Logan Municipal Council Logan, Utah April 18, 2017
Minutes of the meeting of the Logan Municipal Council convened in regular session on Tuesday, April 18, 2017 at 5:30 p.m. in the Logan City Municipal Council Chamber, 290 North 100 West, Logan, Utah. Chairman Holly H. Daines conducting.
Councilmember’s present at the beginning of the meeting: Chairman Holly H. Daines, Vice Chairman Tom Jensen, Councilmember Herm Olsen, Councilmember S. Eugene Needham and Councilmember Jeannie F. Simmonds. Administration present: Mayor H. Craig Petersen, City Treasurer Tyson Griffin, City Attorney Kymber Housley and City Recorder Teresa Harris. Excused: Finance Director Richard Anderson.
Chairman Daines welcomed those present. There were approximately 56 citizens in the audience at the beginning of the meeting.
Chairman Daines announced that prior to tonight’s Council meeting, an hour long open house was held for those interested in running in the upcoming Municipal Election. Positions open this year are Mayor and two Council seats. There were several that attended the open house and she was pleased by those who showed an interest in serving.
OPENING CEREMONY:
Logan resident Richard Steele gave the opening thought and led the audience in the pledge of allegiance.
Meeting Minutes. Minutes of the Council meeting from April 4, 2017 were reviewed and approved with no changes.
ACTION. Motion by Councilmember Olsen seconded by Councilmember Simmonds to approve the April 4, 2017 minutes and approve tonight’s agenda. Motion carried unanimously.
Meeting Agenda. Chairman Daines announced there are two public hearings scheduled for tonight’s Council meeting.
Meeting Schedule. Chairman Daines announced that regular Council meetings would be held the first and third Tuesdays of the month at 5:30 p.m. The next regular Council meeting is Tuesday, May 2, 2017.
QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS FOR MAYOR AND COUNCIL:
There were no comments or questions for the Mayor or Council.
MAYOR/STAFF REPORTS:
Updates on Projects/Issues – Mayor Petersen
Mayor Petersen gave a report on the following:
· The area of 200 North 600 East is closed until April 28 for bridge repairs.
· Rendezvous Park is closed until April 26 for repairs.
· Green Waste/ Spring Clean-Up started April 17 and will go until April 28.
· There has been some consideration about constructing a BMX Bike track in the area of Bridger Park. Discussions will continue regarding this project.
COUNCIL BUSINESS:
Council Budget Workshop Schedule – Chairman Daines
Chairman Daines announced that Budget Workshops are scheduled for Tuesday, May 9, 2017 beginning at 5:30 p.m. and Tuesday, May 16, 2017 immediately following the Regular Council meeting which begins at 5:30 p.m. The public is invited and encouraged to attend the workshops.
Logan Municipal Council letter to UDOT supporting the SR 30 Alternative Selection – Chairman Daines
Chairman Daines stated that UDOT held a series of public hearings regarding SR 30 (Valley View Highway). One of the topics has been the timing of project funding and when UDOT will put this project in their budget. UDOT is also going through an Environmental Impact Statement on what the project will involve. The preferred alternative for SR 30 is to have some passing lanes but not five lanes all the way through. A group including herself, Councilmember Needham, Cache County Executive Craig Buttars and Jeff Gilbert from the CMPO that attended a UDOT budget meeting to let them know this is a critical issue for Cache Valley. Regarding the timing of the project, we were listed for six years from now and UDOT moved the project up by one year and they agreed to consider moving this project to a higher priority if other projects come in under budget. The Council drafted a letter that will be sent to UDOT regarding SR 30 and the project and the preferred 5-lane alternative. The letter has been signed by Mayor Petersen and all five council members; it will be sent to UDOT.
Neighborhood Parking Issues – Chairman Daines
Chairman Daines said at this time there will be a discussion about parking issues which affect several neighborhoods, particularly those that are close to the USU campus. She announced that Community Development Director Mike DeSimone will address parking first and then members of the Parking Appeals Board Keith Schnare and Scott Anderson will speak and then Frank Stewart regarding Adams Park Neighborhood and their parking concerns.
Mr. DeSimone showed a map of the Daytime Residential Parking Restriction Areas. The map shows areas of the Hillcrest Neighborhood and also areas East of 600 East. These restricted areas limit the amount of daytime parking on a City street and a permit is required to park in this area if you are a resident.
a. Comments from Logan City Parking Appeals Board – Keith Schnare and Scott Anderson
Keith Schnare, Member of the Logan City Parking Appeals Board addressed the Council. He introduced Keith Schnare who also serves on the Appeals Board. Mr. Anderson said they are members of the community that work with Logan Police Officer Troy Thurston to review appeals that individuals make when they feel they have unfairly received a parking ticket. As those appeals accumulate, Officer Thurston schedules a meeting and they review the appeals. They review the circumstances and then make a determination on what should be done with the ticket from that point. In their capacity, the appeals committee has a concentrated viewpoint of what the parking situation is throughout the City of Logan. The Parking Appeals Board prepared a report dated Winter 2016 – 2017 and copies were distributed to the Council.
Mr. Schnare reported in 2016 the total number of parking citations issued is 3,876 and 84% of these citations fell into three of the fourteen categories:
· Residential – 20%
· Time Restricted – 41%
· Overnight Snow – 22%
The residential and overnight snow citations were mainly in the same street locations where 42% of the parking problems occur in the City. These are the areas of 400 North to 1200 North and 500 East to 900 East, and US 89 to 1100 North and 1200 East to 1500 East.
