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Home My WebLink AboutCOUNCIL - AGENDA ITEM - 06/06/2017 - FIRST READING OF ORDINANCE NO. 077, 2017, AMENDINGAgenda Item 9 Item # 9 Page 1 AGENDA ITEM SUMMARY June 6, 2017 City Council STAFF Seth Lorson, Transit Planner SUBJECT First Reading of Ordinance No. 077, 2017, Amending the Fort Collins Traffic Code Regarding Stadium Events. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The purpose of this item is to formally adopt a new violation of the Residential Parking Permit Program (RP3) for Colorado State University’s (CSU) major stadium events. Consistent with the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) between the City and CSU, staff has worked with neighborhoods adjacent to the university campus to develop parking restrictions during major events at the new CSU stadium. Non-residents will not be permitted to park in participating neighborhoods during football games or any events with an expected attendance of 12,000 or greater. City Parking Services staff will be enforcing these restrictions four hours prior to the start of an event until the end of the event. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Staff recommends adoption of the Ordinance on First Reading. BACKGROUND / DISCUSSION The plan for implementing RP3 for stadium events was presented to City Council at the March 28 Work Session. Staff has decided to create a separate violation for parking in an RP3 during major stadium events, but will not codify the amount of the fine. All fines in the City are set by the Municipal Judge in a Schedule of Fines available to the general public. The Municipal Judge sets the fines after input from staff and the City Attorney’s Office. Currently, the regular RP3 fine is $25. Staff intends to propose a $100 fine to the Municipal Judge as the fine amount for persons violating the new Code provision. There are several reasons staff has concluded a $100 fine would be appropriate. First, event parking for football games is anticipated to cost $20. That amount will likely rise in the future so a $25 fine is little to no deterrent for those conducting a cost/benefit analysis of risking a parking ticket over paying $20 (or more) for parking. The $100 fine would match the highest parking ticket cost of parking in disabled parking, which is also a $100 fine. At the work session, Councilmembers generally expressed agreement with this approach. (Attachment 1) Standards in place during stadium events follow:  No non-permitted vehicles may park in participating neighborhoods beginning four hours prior to an event until the end of the event.  No two-hour parking is permitted.  No commuter permits are offered. Agenda Item 9 Item # 9 Page 2  Residents may use their RP3 permits from the existing weekday program. If a neighborhood does not have a weekday program, 2 permits per household will be issued free of charge.  Residents may have up to two guest permits per event. CITY FINANCIAL IMPACTS Consistent with the IGA, Colorado State University will be paying for implementation of the program. BOARD / COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION The Parking Advisory Board expressed opposition to the RP3 for Stadium Events program, citing that it is unwelcoming to out-of-town visitors. If the program continues, permits should be made available for non- residents. (Attachment 2) PUBLIC OUTREACH Staff held three communitywide meetings and four neighborhood meetings to discuss the program. ATTACHMENTS 1. Work Session Summary, March 28, 2017 (PDF) 2. Parking Advisory Board Recommendation, March 13, 2017 (PDF) ATTACHMENT 1 PARKING ADVISORY BOARD Chair, Holly Wright Vice Chair, Bob Criswell MEMORANDUM DATE: March 13, 201 TO: Mayor Troxell and City Councilmembers FROM: Parking Advisory Board RE: Feedback on Residential Parking Permit Program (RP3) and Large Stadium Event Residential Parking During the February 13, Parking Advisory Board (PAB) meeting, City staff presented updates on Residential Parking Permit Program (RP3) and Stadium Event Residential Parking Program. In response, board members discussed options for improving the RP3 program, including revisions to commuter permit rules and issues regarding parking in residential neighborhoods during large stadium events. The Board offers the following comments and recommendations to Council on these programs: RP3 Commuter Permits Recommendation: Provide additional opportunities for non-residential parking in RP3 zones by making commuter permits more available. Observations and comments: x Commuter permits currently cost $40 per month. x Staff presented evidence to the board that occupancy in RP3 zones is well below the 70% threshold used to determine eligibility for formation of a zone. Occupied