City of Birmingham AD HOC RAIL DISTRICT COMMITTEE Thursday, Meeting City Commission Room 151 Martin St., Birmingham, Michigan MINUTES These are the minutes for the Ad Hoc Rail District Committee meeting held on Thursday,. The meeting was called to order at 9:15 a.m. by Vice-Chairperson Larry Bertollini. A. ROLLCALL Present: Absent: Administration: Vice-Chairperson Larry Bertollini Cynthia Chiara Lara Edwards Lisa Krueger (left at 11:05 a.m.) Norman LePage (arrived at 10 a.m.) Michael Steinberger Chairperson Janelle Whipple-Boyce Sean Campbell, Asst. Planner Brooks Cowan, Planning Intern Jana Ecker, Planning Director Carole Salutes, Recording Secretary B. MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF MAY 2, 2016 Motion by Mr. Steinberger Seconded by Ms. Edwards to approve the Minutes of the Ad Hoc Rail District Committee Meeting of May 2, 2016 as presented. Yeas: Steinberger, Edwards, Bertollini, Chiara, Krueger Absent: LePage, Whipple-Boyce
Page 2 of 6 MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF JUNE 23, 2016 Motion by Vice-Chairperson Bertollini Seconded by Ms. Chiara to approve the Minutes of the Ad Hoc Rail District Committee Meeting of June 23, 2016 as presented. Yeas: Bertollini, Chiara, Steinberger, Edwards, Krueger Absent: LePage, Whipple-Boyce C. CHAIRPERSON'S COMMENTS (none) D. REVIEW OF THE AGENDA (no change) E. ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMITTEE GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Ms. Ecker advised that staff prepared suggestions for the committee's goals and objectives based on the input of the committee members to date: Goals: Create an attractive and desirable streetscape that creates a walkable environment compatible with adjacent residential neighborhoods. Design the public right-of-way for the safety, comfort, convenience, and enjoyment for all modes of transportation throughout the corridor. Facilitate vehicular traffic and parking without sacrificing the corridor s cycling and pedestrian experience. Minimize the impacts of traffic on existing residential neighborhoods. Objectives: Use creative planning to promote a high quality, cohesive right of way that is compatible with existing uses in the corridor. Implement traffic calming techniques, where appropriate, to reduce speeds, reduce accidents and discourage cut-through traffic on residential streets. Enhance pedestrian connectivity through the addition of crosswalks, sidewalks, and curb extensions. Improve accommodations for bicycle infrastructure on Eton Road. Create a balance between multimodal accessibility and parking provisions.
Page 3 of 6 It would be beneficial for the committee to adopt formal goals to assist in guiding both the study and the recommendations of the committee. The above are offered as a starting point for discussion. Vice-Chairperson Bertollini felt it important to verify that the current Zoning Ordinance is not creating parking issues so that future developments in the Rail District do not exceed parking requirements. Ms. Ecker thought one of the biggest issues is the lack of shared parking in the Rail District. Ms. Ecker offered the following to add as an objective: 'Recommend updates to the Rail District zoning regulations as needed to meet the goals.' Motion by Ms. Edwards Seconded by Mr. Steinberger to approve our Goals and Objectives as written with the inclusion of the point about recommending potential zoning improvements. Yeas: Edwards, Steinberger, Bertollini, Chiara, Krueger Absent: LePage, Whipple-Boyce F. PARKING ANALYSIS - EXISTING AND FUTURE Ms. Ecker provided an overview. One of the primary elements of the City Commission s charge to the Ad Hoc Rail District Committee was to conduct an analysis of existing and future parking needs in the Rail District. Today staff will go through an analysis based on what is there now including the areas that are likely as fully developed as they will get, along with the areas that may be ripe for redevelopment in the future. Staff is asking the committee to look at some of the assumptions that were made and to critique them. The committee may wish to request funding to hire a consultant to do a formal parking study at different times of the day and during peak hours. Mr. Cowan put an aerial view of the corridor up on the screen. It depicted the maximum square footage that could be accommodated while dealing with parking. Parcels along Cole were discussed. Some were so built out for the size of the lot that they are not likely to go up. Smaller parcels that are not maxed out in their parking could be built up. City-owned parcels were removed from the analysis because it was assumed they will not be redeveloped. The School District bus parking lot was also removed because it is publicly owned and no changes are anticipated to the School District property within the next 20 years. Committee members agreed with those two assumptions. They also agreed that the School District bus repair facility on Holland should be removed.
