TRANSPORTATION ADVISORY BOARD AGENDA ITEM
ACTION REQUESTED:
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Provide input on the proposed valet parking transfer zone locations for Alta Vida
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DEPARTMENT: Transportation, Engineering and Development
SUBMITTED BY: Michael Prousa, Project Manager
BACKGROUND:
City Council approved Ordinance 03-178 in August 2003 establishing regulations to provide for safe operation of valet parking services in the downtown. Once a valet parking permit application is submitted, and a transfer zone within a public roadway is requested, staff prepares a recommendation for the location of the transfer zone. Valet parking permit applications and valet transfer zone locations require City Council approval. Both items are reviewed by the Transportation Advisory Board (TAB) in advance of consideration by the City Council.
A valet transfer zone is a pickup and discharge point for valet parking, which may serve one or more businesses and may use up to three parallel parking spaces. The city may require transfer zones to be shared by one or more permit holders and there shall be no more than one valet parking transfer zone on the same side of each city block. Valet parking transfer zones shall be established for either Friday and Saturday operations only or 7 days a week operation, depending upon the request of the operator.
Transfer zones may be in effect from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 a.m. The City currently has five active valet transfer zones within the downtown.
When preparing the recommendation for the location of the transfer zone, staff takes into consideration motorists’ and pedestrians’ safety and a transfer zone’s potential impact on traffic flow. Once staff and the applicant have agreed on the proposed location of the transfer zone, notifications are sent to the surrounding businesses along the both sides of the block to gather feedback. The item is then placed on a TAB agenda for consideration before being submitted to City Council for approval.
DISCUSSION:
Alta Vida, located at 16 West Jefferson, contacted City staff in the summer of 2023 inquiring about a valet transfer zone in front of their address on the south side of Jefferson Avenue between Main Street and Washington Street. During initial discussion, it was explained that staff would not be recommend a valet transfer zone on Jefferson Avenue between Main Street and Washington Street. Staff has previously evaluated this location due to requests from other businesses and found that the block is not suitable for valet transfer activity.
Jefferson Avenue between Main Street and Washington Street has eleven 2-hour parking spaces on the north side of the block. On the south side of the block, there are a total of ten parking spaces: four 2-hour spaces, and six multi-use loading zone spaces with 15- and 30-minute limits for passenger and commercial vehicle use. The seven most eastern spots on the south side of the block also have No Parking restrictions from 11:00 p.m. to 3:00 a.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday for cabstand parking and public safety parking. Attachment 2 is a parking map of this block.
Jefferson Avenue is a collector street. It serves not only as a main entrance and exit point to the downtown, but also provides connectivity through the downtown due to it being one of the only streets that carries traffic west of downtown over the river. The west leg of the intersection of Jefferson Avenue and Washington Street is more congested than the east leg due to parking being permitted on both sides of the street and the pedestrian activity at the midblock crossing. Staff regularly observes vehicle queues back to Main Street on the west leg and expects that a valet transfer zone at the requested location would exacerbate this.
As noted, to date a valet transfer zone has not been implemented on Jefferson Avenue between Main Street and Washington Street, although it has been requested by other businesses. A transfer zone was considered on the north side of the street for Black Finn (a prior occupant of 16 West Jefferson); however, the application was withdrawn from TAB consideration due to negative input from adjacent businesses.
In lieu of a transfer zone at the requested location in front of 16 West Jefferson, staff recommends a valet transfer zone be located just east of Washington Street on the south side of Jefferson Avenue. A valet transfer zone previously operated in this location and staff did not observe there to be a significant impact on traffic operations.
On May 28, 2024 Alta Vida formally submitted an application for valet parking services, requesting a transfer zone in front of their business. The valet transfer zone application and additional documents are shown in Attachment 3. While staff and the applicant have not agreed on a proposed location for the transfer zone, the applicant has requested the opportunity to have TAB consider their requested location.
Because this deviates from the typical process, staff has not sent notifications to the surrounding businesses and is not requesting a formal recommendation from TAB at this time. Staff is requesting that TAB provide preliminary input on the two locations. Pending the input from TAB, staff will send the necessary notifications and bring a formal recommendation to the next TAB meeting scheduled for August 1, 2024.