2008 Parking Study Final Report - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

1 1111 BackgBackgBackgBackground and Study Processround and Study Processround and Study Processround and Study Process 1.11.11.11.1 BackgroundBackgroundBackgroundBackground The City of Charlottesville is fortunate to have an active and vibrant downtown, including one of the most successful pedestrian malls in the nation. The aim of this study was to address three broad areas of concern about downtown parking and its contribution to the future economic health of downtown: Parking concerns: Parking in the downtown area has been identified as a concern by residents, visitors and business owners. Closure of the mall to automobiles created a great asset to the community but has also created numerous parking challenges. Currently the side streets along the mall have an inconsistent mix of time-limited parking, loading zones and ADA spaces. The current arrangement does not appear to be meeting the needs of the business owners or residents. Additionally, there are wider concerns about the current and future availability of parking for downtown as a whole. The City therefore wished to understand the existing and forecast balance between supply and demand, and to understand whether reallocation of particular spaces would be helpful. Parking Exempt Zone: Currently a significant portion of the City, including downtown and the West Main Street corridor toward the University, is contained in a Parking Exempt Zone (PEZ). This area is exempt from the parking requirements outlined in the City’s Zoning Ordinance. Although the City has a goal of promoting use of transit, walking and cycling as modes of transportation, most new projects include parking based on their market research. The City therefore wished to understand whether the PEZ is still appropriate for today’s needs. Relationship between Parking and Transit: Stakeholders in Charlottesville are considering the possibility of a streetcar transit system on West Main Street to connect downtown Charlottesville and the University of Virginia. The 2005 report Shaping Community with Transit, which introduced the streetcar concept, recommended that the downtown parking strategy should be designed to work with transit. The City therefore wished to understand how the transit system and the parking system could contribute to each other’s objectives. 1.21.21.21.2 StudyStudyStudyStudy Area and Area and Area and Area and Process Process Process Process Figure 1.1 shows the study area. The study team reported to a Stakeholder Group that included representatives of downtown merchants and other stakeholders, as well as representatives of the City. Because the focus was on the needs of downtown businesses and their customers, the study addressed weekday daytime parking. Special events, evenings and weekends were beyond the scope of the study. An inventory of downtown parking spaces was collected in April 2008. A comprehensive occupancy survey was undertaken on Thursday April 17, 2008 (when outdoor cafes were open) for the entire business day, in hourly cycles from 8am to 6pm. The survey date was chosen to be a time when outdoor seating had returned to the Mall and the University was still in session, as directed by the Stakeholder Group. The weather on the survey date was good. The Water Street and Market Street garages were recounted on Wednesday July 16, 2008, to corroborate the April data.