Council Communication

Study Session Hargadine Parking Structure
Meeting Date:	March 2, 2005		Primary Staff Contact:	Lee Tuneberg, 552-2003 tuneberl@ashland.or.us
Department:	Finance		Secondary Staff Contact:	N/A
Contributing Departments:	N/A
Approval:	Gino Grimaldi

Statement: This report covers the operations and costs of the Hargadine Parking structure as it is used today and options for continued use.
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Background: The public parking structure located on Hargadine between Pioneer and 1st streets was built in 2001 on the site of an existing parking lot that contained 86 spaces including four reserved for the handicapped. The structure holds 145 spaces on three floors including five reserved for handicapped located on the lower level. It is a pay to park structure for all spaces with the fee being $1 per day until 6 PM and then $1 per hour with a maximum of $3 from 6 AM to midnight. Monthly permits for Monday through Friday day use only are $20. No over night parking is allowed. The Hargadine structure represents 14.8% of the 977 parking spaces counted as part of the Downtown Business District. It also houses 25 spaces for motorcycles throughout and has a bicycle locker on the lower level. The structure was financed with an Oregon Economic and Community Development grant of $600,000 and a $900,000 loan for which the City of Ashland was the "pass through" agency. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival (OSF) managed the project and the HVAC equipment room for the New Theater is located in the structure's northwest corner of the bottom floor. OSF pays $67,000 to the City each November for their share of the debt and the City budgets that amount plus $37,000 as debt service each year. The City owns the structure and it remains exempt from property tax in its current use as does the other City owned parking lots. Operational costs have been small these first three years due to newness of the structure. The routine costs experienced to date include insurance, maintenance and repair, upgrades to signage, parking permit machine upgrades, enforcement and staff time. The structure generates nearly $20,000 per year beyond the City's portion of debt service and that has been sufficient to cover direct operational costs but fell short of what would be considered overhead or managerial costs. Diamond Parking Enforcement patrols the structure during the day as part of overall downtown parking enforcement and evening enforcement is left to and dependant upon Ashland Police availability. Diamond issues the monthly parking permits and coordinates all tasks and related paperwork for cash receipts, credit card processing, tickets issued, reports to the City's Municipal Court and collections. Diamond Parking Service was selected in a 2001 Request for Proposals done by Ashland Police when it was decided to outsource parking enforcement. Diamond assisted in selecting and setting up the three machines used at Hargadine to accept cash, coin or credit card and issue a receipt. Diamond maintains the machines including servicing, replacing paper, ribbons, components and processing payments. The machines initially installed were not up to the volume and have been upgraded as well as the dollar bill acceptors that where also problematic. Even so, the more expensive machines still will not perform well with damaged or crumpled money. The machines do not give change and due to per-transaction costs for credit card use there is a cost of 12 to 37% on each card purchase. Parking at the structure generates approximately $60,000 per year with the current rates, occupancy and enforcement. The money collected is split between the Debt Service Fund to make annual payments and the Central Service Fund to cover operational costs. Diamond spends approximately 5% of its total time enforcing parking at the structure and processing related appeals. Diamond's annual cost for FY 2003-04 was $70,000. As can be expected, the structure is normally full at peak times (2:00 PM and 8:00 PM) during the tourism season and underutilized other times of the year. Signs consistent with the City Code and similar to those for other public lots are posted at nearby intersections to alert the public to parking opportunities. Even so, many have wondered about the location of the structure. Additionally, any time Main Street is closed or cordoned off for activities like parades the structure has a high probability of going under used. By many standards, utilization at peak periods can be deemed successful in that the normal model for downtown parking is to charge for the highly desirable spaces (the Plaza) and provide free or lower cost alternate parking. Ashland's model is the reverse and still results in near capacity use of the structure at peak hours from OSF, Cabaret, movie and retail activity and providing less pressure on street parking demand. Of course, during the off season and mornings street parking demand is light and so is the usage of Hargadine with the exception of permit parking. Public Perspective/Comments: Administration and the Finance Department regularly receive input on the structure's use and operation: As you may guess, seldom is staff advised of how well the structure works and what a "buy" a buck a day is! Some of the other comments received are: 1. The machines are too hard to see. 2. The machine is not working right. 