Major student and residential parking issues exist around USU in the areas mentioned above. Overnight snow parking regulations were an issue this winter due to:
· Less than needed parking space being available to residents
· Large amounts of snow which took away some parking spaces
· Changed and incorrect information on the dates and times of the overnight snow regulation between the ordinance, the Logan City Website and signs on 400 North
Mr. Schnare continued and said the Parking Appeals Board recommended changing the name of the “Overnight Snow” parking regulation to “Overnight Winter” parking so that appeals are not based on the lack of snow. Change the signs to reflect the new regulation and post more signs.
The Parking Appeals Board observed that the current residential parking regulations will not address the developing need resulting from new complexes with insufficient parking space. Originally, the residential parking regulation was needed to prevent drive-in students from clogging up all the curb parking near USU during the day. Now, the issue is that megaplexes (The Factory, 1000 North 600 East Millennial Village) do not have sufficient parking and their vehicles spill out into the adjacent residential area, especially at night. These new developments were billed as improving the City by providing needed student housing. However, the result is cars parked all over, including in no-parking zones up to the intersections. This is causing unsafe situations due to lack of visibility, as well as a very unattractive environment. The proposed change in residential parking of adding six blocks and taking out one block takes away more parking spaces than it adds which will only create more problems especially around the megaplexes.
The Parking Appeals Board recommended that the residential restriction should be 24/7. This would help with the night time parking problem for residents, assuming that residents living in the Campus Residential zone are not eligible for residential parking permits. Unfortunately, this will not help the safety issues at the intersections such as 600 East and 900 North. Additional parking enforcement should be exercised. More signage is needed along these streets to inform people not familiar with the area about the parking regulation.
The Parking Appeals Board observed that too few parking spaces are being allowed for new construction of residential buildings. There is a need for the City and USU to focus on finding solutions to the parking spillage into residential areas caused by the approval of less than needed parking space for recent residential housing complexes. This trend is also continuing with a proposed apartment building on Main Street. It is estimated that the proposed apartment building on Main Street with 1 to 1.5 spaces per apartment allowed will be at least 36% or 67 spaces below the number of spaces needed. This will negatively affect adjacent business parking areas. The new code amendment allowing off-site parking could be a source of conflict when one of the businesses in the agreement changes location, and the business that moves in has hours that conflict with the business that did not leave. There will also be a problem as City lots that are empty and used as off-site now get built upon.
The Parking Appeals recommended that the fact is that many families have more than one vehicle. It is also a fact that more people may live in a rented set of rooms than the planners and builder envisioned. The expense of parking can be paid up front by the builder and passed on to the residents over time, or the cost will be paid by the residents when they get citations. City planners need to understand these facts and plan accordingly.
Chairman Daines stated that the data shows that the percentage of parking is in a certain area and suggested that signage be done.
Mayor Petersen asked of the appeals that come before the Board, what percent they grant.
Mr. Anderson responded it’s a small percentage and many of the appeals are simply that the person cannot afford to pay the ticket. There are quite a few that receive a time restricted citation and their appeal is they were only 5 minutes over the 3-hour time limit. The Appeals Board does not generally grant leniency for that reason but they do grant leniency for reasons that are beyond the control of the person such as mechanical difficulty or weather related incidents. The appeals are handled via quorum and they try and be empathetic but they also understand that it’s not the position of the Appeals Board to waive the rules of the City.
Councilmember Simmonds asked do Mr. Schnare and Mr. Anderson recommend that the City should actively red stripe intersections 20 feet back and place additional signs regarding the Winter Parking ordinance.
Mr. Anderson said that is correct. The City doesn’t normally sign for the Winter Parking ordinance so any signs that go up would be new signs. He feels that for those who are visiting from out of town signs would be helpful. He said the police department does a great job of advertising the ordinance via radio and print but there are still people that don’t understand the ordinance. The Parking Appeals Board meets every 3-4 weeks and they review approximately 50 appeals at each meeting.
Councilmember Simmonds asked if the Appeals Board had any suggestions of what can be done to improve parking.
Mr. Anderson responded that the City should concentrate on solutions going forward. He feels that it’s a hard to retrofit parking into an established area. In the areas of the “megaplexes” by USU, there is a shortage of parking and of course, the residents that live in these areas don’t like cars parked in their neighborhoods. He feels we haven’t reached the post car society age and he feels that some of the expectations for parking spaces per housing unit need to be adjusted.
Vice Chairman Jensen said there are a good number of students who have vehicles. He asked about the cars that are only used on weekends and suggested that the owners of the “megaplexes” require their tenant’s to park remotely and someplace different than the neighborhoods. Doing this will free up parking for those who need it during the weekday.
Mr. Anderson responded that he feels this idea is worth exploring. He stated that some of the problem is because landlords know they don’t have sufficient parking so the cars are going out into the street and neighborhoods and that is not a solution, especially in the winter months. There is already communication about parking between the landlords and tenants. There might be some corrective action that could take place and go back to the landlords and have them try and come up with a parking solution they can communicate to their tenants going forward. Maybe an idea would be the tenants have to pay for their parking space.
Chairman Daines thanked Mr. Schnare and Mr. Anderson for their comments and their service on the Appeals Board.
Police Chief Gary Jensen also thanked the Parking Appeals Board for their service.
b. Discussion of Adams Area Neighborhood Parking Permits – Frank Stewart