Traffic and Transportation Committee

TRAFFIC AND TRANSPORTATION October 22, 2019 A meeting of the Committee on Traffic and Transportation was held this date beginning at 2:30 p.m., at City Hall, 80 Broad Street, First Floor Conference Room Notice of this meeting was sent to all local news media. PRESENT Councilmember Seekings, Chair; Councilmember Wagner, Councilwoman Jackson, Councilmember Moody and Mayor Tecklenburg Present: Robbie Somerville, Janie Borden, Keith Benjamin, Tracy McKee, Janie Borden, Rick Jerue, Herbert Nims, Charleston County, Jordan Lanier, and Bethany Whitaker, Council Secretary The meeting was opened with an invocation provided by Councilwoman Jackson. APPROVAL OF MINUTES On the motion of Councilmember Moody, seconded by Councilmember Wagner, the Committee voted unanimously to approve the minutes of the October 8, 2019 meeting. Town of James Island, Clearview & Eastwood Neighborhood Traffic Calming Project Councilwoman Jackson stated that the Town had initiated a pretty extensive traffic calming project. There was a lot of pushback from the residents, not just City residents, against what seemed like a pretty egregious number of items. There were speed humps and stop signs on a road that didn’t really act as a cut-through. It was a road for the residents that lived along the harbor area. At the public meetings, the Town had listened and they heard people were upset about the volume of speed humps. She wasn’t sure if this was true, but many people were concerned that it lowered the values of properties to have speed humps in the neighborhood. The Town listened and they changed the scope. That was the part she didn’t know. Chairman Seekings said they would get Ms. Cabiness in to talk about the change of scope. Deferred. Charleston County CTC Traffic Calming Project  Bur Clare Drive  Rainbow Road Mr. Nims stated that Rainbow Road and Bur Clare Drive had been in the line for traffic calming since 2013. They were located on James Island. They were SCDOT roads, however parcels were multi- jurisdictional. The SCDOT didn’t pursue traffic calming. They had to go through and apply for a permit in those areas. The minimum criteria had been met for the DOT. They applied for an encroachment permit in March 2018 and that was approved. Then, they applied to the CTC for funding in May 2019 and it was approved in August 2019. So, they had $45,000 to put three flat top speed humps on the roads. The reason for both of the roads was because they served as a cut-through for Seaside Plantation to Folly Road. There had been a lot of speeding and residents had been complaining about it for a long time. All of it had been approved and funded. Councilmember Moody asked if this had gone through the same criteria that the City normally had for speed humps as far as the traffic counts and speeding. Mr. Somerville said it was kind of outside that 1 process because the majority of the jurisdiction was with the County. However, the City had done studies on that area and it was well above the City’s normal criteria. The volumes and speed were extremely high. One of the traffic calming devices may be in the City’s jurisdiction. Councilmember Moody asked if the City’s funds would be used for that one. Mr. Nims said it was all under CTC funding. Mr. Somerville said they just wanted to come to the Committee because one would be in the City’s jurisdiction. Councilwoman Jackson stated that she knew the residents of that whole area would be happy. It was an increasingly dangerous cut through situation. Councilmember Moody asked if they went through the procedure for the petitions. Mr. Nims said yes. The County’s procedure was very similar to the City’s. They also had to adhere to the DOT procedure, and they met all of those requirements. It was a collaborative effort. Chairman Seekings asked if they had notified the property that was in the City where the speed hump would be, that they would have it in front of their house. Mr. Nims said he made an effort to get all signatures from people who have one in front of their house. Construction would probably be in 2020, and they would notify them again and let them know. Mayor Tecklenburg said that even though they didn’t need the approval on the others, he wanted to commend the County for working with them and getting the others approved and done. On the motion of Councilmember Moody, seconded by Councilwoman Jackson, the Committee voted unanimously to approve the speed hump from the above project that would be in the City’s jurisdiction. Food Vendors Ordinance Update (Information Only) Mr. Lanier said this would be a brief update. A few months previously, they had come to the Committee to talk about their mobile food vending ordinance, specifically food carts in the right of way. The plan was that they were going to rewrite the entire ordinance. That was still the plan, however since that meeting there had been a number of staffing changes in business services. They had decided to hand some of the early phases of this project to the design division. They specialized in trying to nail down and figure out what would be good for the City from an urban design standpoint, what the residents wanted to see from food vending. Allen Davis would take over the first phase of the project. They would probably hold some sort of charrette and do design studies. Once the end product was determined, it would come back into the permitting and licensing approvals to take over to figure out that process. The only change was that they had said they would be done by the end of the year, but given the workload, the new goal was by festival season, so around April-May 2020. In the meantime, all of the spots were already first-come first-serve. They had no issues and had heard no feedback from legal or permitting that it was an issue. They intended to keep that the same until the new ordinance was done. Councilmember Moody asked if the way they had it now was working, did they need to change it. It hadn’t worked to put the franchises out because people weren’t bidding on them. So, if they spent a lot of effort, maybe they should just let it go and come back to it if there was a problem. Mr. Lanier said that option was absolutely on the table. The thinking was that no one was particularly pleased with the current state of mobile food vending. Keeping first-come first-serve was an option