666,664 $3,370,083 $3,386,142 $3,312,886 $3,704,641 $3,561,526 $3,906,526
Viewed in this way, the net cash from operations has increased 46% from 2011 to the projected 2017 budget. This reflects the realization of demand in the new garages and the economic recovery in general that has filled office space in the Main Street corridor. It is important to note that this net cash flow is necessary to maintain the bond covenants for the existing debt service, and requires rate increases to maintain future covenants and required reinvestment in the capital facilities. Future Performance As the new garages age, and Columbia becomes a 24 hour downtown, additional costs will be seen in both Capital needs and Operational needs. It is imperative that the City undertake dynamic pricing models in both on street parking and the monthly rates in garages. Along with this management of demand, the City should develop a disciplined annual review of rates and maintain a fee structure that adequately manages a first class experience for the customer in a safe and efficient environment.
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Appendix A Capital Improvements Program