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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 7.1 Post Office Parkingti~v1~U~lj~ CITY CLERK 111 File # ^©0©'00 ~- ~ -~ 8~ ,~~i/ \~llt~n41~1~ AGENDA STATEMENT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: September 16, 2008 SUBJECT: Update Regarding Parking Designation on Village Parkway Adjacent to the Post Office Report Prepared by Jaimee Bourgeois, Traffic Engineer ~( ATTACHMENTS: 1) Previous Agenda Statement from May 20, 2008 2) Letters from residents in response to notification letter mailed prior to May 20, 2008 meeting RECOMMENDATION: Provide direction regarding further review of traffic conditions associated with the Post Office on Village Parkway. FINANCIAL STATEMENT: There is no cost associated with this item at this time. DESCRIPTION: Dublin's Post Office is located at 6937 Village Parkway, on the east side of Village Parkway between Lewis Avenue and Dublin Boulevard. This is the only Post Office in Dublin and has been known to experience congestion and insufficient off-street parking during peak visiting times. Unrestricted on-street parking is allowed on Village Parkway adjacent to the Post Office, which accommodates three parked vehicles. Staff recently reviewed a citizen request for a limited parking zone on Village Parkway in front of the Post Office. According to the resident, and confirmed by Police Services and Public Works Staff, employees of the Post Office typically use these spaces to park their vehicles all day, making these spaces unavailable to patrons of the Post Office. Staff presented this request to the City Council at the May 20, 2008, City Council meeting. The City Council provided the following direction to Staff for further review and analysis: • Investigate the feasibility of placing a mail drop box on the west side of Village Parkway. COPY TO: Ms. Cathy Cramer, Resident Mr. and Mrs. Rico Dinelli, Resident Page 1 of 2 ~ ' ITEM NO. G:\TRANSPORTATION\Local Traffic\PARKING\General\agst_VillagePkwy~arking_Update 091608.doc • To respond to the complaint regarding debris on Lewis Avenue, examine the street sweeping schedule to determine whether cleaning can occur on a day of the week or at times when vehicles are not parked along the length of Lewis Avenue. • Analyze the impact that the chain closing off the second drop box and egress driveway may have on traffic congestion. • Proceed with examining the feasibility of implementing a 20-minute parking zone on the east side of Village Parkway in from of the Post Office. Staff has reviewed the street sweeping schedule for Lewis Avenue. The street is swept similar to the arterial street network in that sweeping is performed once per week during nighttime hours, rather than twice per month during daytime hours as in the residential street network. Thus, Lewis Avenue is being swept at an appropriate frequency and time of day. It should be noted that Village Parkway within the downtown area in general is one of the City's area of concern with respect to garbage and debris buildup. Because of limited sidewalk width on Lewis Avenue, it would not be feasible to place trash receptacles on Lewis Avenue. However, there is an existing trash receptacle on the northeast corner of the Village Parkway/Lewis Avenue intersection. Staff has directed MCE to monitor Lewis Avenue and to pick up debris if it begins to accumulate as part of their ongoing maintenance efforts. Since the May 20th City Council meeting, conditions at the Post Office.have changed considerably. The mail carriers have been relocated to the San Ramon Post Office, so the demand for parking at and around the Dublin Post Office has noticeably diminished. Furthermore, the chain has been removed, allowing access to the second drop box and egress driveway. Based on multiple field observations made since these changes were implemented, it has been noted that the on-street parking spaces in front of the Post Office are almost never occupied. Traffic congestion into and out of the Post Office has reduced significantly, and spill back onto Village Parkway only happens occasionally if motorists entering are waiting while a vehicle is pulling out of a parking stall to exit the site. In light of the changes that have occurred as a result of the mail carriers being relocated to San Ramon and the chain being removed allowing access to the second drop box, it was not deemed appropriate to proceed with implementing a limited parking zone or placing a drop box on the west side of Village Parkway. Staff recommends that the City Council provide direction regarding further review of traffic conditions associated with the Post Office on Village Parkway. Page 2 of 2 r 1 ~~ ~, _~ \~:' t°~ ~ CITY CLERK File # ^~~~'~^~ AGENDA STATEMENT CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: May 20, 2008 SUBJECT: ATTACHMENTS: RECOMMENDATION: ~ ~~ " FINANCIAL STATEMENT: Parking Designation on Village Parkway Adjacent to the Post Office. Report Prepared by Jaimee Bourgeois, Traffic Engineer 1) Correspondence with Ms. Cathy Cramer between February 21, 2008 and March 31, 2008 2) Notification letter sent to business owners 3) Notification letter sent to residents Maintain the unrestricted parking designation on Village Parkway adjacent to the Post Office. There is no cost associated with this item. DESCRIPTION: Dublin's Post Office is located at 6937 Village Parkway, on the east side of Village Parkway between Lewis Avenue and Dublin Boulevard. This is the only Post Office in Dublin and frequently experiences congestion and insufficient off-street parking during peak visiting times. Unrestricted on-street parking is allowed on Village Parkway adjacent to the Post Office, which accommodates three parked vehicles. There is no on-street parking north of the Post Office and south of Lewis Avenue. Unrestricted parking is provided on the north and south sides of Lewis Avenue and on the residential streets located just east of Lewis Avenue. Adequate space for five to six parked vehicles is provided immediately south of the Post Office but is restricted to one hour maximum. Additional unrestricted space for approximately nine vehicles is provided further south to Dublin Boulevard. At some point prior to 1990, the mail drop-off 'box was located within the sidewalk in front of the Post Office. The curb immediately in front of the Post Office was designated a loading zone to limit stopping to very brief periods. In 1990, the City Council adopted an ordinance repealing a loading zone and establishing a 20-minute parking zone; however; changes to the curb color and signage were never implemented. On-street parking on the east side of Village Parkway south of the Post Office remained unrestricted. ______________________________________________________________________________ ATTACIIIIIIENT 1• COPY TO: Ms. Cathy Cramer, Resident ~~, Page 1 of 2 In 1999, Staff received a request from the business owners to the immediate south and, per the directibrl of City Council (Resolution 226-99), implemented a limited parking zone in front of the businesses just south of the Post Office. The restricted parking zone accommodates five to six vehicles. The request from the business owners to create a limited parking zone was made because Post Office employees were parking in front of the businesses, which took away the opportunity for customers of these businesses to park in front of the stores. At the same time, the curb in front of the Post Office was changed from limited parking to unrestricted parking as a means of encouraging Post Office employees to stay in front of the Post Office. Staff recently reviewed a citizen request for a limited parking zone on Village Parkway in front of the Post Office (Attachment 1). According to the resident, and confirmed by Police Services and Public Works Staff, employees of the Post Office typically use these spaces to park their vehicles all day, making these spaces unavailable to patrons of the Post Office. Given the shortfall of parking stalls within the Post Office parking lot during busy periods, patrons could benefit from a limited parking zone on-street as these spaces would be free of employees. However, the effect of relocating Post Office employees' vehicles should be considered. Implementing time-limited parking in front of the Post Office could provide some relief to existing parking needs at this location. However, given the magnitude of the parking shortage at the Post Office, the extra three spaces resulting from this action would not significantly improve the parking situation at the Post Office. On-site parking at the Post Office appears to be deficient by a significantly higher number than three spaces. There is concern that time-limited parking in front of the Post Office could force more employees to park in front of other businesses along Village Parkway and on residential streets located to the east of Village Parkway due to parking spaces being heavily used along Village Parkway and Lewis Avenue. It is more desirable to have Post Office patrons rather than employees park in front of other businesses because patrons park for short periods of time, allowing the opportunity for patrons of the other businesses to use the spaces in front of these respective businesses. In summary, although implementing time-limited parking on Village Parkway in front of the Post Office might help the parking situation at the Post Office to a small extent, this action could also contribute to undesirable parking problems on the remainder of Village Parkway and on nearby residential