spaces vary from 25% - 50% of the total number available (except for Spring Court, a one-block zone). x The intent of the RP3 zone was not to create “parking deserts” but to allow residents the opportunity for a parking space in their neighborhood. x PAB suggests evaluating the price of commuter permits and lowering the cost depending on the demand for parking. x To reduce the impact on residents, it is suggested to lower the maximum occupancy rate (from 70% to 60%) above which no commuter permits can be sold and to assign commuter permits to block faces. x City staff should do more to promote the availability of commuter permits through signage, education and online access to permits. Large Stadium Event Residential Parking Recommendation: Do not form an RP3 program for CSU Game Days. ATTACHMENT 2 PARKING ADVISORY BOARD Chair, Holly Wright Vice Chair, Bob Criswell Observations and comments: x The concept of permit parking with fines for non-permitted vehicles is unwelcoming to visitors to the community. x Parking in neighborhoods that border CSU is a parking resource that will be needed for the potential volume of cars that need to be accommodated for large events. It also may help with traffic congestion after events if cars are spread around the campus. x A permit parking program for large events will prevent gatherings of students and Fort Collins residences at homes in the RP3 zones that wish to assemble and celebrate before and after the games. x If RP3 is offered, large event parking permits must be offered to nonresidents. -1- ORDINANCE NO. 077, 2017 OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS AMENDING THE FORT COLLINS TRAFFIC CODE REGARDING STADIUM EVENTS WHEREAS, on August 20, 2013, by Ordinance No. 103, 2013, the City Council established a residential parking permit zone program (“RP3”) with the goal of reducing traffic and excessive noise, preserving property values, and protecting residents in certain areas prone to parking from nonresidents; and WHEREAS, on April 13, 2015, in anticipation of the new on-campus stadium at Colorado State University (“CSU”), the City and CSU entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement to develop plans for mitigating the impacts of the stadium (“IGA”); and WHEREAS, the IGA recognizes major events at CSU’s stadium will impact parking and traffic in nearby neighborhoods; and WHEREAS, the City wishes to minimize impacts to neighborhoods near the stadium by providing a new and separate violation of the City’s Traffic Code for parking in an RP3 during a major stadium event; and WHEREAS, the City Council believes it is necessary for the preservation of the health, safety, and welfare of the City’s citizens to amend the Traffic Code to reflect a new violation for parking in an RP3 during major stadium events. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT COLLINS as follows: Section 1. That the City Council hereby makes and adopts the determinations and findings contained in the recitals set forth above. Section 2. That Section 1214.5 of the Traffic Code is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 1214.5. Permitted Parking . . . (6) Only vehicles that have been properly permitted pursuant to Article V of Chapter 24 of the City Code may park within a residential parking permit zone during, or within the four hours before the official start time of, a stadium event. Any person violating any regulation set forth in 1214.5(1), (2), (4), or (5) during, or within the four hours before the official start time of, a stadium event, shall be subject to the penalties of this Subsection (6). -2- (a) For purposes of this Subsection, a stadium event is defined as any event held at the on-campus stadium at Colorado State University at which attendance is reasonably anticipated by Colorado State University or the City to exceed 12,000 persons. (b) There is hereby established a rebuttable presumption that a stadium event is occurring or has occurred when Colorado State University or the City has provided advance notice of such event to the general public: (I) on its official website; (II) on any of its generally used social media web pages; (III) in a local newspaper of general circulation; or (IV) through the use of temporary signs near the stadium on the same calendar day as the stadium event. Introduced, considered favorably on first reading, and ordered published this 6th day of June, A.D. 2017, and to be presented for final passage on the 5th day of July, A.D. 2017. __________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _______________________________ City Clerk Passed and adopted on final reading on the 5th day of July, A.D. 2017. __________________________________ Mayor ATTEST: _______________________________ City Clerk