Page 4 of 6 The next view that Mr. Cowan presented was existing on-street and off-street parking which totaled 2,219 spaces. Then he put the focus area on the screen and looked at how many on-site parking spaces there are in the under developed area. They found 969 spaces on the parcels that are likely to be redeveloped. The following slide focused on the areas that are not likely to be redeveloped, along with the undeveloped underdeveloped parcels. It considers the new buildings and how much of their maximum buildable area they are using. It is not possible would not be economically feasible to max out the buildable area and still meet the parking requirement. Crosswinds varies between 35 and almost 45% of their maximum buildout. District Lofts is about 45 to 50% of maximum build-out because they provide underground parking along with some surface parking. Griffin Claw is at 2% of the maximum build out, which could increase because it is only one story and could be built to go up to four stories. The committee then looked at the focus area buildings that have not been recently developed. Most of them are one-story with expansive surface lots. They are at about one third of their anticipated buildout. Mr. Cowan advised that another assumption made was that with a the four-story max build-out the first story is counted as retail and the second, third, and fourth stories as all residential. Another assumption is that on the first floor retail there would be one parking space/300 ft. required, A further assumption is that for floors two, three, and four one parking spot/1000 sq. ft. would be required assuming that most of the units are 900 to 1,500 sq. ft. and everyone has to provide their own on-site parking. Ms. Ecker noted that with a parking count done at different times of the day it will likely be demonstrated that there is a parking crisis at certain times in a small area; not the District as a whole. She asked the committee to review and consider the 100% buildout calculations, along with the 50% and the 30% build out calculations to determine the appropriate build out percentage to be used in the model. All committee members agreed with that the 30% build out assumption could be used for the purposes of the model based on the current and anticipated development pattern in the area. In addition, committee members requested that the cemetery and the bus repair property should be removed from the build out analysis, and for the Irongate at S. Eton and Villa to be added in. Ms. Ecker explained the Erb property was taken out because it is land locked. Vice-Chairman Bertollini wanted more information on the Forest Hills Swim Club property as it may be excluded from study. Ms. Chiara noted that it is really in need of repairs currently. Mr. Cowan put up a chart that showed the current percent of max build out on individual properties that have been recently developed. He thought the parking structure should be left in the scenario and given a different category. Four out of five committee
Page 5 of 6 members were in favor. Mr. Bertolinni was not and felt it should be included with Big Rock and The Reserve. To summarize: The committee agreed with one space/300 sq. ft. for commercial for the first floor on an average development. The committee agreed with one space/1000 sq. ft., concurrent with the current zoning. Mr. LePage noted that works for the District Lofts. They agreed the model should could be based on 30-35% max build out in 20 years. Right now developers must provide their own parking. However, a public parking structure would change everything. Ms. Ecker said the original concern of some of the adjacent residents is that the current parking demand in certain areas is high. Motion by Mr. Steinberger Seconded by Ms. Krueger that the committee request funding for a parking study to count cars during peak demand, particularly evenings around Griffin Claw, and on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday everywhere else on a nonholiday week. Motion carried, 6-0. Yeas: Steinberger, Krueger, Bertollini, Chiara, Edwards, LePage Absent: Whipple-Boyce Ms. Edwards thought it would be important for the next meeting to take a look of the Maple Rd./Eton intersection and the plaza area in front of Griffin Claw. She thought professional traffic help would be needed for that study. Motion by Ms. Edwards Seconded by Mr. Steinberger to request funding from the City Commission to hire a professional traffic consultant to help us specifically with the area at Maple Rd./Eton and Bowers/Eton. Yeas: Edwards, Steinberger, Bertollini, Chiara, LePage Absent: Krueger, Whipple-Boyce
Page 6 of 6 Ms. Ecker summariezed the committee s comments by stating that it is clear that the committee wants to consider that there is a balance between traffic and planning principles. G. MEETING OPEN TO THE PUBLIC FOR ITEMS NOT ON THE AGENDA (none) H. MISCELLANEOUS COMMUNICATIONS (none) I. ADJOURNMENT No further business being evident, the meeting adjourned at 11:10 a.m. Respectfully submitted, Jana Ecker Planning Director