streets. A written response was provided to the citizen who made the original request for a limited parking zone in front of the Post Office (Attachment 1). A notification letter regarding this issue was sent to Village Parkway business owners (Attachment 2) located on either side of Village Parkway between Dublin Boulevard and Lewis Avenue and on Lewis Avenue. A letter (Attachment 3) was also sent to eight residents located on Portage Road immediately adjacent to Lewis Avenue. No public comments have been received at the time of preparation of this report. All comments received prior to the May 20th City Council meeting will be communicated by staff during a presentation to the Council. Staff recommends that the City Council maintain the unrestricted parking designation on Village Parkway adjacent to the Post Office. Page 2 of 2 3e~~ City of Dublin Request ID: 1601 Request Form: Misc. Questions/Comments -Streets & Sidewalks Received: 2/21/2008 8:46:55 PM Status: Completed Priority: Normal Assigned To: Jaimee Bourgeois Contact Details From: Cathy Cramer Email: cmmcramer@msn.com Telephone: 925-833-1774 Address1: 7700 San Sabana Ct Address2: City: Dublin State: CA Zip Code: 94568 Pref. Method of Response: Telephone Best Time to Call: Anytime Questions or Comments Can the curb in front of the post office (on Village Pkwy} be changed to green (limited parking)? There is not What is your questions or comment? enough parking in the lot to accommodate the citizens Please include location information, of Dublin. Cars parked on the street, in front of the post if necessary. office, are usually there for the entire day. Having limited parking on the street would help alleviate some of the problems with the congestion in the post office lot. Staff Activities: ALL ACTIVITIES This Request was Reassigned to Jaimee Bourgeois by Michelle Brown at 2/22/2008 7:03:31 AM. Reason: Reason 1 An email was sent to the new owner at this email address: Jaimee.bourgeois@ci.dublin.ca.us The Citizen activity #1 was sent to the Citizen on 2/26/2008 8:29:56 AM by Jaimee Bourgeois The Citizen activity #2 was sent to the Citizen on 3/31/2008 9:10:59 AM by Jaimee Bourgeois This Request Form was updated by Jaimee Bourgeois at 3!31/2008 9:11:19 AM. The status of the request was changed from Active to Completed. Citizen Activities: ALL ACTIVITIES u~'~ Dear Ms. Cramer, Thank you for taking the time to submit your request regarding a limited parking zone in front of the Post Office on Village Parkway. While the City continues to look for an opportunity to open a second post office within Dublin in the future, we do hope that the existing site can continue to serve all of Dublin as efficiently as possible. Staff will look into your request and provide a response within the next few weeks. In the meantime, should you have any questions, please feel free to contact me at jaimee.bourgeois@ci.dublin.ca.us or 833-6630. Sincereiy, Jaimee Bourgeois Traffic Engineer Dear Ms. Cramer, This letter is in response to your request for a limited parking zone in front of the Post Office on Village Parkway. As you know, the City is well aware of the capacity deficiency at the existing Post Office. While the City continues their on-going efforts with the Postal Service to establish a second post office within Dublin, we do hope that the existing site can continue to serve all of Dublin as efficiently as possible. There is currently enough curb space at this location to accommodate three parked vehicles. I understand your concern that Post Office employees use these spaces to park their vehicles everyday, hence making these spaces unavailable to patrons who could use them in view of the current shortage of parking spaces within the Post Office parking lot during busy periods. We have had similar requests in the past and, in the case of the businesses to the south, we did institute limited parking on the east side of Village Parkway. At the same time, the curb in front of the Post Office was changed from a loading zone to unrestricted as a means of encouraging Post Office-related traffic to stay in front of the Post Office instead of in front of other businesses. Businesses with unrestricted parking at other locations on Village Parkway have expressed concerns to City Staff that this limited parking installation, as well as the increased staffing at the Post Office, was causing parking demand to overspill to other locations on Village Parkway. Implementing time-limited parking in front of the Post Office could provide some relief to existing parking needs at this location. However, given the magnitude of the parking shortage at the Post Office, the extra three spaces resulting from the above action would not significantly improve the parking situation at the Post Office. On-site parking