3. The machine did not give me change. 4. It is too dark, even when all the lights are working. 5. Why can't residents of Hargadine park there for free? 6. Do something about the pigeons. 7. Why do you have to park head in? 8. Why can't you park over night? 9. People drive too fast around the structure and the entrances. 10. Too many skateboarders. 11. The structure damaged my car. 12. The city should provide a sign that shows how Oregon and Ashland laws vary from California's. Diamond Parking employees report that they often are thanked for their helpfulness (they are often asked for directions) and routinely are told that $1/day is unbelievable. Remember that the City is not charging to park in the Plaza, only enforcing compliance. The city does not have anecdotal information that can steer what it might do different with the structure. It is believed by staff that whatever happens to the use of Hargadine will impact the Plaza and the reverse is true. Proposed uses mentioned since 2001 are: a. Build housing on top of it. b. Open it to farmers market c. Provide free parking to businesses and/or city employees d. Provide parking for residences on Hargadine. e. Don't charge for parking at all. The Lithia Springs Hotel has asked the city about late hour use but may be waiting for the Bemis project outcome before any commitment could be sought. Personal use of the structure can jeopardize the tax exempt status of the structure and, in turn, affect the financing. Additionally, when the hotel identified the hours of highest need they were in conflict with high use periods for pals and other activities. Possible Alternatives: This could include charging more to better cover costs, surplus going to special interest groups or to augment the Street Fund. Our total costs are still being tallied but the approach to charge little to cover debt may not cover all costs including cleaning, repair, upgrades, expensive and temperamental machines and relatively high banking fees. For "only a buck" we are seeing high levels of frustration on the public's part and for the staff that has to deal with it and a paperwork deluge. The City could "cut" our losses by making it free so that the Plaza gets relief which may require the City to pay the debt rather than pay staff to manage the "fall out." I am sure permit holders would appreciate it but others may say it is a benefit to OSF (but remember that OSF pays the City $29,302 a year for their part of the $67,620 annual debt). The question here may be enforcement - treating it like other lots (4 hour parking) versus a longer period since one goal was to give the public somewhere to park at low cost to allow multiple activities in conjunction with a play AND NOT return to a parking ticket. This perspective played a strong role in establishing the fees and operations at inception. That need is probably still applicable today. At this juncture it may be better to take a conservative approach to changes, dealing with important issues even if some are relatively small in comparison to overall operations. Doing so would allow the more serious changes for the City's only parking structure to be considered along with the rest of the down town planning and parking programs. Some of the things that could be implemented at this time are: i. Expanding the hours of use for monthly permits to attract more usage (perhaps at a slightly higher rate). ii. Upgrading theVentek machines (or adding additional ones) to increase availability and performance. iii. Install additional lighting for security and easier use of the Ventek machines. iv. Target special interest needs (hotels, businesses, Hargadine residents, other groups) by providing alternate permit programs. v. Removing payment requirements for Handicap designated spaces.
Related City Policies: Downtown plan Parking code
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Council Options: Operate the structure much the way it is currently being run. Charge more per space with a defined purpose for where the revenues should be applied. Charge less or nothing and make the debt service payments from other operating revenues.
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Staff Recommendation: Keep the basic operations of the structure as it exists today until the downtown plan is complete and the interrelationship of it and the Plaza is better known. Staff could bring back to Council proposed options for changes in items i - v listed above that may suffice until the down town plan is completed.
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Potential Motions: None prepared as of this time.
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Attachments: Please click on the link below to view the following attachments: • OECDD contract • Diamond Parking Agreement • Comparison of Revenues and Expenses for 2003-2004. • Sample letters - public comment

Hargadine-Attachments.pdf (1589.5KB)

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