though, and if the design division determined that was what was wanted, that’s what they could do. Councilwoman 2 Jackson said that if it was something the design division wanted to do, getting the vendors input was always a positive step to make so that they had those opinions. People liked to participate in those sorts of collective thinking processes. Mr. Benjamin stated they were exploring the parameters of the usage of the spaces and if they should be expanded. They were asking if there should be different uses and what the City was comfortable with. They hadn’t walked away with exactly how it should proceed, but knowing there were questions being asked about how it should be expanded or not. Transportation Network Companies Briefing (Information Only) Mr. Benjamin stated that Councilmember Griffin had brought up the question of why there weren’t pick-up and drop-offs on King Street. Councilmember Griffin had gotten a question from a constituent and that was why he was following up to make sure he brought it up on the Council floor. He thought the response on the Council floor answered his question of why, but he wanted to put it on the agenda, as was asked. Councilmember Moody said that they should hear from Lieutenant King. He had been down there, and the night he was down there was before this ordinance and it was like a jungle on that street with cars stopping and picking up and dropping off. When the ordinance was put in place, he went back down there, and saw it working. It was working great. The traffic was moving. Chairman Seekings said they could hear from Lieutenant King on where they were in terms of the ordinances and the enforcement side. Lieutenant King handed a map of the two prohibited zones they had. A number of people spent almost a year working on that. The prohibited zone on King Street began back in 2015. There was a difference in the taxi-cab locations and Uber locations because the State recognized the two as different entities. Taxi-cabs did have stands and the Uber locations did not. Before this ordinance, on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, between midnight and 2 a.m. those six blocks of King Street was a management nightmare for general mobility and public safety. Almost every night there was some need for the Fire Department or EMS to come out and before this, that six blocks would take several minutes to negotiate. This ordinance allowed that whole corridor to be more free flowing. It was completely different. Some complaints they still received was that Uber drivers didn’t know about this. However, they had worked with Uber on this and they had put a geo-verified message on their platform. If you were an Uber driver, when they hit that corridor, a message would flash on the screen that they couldn’t pick up on King Street every single time. So, the drivers couldn’t say they didn’t know about this. Councilmember Moody asked if the passengers would get that message too. Lieutenant King said that the drivers would call the passengers, and since the blocks were so small, it wasn’t that big of an inconvenience. It was for the public benefit of everyone. As far as enforcement, there were a lot of officers out there. They couldn’t get every single one. He equated it to there being a speed limit and people knew they shouldn’t speed. It was a $1000 citation, but to his knowledge, no one had ever walked away actually having to pay the fine. It was graduated and if people came back multiple times, the fine would go up. They had an education period of thirty days just like everything else. He thought this was still very much successful and it worked. A lot of people didn’t understand why they had done it, but once they heard why, it made sense. Councilmember Moody asked if they had any problems with assaults or safety issues of having to go off King Street. Lieutenant King said that they hadn’t to his knowledge. The officers that were out there 3 were there until the crowd was completely dispersed and they were everywhere. Councilmember Wagner said he had a friend that drove for Uber and he had mentioned St. Philip Street becoming a nightmare on the weekends. So, they might have moved from King Street over there. He wasn’t sure, but he wanted to bring it up. Chairman Seekings said there wasn’t a lot of commercial activity on that street. Councilmember Wagner said it was a passing comment. Chairman Seekings asked if the 12:30-3 a.m. was the right time. Lieutenant King said it seemed to work. It was mostly for the time when people were going home. In a standard utopian society, people would walk out, get in the car and go. But, at 3 a.m., when people have been drinking, they hold the car and wait for their friends. When that happens so many times, there was no movement. Chairman Seekings said that they needed to report to Council that those who had been part of the plan said it was working. Mr. Benjamin said that one of the recommendations in the parking study was the idea of additional zones for pick-up. That was something they could look at. Golf Carts Briefing (Information Only) Mr. Benjamin said at the same Council meeting, this was a request that came up from Councilmember Lewis. He had talked with Councilmember Lewis and he wanted to get more specifics about the different jurisdictions and what the rules were, and what the City’s enforcement capacity was. Mr. Somerville said that it was his understand per State law, that golf carts could only be operated two miles from where it was registered during daylight hours only. They were required to be registered through the DMV, which was really just a form where they indicated they had insurance and they would get a sticker that was required to be posted clearly visible on the golf cart. Lieutenant King said they had to be 16 and up as well. He wasn’t sure if you could be 16 without a license, or if you had to have a license and be 16. Councilmember Moody said they also couldn’t operate them on a street that had a speed limit above 35 mph. They could cross them, but couldn’t operate on them. Mr. Somerville said that was correct. Chairman Seekings said that was the State laws and asked if they had independent City regulations. Ms. Borden said they did with regard to zoning and with regard for commercial use. Chairman Seekings said the one question they always had and he wasn’t sure if they had could resolve