supply at the Post Office appears to be deficient by a significantly higher number than three spaces. The concern that City Staff has is that time-limited parking in front of the Post Office could force. more employees to park in front of other businesses along Village Parkway and on residential streets located to the east of Village Parkway due to parking spaces being heavily used along Village Parkway and Lewis Avenue. It is more desirable to have Post Office visitors rather than employees park in front of other businesses because visitors park for short periods of time, allowing opportunity for visitors to other businesses to use the parking in front of these other stores. In summary, although implementing time- limited parking on Village Parkway in front of the Post Office might help the parking situation at the Post Office to a small extent, this action could also contribute to undesirable parking problems on the remainder of Village Parkway and on nearby residential streets. Thank you for taking the time to share your concern for parking at the Post Office. I understand your frustration, and I hope that the Postal Service will be able to fund an additional Post Office in the near future. Should you have any additional questions, please fee! free to contact me at jaimee.bourgeois@ci.dublin.ca.us or 833-6630. Sincerely, Jaimee Bourgeois Traffic Engineer ~~ ~9; ~ ,n~ ;~ CITY' OF DUBLIN ~~~~ C+ty Offices, 100 Civic Plaza, Dublin California 94568 \0~~, IFOR May 9, 2008 SUBJECT: Parking Designation on Village Parkway Adjacent to the Post Office Dear Business Owner, The City of Dublin recently reviewed a citizen request for a limited parking zone on Village Parkway in front of the Post Office. Post Office employees typically use these spaces to park their vehicles all day, making these spaces unavailable to patrons of the Post Office. After careful review, City Staff has determined that implementing time-limited parking in front of the Post Office could provide some relief to existing parking needs at this location. However, this would force these drivers to park all day in front of other businesses along Village Parkway or on residential streets located to the east of Village Parkway. City Staff is recommending to maintain the unrestricted parking designation on Village Parkway adjacent to the Post Office to ensure that additional parking concerns do not arise from on-street parking in front of local businesses along Village Parkway or residences. City Council will be reviewing this item at the May 20tH City Council meeting. You are invited to participate in person at the Council meeting or in writing if you have concerns about this matter. Written comments may be submitted to me at the follow address by May 19tH Jaimee Bourgeois Public Works 100 Civic Plaza Dublin, CA 94568 The Council meeting on May 20t" will commence at 7:QOpm in the Council Chambers at 100 Civic Plaza. Sincerely, G~~k,~~ Jaimee Bourgeois Traffic Engineer G:\TRANSPORTATION1Loca1 Traffic\PARKING\Limited Parking\Limited Parking VPW - Ltr to Businesses.doc Administration (925) 833-6650 • City Council (925) 833-6605 • Finance (925) 833-6640 • Buil Code Enforcement {925) 833-6610 • Engineering (925) 833-6630 • Parks & Community Economic Development (925) 833-6650 • Police (925) 833-6670 • Public Works (925) 833-6630 • Co ~OFDp~ ,I;~~ ~,~~\~;, CITY (~F DUBLIN ~ 19 (~1=! _$) SZ City OfFices, 100 Civic Plaza, Dublin California 94568 O~lIFOR~~~ May 9, 2008 SUBJECT: Parking Designation on Village Parkway Adjacent to the Post Office Dear Resident, The City of Dublin recently reviewed a citizen request for a limited parking zone on Village Parkway in front of the Post Office. Post Office employees typically use these spaces to park their vehicles all day, making these spaces unavailable to patrons of the Post Office. After careful review, City Staff has determined that implementing time-limited parking in front of the Post Office could provide some relief to existing parking needs at this location. However, this would force these drivers to park all day in front of other businesses along Village Parkway or on residential streets located to the east of Village Parkway. City Staff is recommending to maintain the unrestricted parking designation on Village Parkway adjacent to the Post Office to ensure that additional parking concerns do not arise from on-street parking in front of local businesses along Village Parkway or residences. City Council will be reviewing this item at the May 20tH City Council meeting. You are Invited to participate in person at the Council meeting or in writing if you have concerns about this matter. Written comments may be submitted to me at the follow address by May 19tH: Jaimee Bourgeois Public Works 100 Civic Plaza Dublin, CA 94568 The