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WEST MAIN STREET PARKING OPPORTUNITIES AND ANALYSIS <br /> City of Charlottesville <br /> <br />Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates Inc. | 9 <br /> Encourage or require new developments along the corridor to provide publically available <br />off street parking as a component of their project. Enable shared parking to maximize the <br />use of any spaces constructed. Developments may charge prevailing hourly rates for <br />parking spaces; however, off-street parking fees must be priced below on-street rates. <br /> Improve access to the corridor via non-driving modes including additional bicycle <br />parking, bicycle accommodation, transit enhancements, and a significantly improved <br />walk environment. <br />The need for construction of an off-street municipal garage is not supported by this data. Parking <br />needs can adequately, and more evenly, be met through the above enumerated strategies. This <br />conclusion is based on the following: <br /> Parking demand is spread across the corridor. West of 6th Street on-street parking <br />demand is lower, but off-street demand is higher and the segment lacks any off-street <br />public parking accommodations. 6th Street to the rail overpass has higher on-street <br />occupancy, but unused publically available off-street capacity. <br /> Retail patrons generally prefer to walk 600 feet or less between parking and their <br />destination. A parking garage would be proximate to only one segment of the corridor <br />while parking demand is spread along the length of the corridor. <br /> Supply can be increased and met through partnership with private development or <br />existing underutilized lots. <br /> Structured parking is expensive. Small and awkwardly shaped sites result in inefficient <br />parking layouts and even greater cost. The tight configuration of available sites on the <br />corridor would result in construction costs of roughly $15,000 per parking space. <br />Amortized over a 20 year financing period, this equates to nearly $30,000 or $6million <br />for a 200 space garage. A smaller facility would not be economical. <br /> Supportable parking rates need to be low. The estimated tolerable price point for parking <br />on the corridor is between $1.00 and $1.50 per hour for on-street parking. Off-street <br />parking would need to be lower to preserve the availability of on-street spaces. <br /> The city should focus first on regulating and enforcing existing on-street parking.