RECOMMENDATION

Approve an ordinance amending Chapter 11.48 of Title 11 of the San José Municipal Code to establish a residential permit parking zone in the Santana Area neighborhood.

BACKGROUND

During certain phases of the construction of the Santana Row complex, the neighborhood bordering Santana Row on the northeast was impacted on an almost daily basis by construction worker vehicles. Although construction is now complete, this neighborhood continues to be impacted by parking intrusion from patrons and employees of the new Santana Row development. The General Plan designates the area bounded by Stevens Creek Boulevard, Monroe Avenue, Hemlock Avenue and South Redwood Avenue for general commercial uses. Most of the area is also zoned for commercial uses; however, some legal non-conforming residences remain among the commercial uses. The Hemlock-Baywood Neighborhood Association, which represents the remaining residential uses, has requested that the City implement residential permit parking restrictions to minimize parking intrusion from Santana Row.

ANALYSIS

Residential permit parking is designed to mitigate on-street parking intrusion into neighborhoods. The criteria generally utilized to determine if permit parking is appropriate for a neighborhood include:

· 75% of the on-street parking capacity is utilized during peak demand

· 50% or more of the parked vehicles are from outside the neighborhood

· Permit parking zone is supported by 50% +1 of the eligible households

· The permit zone consists of a minimum of 150 households

The proposed Santana Area residential permit parking zone is located between Santana Row on the south and west, Stevens Creek Blvd on the north and Monroe Ave. on the east (see attached map). There are 48 households and 7 businesses within the proposed permit zone. Although this is smaller than the minimum guideline of 150 households, this residential area is fairly compact. The proposed zone was sized to include all affected residences located within the above boundaries.

The actual availability of on-street parking is limited due to permanent parking restrictions in some areas and the extended driveways of some properties. As a result of its proximity to Santana Row and the limited on-street parking, when major events occur at Santana Row, the residents in this area are negatively impacted. Some employees and patrons visiting the complex find it more convenient to park on the street for easy ingress and egress from Santana Row. This occurs even when adequate parking still remains within Santana Row’s on-site parking facilities. For example, during the free outdoor matinee series that occurred every Wednesday this summer, approximately 90% of the available parking spaces on the streets bordering Santana Row were occupied. It is estimated that at least 80% of these were vehicles from outside the neighborhood.

A petition was circulated by the Hemlock/Baywood neighborhood association during the summer of 2003. Although the area currently impacted by Santana Row patrons is limited to the streets west of the cul-de-sac on Hemlock Ave., the residents east of the cul-de-sac were also petitioned, to prevent the shifting of parking impacts to these streets if permit parking were limited to the smaller area. The neighborhood association made numerous attempts to contact each household, however they were unable to contact all residents in the proposed zone. Subsequently, Department of Transportation staff mailed information packets and a petition to all of the remaining households. In addition, information and petitions were mailed to all businesses in the zone and non-resident property owners.

The above petition efforts resulted in a 64% support rate. Of significance was that 36 (92%) of the 39 households that responded to the petition voted in favor of the permit parking. The difference between these figures are that non-responses to the petition were counted as a no vote, a few of the non-resident property owners voted no, and a majority of the businesses voted no, resulting in an overall lower support rate.

During the outreach effort, the businesses were informed that they would be eligible for employee permits if they had inadequate off-street parking for both their employees and their patrons. However, some of the businesses still had concerns. The primary concerns were the cost associated with having to purchase these permits and the negative impact permit parking might have on their business, such as a reduction in property value.

While the majority of the parking intrusion occurs in the evenings and on weekends it was initially envisioned that the permit restrictions would be in place 24 hours, 7 days a week. The reason for this was that it would be difficult to predict when a major event might occur during the weekday at Santana Row. In response to the concerns raised by businesses, department staff worked with representatives of the neighborhood association to modify the proposed zone to only be in effect evenings, weekends and holidays. During the work week, between the hours of 7am and 6pm, parking would be unrestricted and available to accommodate the parking needs of the area businesses.

Information regarding this revised permit zone was taken back to the businesses in the zone for additional input. Of the 7 businesses in the zone, 3 are in agreement with the proposed zone, 1 business is pleased with the changes but has some concerns about potential impacts in the evenings, 1 business remains opposed to the permit zone, and 2 businesses did not respond. It should be noted that the businesses in the proposed zone are operating on properties that at one time were residential. Most of these businesses have converted the entire backyard areas to paved parking, and in some cases, the front yard as well. In addition, information received from many of the businesses in the proposed zone was that their available off-street parking was adequate for both their employee and patron parking needs a majority of the time.

Even though a few of the businesses remain opposed to the modified permit zone, a majority of area residents are in support of the zone. Taking into account the changed votes of some of the businesses, the overall level of support for the proposed zone is now at 70%. Time restricted parking can be implemented adjacent to the few businesses that are open in the evenings and on weekends, if needed to support business needs.

The Santana Area residential permit parking zone is proposed to become effective December 1, 2003. Notification of the pending establishment of the permit zone, along with permit application materials, would be provided to all residents, non-resident owners, businesses and community organizations.

PUBLIC OUTREACH

The creation of the permit parking zone has been discussed with Federal Realty Investment Trust, the property owners of Santana Row. Federal Realty Investment Trust is supportive of the proposed residential permit parking zone. In addition, staff solicited input from businesses immediately adjacent to the proposed permit zone. While not every business responded to our request for input, the majority of those that did, had no concerns about the proposed zone.

COORDINATION

The proposed residential permit zone has been coordinated with the City Attorney’s Office, and the Department of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement.

COST IMPLICATIONS

The cost of implementing the new permit zone will be absorbed within the existing resources of the Department of Transportation. The bi-annually collected fee per parking permit will accrue to the General Fund and offset any added costs.

CEQA

Exempt: PP03-10-237

JAMES R. HELMER

Director of Transportation