Council meeting on May 20tH will commence at 7:OOpm in the Council Chambers at 100 Civic Plaza. Sincerely, LJ9u~2 ~~~ Jaimee Bourgeois Traffic Engineer G:ITRANSPORTATION1Local Traffic\PARKING\Limited Parking\Limited Parking VPW - Ltr to Businesses ~n~ Administration (925) 833-6650 • City Council (925) 833-6605 • Finance (925) 833-6640 • I Code Enforcement (925) 833-6640 • Engineering (925) 833-6630 • Parks & Commu Economic Development (925) 833-6650 • Police (925) 833-6670 • Public Works (925) 833-6630 Page 1 of 1 Jaimee Bourgeois M~ From: Cathy Cramer [cmmcramer@msn.com] Sent: Sunday, May 18, 2008 9:34 PM To: Janet Lockhart; Tony Oravetz; Kate Ann Scholz; T Sbranti AOL; sbrantitim@dublin.k12.ca.us; hildenbrandkasie@dublin.k12.ca.us; Bruce Rank; Jaimee Bourgeois Subject: City Council Meeting May 20, Item 8.2 8.2 Parking Designation on Village Parkway Adjacent to the Post Office (570-10) [STAFF REPORT ] htto://citvdocs.ci.dublin ca us/weblink7/DocView asox~id-193521 Although I see some sense in the position that Staff has put forward, I do not feel it adequately addresses this issue. The traffic situation at the Dublin Post Office is intolerable. There are many times during the day that traffic north bound is backed up for 30 or 40 yards with vehicles waiting to gain access to the post office. At the same time, south bound traffic spills out of the left turn lane and creates unsafe traffic hazards. At times, the left turn traffic crosses over into the #1 (northbound) lane and all northbound traffic comes to a standstill for a few minutes. At any time of the day, there can be congestion and hazards in one or both directions on Village Parkway in front of the Post Office. Restricted parking on Village Parkway would allow more customer use and while not eliminating the congestion, would certainly help. Currently the Post Master has blocked off access to the northern most drive up, drop box because of too many accidents in the parking lot. What does this tell us about the congestion within the post office lot itself? By blocking off the exit driveway used for the second drop box and by postal vehicles, 3 additional employee parking spots have been created. If made permanent, this could be expanded to 4 or possibly 5 employee parking slots. Therefore if you institute restricted parking in front of the Post Office, as was approved by the City Council in 1990, there should be no additional parking impact for neighboring businesses, or residents. I urge you to restrict the parking area in front of the Dublin Post Office to 20 minutes, again as approved by the Council in 1990. 5/19/2008 AiiAe9YEAf~ 'v~!1 ~~ Lyn and Rico Dinelli 6979 Portage Rd Dublin Ca 94568 925 828-5263 May 19, 2008 City of Dublin 100 Civic Plaza Dublin Ca 94568 Attention: Jaimee Bourgeous, Traffic Engineer Ms. Bourgeous, We would like to thank you for sending us the notice dated May 9, 2008 regarding the parking spaces located in front of the Dublin Post Office. We agree with your findings. Lewis Street and Portage Rd already have more than enough parked cars lining the curbs because the Post Office cannot accommodate their employees. We are not able to attend the meeting where this issue will be discussed but want to be a part of whatever decisions are made so we are writing this letter because not doing anything about the fact that the US Post Office employees have no place to park is just not acceptable. What can we do to help the federal government realize how unfair this is to their employees, the city and Dublin residents?? It just is not right that every single day Lewis St is jam packed from end to end with Post office parking. Trash and debris is trapped there all day and we have noticed the same plastic bottles and papers for at least three weeks that have not been swept away. In addition, Post Office customers are also not being accommodated. There's even a lane of traffic that is often blocked as customers wait for spaces to free up so that they can park to go inside and get their postal needs addressed. We are willing to write letters, sign petitions, and generally campaign in order to help in reaching a solution to this very fiustrating problem. It just makes no sense that the City of Dublin has spent so much money, time and effort to make Village Parkway more pedestrian friendly and not solve the real problems of the street like the Post Office parking issue. Please see the attached picture taken just this morning. Thank you for your time. _ -- -_..., 0 - 1 4VigY, ' ;r 7.008 r r -. - .. i , ~~ ~ i~ ti~ ~ v ~ # i ~z ~ Ht k ~~ ,~ rte) ~ ~ ~;~ ~ ` -. a~ t ry, ~, ~ R. ~ r ~7 • ~ t+ F y, C` y L. ~ ' '~ // lIJ' ~ 7 3+, 1 Fj . r ~ k ` t . ~ ~ S N y j;~. R".I' i ~ ~ ~ F7 x'~!'+ v:: K C 2' ~~ ~., r~. ~~~ i ~'. ~ ,aL ~ , ,. h c~ 0 0 W -~ c~ -. f~ z~, ~ 1' `t z. ~ ~ 1