it, was parking, because they didn’t have license plates on them. Because of that, they could park anywhere. Mr. Somerville said that was the problem. It was required to have that registration, but a lot of them didn’t. Even parking enforcement would see them parked in a prohibited zone, but they didn’t have anything to issue a citation to. Councilmember Moody asked if they made a boot for a golf cart. Mr. Somerville said he thought they did. Chairman Seekings said they had talked about this a few years ago. Mr. Somerville said there had been a discussion and the City wanted to tow if they saw a golf cart on the street without registration. But, it wasn’t ratified in any ordinance yet. Chairman Seekings said there was a large number of golf carts in the commercial district operating at night. So, it was illegal under State law, because they would have had to drive after dark. Lieutenant King said if they had an LV tag, they could drive at night, because it had the safety features of a regular vehicle. Chairman Seekings asked what they could do about that. Mr. Borden said they could bring back suggestions. Councilmember Wagner said they should also look at the suburbs who were going to and from the pools. Chairman Seekings said the rules would apply throughout the City. Councilmember Wagner said then they would have to worry about enforcement. 4 Chairman Seekings asked if they enforced nighttime golf carts. Lieutenant King said they did, but they took it easy, because people got very upset and would complain and say that the officers had better things to do than ‘harass’ people on golf carts. They got a lot of grief every time they approached. Councilmember Wagner said they should make it very simple. They could start with the HOA’s and Neighborhood Associations. Chairman Seekings said in the grand scheme, they were encouraging people not to register because they could park for ‘free’. Mr. Benjamin said there was a number of things that made it a gray area legally. There was a lot involved. Mayor Tecklenburg said that was a good point. A lot of people used golf carts in neighborhoods. His question was what the state requirements were for safety regulations or if a seatbelt was required. Mr. Somerville said he wasn’t aware if someone was required to wear them. Mayor Tecklenburg said that a seatbelt would make a difference and they should look at the safety requirements. Mr. Benjamin stated that what he had heard so far was to look at the requirements overall. They should look at making registration mandatory and look at the towing capacity or booting capacity for golf carts that weren’t registered or illegally parked. They should look at the usage of the golf carts at night and at seatbelt requirements. Councilmember Moody said he was thinking about his neighborhood. They wanted people to use bikes and golf carts so there weren’t so many cars on the road, but with the Greenway, there couldn’t be motorized vehicles. That meant that the golf carts would have to get on Hwy 17 where the speed limit was 45 mph, so they couldn’t be out there. Director’s Updates Chairman Seekings asked if there had been any update on the bridge. Mr. Benjamin stated they had a call with Senator Graham’s Chief of Staff and his Ledge Director to follow up on his commitment to making a call to Secretary Chao, the USDOT Secretary. The Governor’s office had made it very clear to USDOT that the Upstate priority was the interchange, and the Lowcountry’s was the Ashley River crossing. They wanted that to be extremely clear, because they didn’t want it to be a situation of one or the other. South Carolina had been awarded multiple Build/TIGER grants both in 2010, 2011, and 2014 and the max that a State could get in dollars was up to $90 million in total awards. They were continuing to follow up with the Medical District. They had lobbied on the City’s behalf in D.C. They were trying to make every push possible. Councilwoman Jackson asked what top budget priorities they were asking to be approve this year. Mr. Benjamin said that one was the Multi-modal Safety Programs Manager. They needed someone on staff doing that work on a regular basis. That was top of the line. Councilmember Wagner had made mention of how they were enforcing things off the Peninsula. They didn’t currently have that capacity, but they had the request of getting a designated team with a supervisor that would specifically be focused on off- Peninsula enforcement needs and be able to respond in good time. Right now, they sent someone out once or twice a month to handle those. Another priority, that was outside the department, but still ended up in their lap, was to have a designated sidewalk program for the City. They needed the ability to have dollars to match for TST and CTC requests and it would enable them to raise the priority level of a project that they thought was important. Right now, they were at the bottom of the barrel. They also 5 had the Traffic Management Center that was sitting there under-staffed. That was an asset that they could use both for safety and for daily trouble-shooting. That was money sitting there that was unused. Councilwoman Jackson asked what the total was for those things on the list. Mr. Benjamin said for the Multi-Modal Manager had a starting salary of about $65,000. They wanted someone with degrees and experience. For the sidewalking program, he mirrored it after the program in Greenville and they had allocated about $750,000 per year. For the person in the TMC, that would be about $40,000-$48,000 based on experience. Councilmember Wagner said that the T&T people were walking the sidewalks all the time and asked if there was any crosstalk as to where the problems were. Mr. Benjamin said that they did. The primary dollars for sidewalks was for repairs, not for general repairs, maintenance or build- out. They communicated all the time, but he was very clear about what the parameters were. The few sidewalks they had been able to do was because there had been some general maintenance dollars left over from Bluestone. Mr. Benjamin stated they should keep in mind that because of the SCDOT’s new regulations, whenever there was a new sidewalk, the City was taking the responsibility of maintenance. SCDOT was slowly pushing that onto the City. Having no further business, the Committee adjourned at 3:20 p.m. Bethany Whitaker Council Secretary 6