City Council Community Planning and Transportation Committee Meeting

CITY COUNCIL COMMUNITY PLANNING AND TRANS PORTATION COMMITTEE MINUTES October 24, 20 19 The City Council Community Planning and Transportation Committee of the City of Norman, Cleveland County, State of Oklahoma, met at 4:03 p.m. in the Conference Room on the 24th day of October, 2019, and notice and agenda of the meeting were posted in the Municipal Building at 201 West Gray 48 hours prior to the beginning of the meeting. PRESENT: Councilmembers Bierman, Hall, Petrone, and Chairman Holman ABSENT: Councilmember Wilson OTHERS PRESENT: Mayor Breea Clark Ms. Carrie Evenson, Stormwater Program Manager Ms. Jane Hudson, Director of Planning and Community Development Mr. Travis King, Fire Chief Mr. Angelo Lombardo, Transportation Traffic Engineer Ms. Beth Muckala, Assistant City Attorney Mr. Scott Sturtz, City Engineer Ms. Kathryn Walker, City Attorney Ms. Syndi Runyon, Administrative Technician [V Item 1, being : PUBLIC TRANSIT RIDERSHIP REPORT FOR THE MONTH OF SEPTEMBER. Mr. Angelo Lombardo, Transportation Traffic Engineer, said Mr. Shawn O'Leary, Director of Public Works, and Mr. Taylor Johnson, Public Transit Coordinator, are in Tulsa for a Transit Conference so he will be updating the Committee. He said the fixed route service transported 29,2 13 passengers in September, which is a 16% increase compared to September 2018. The daily average ridership was 1,396, an increase of l 0%. He said FYE 20 to date ridership (July - September) is 71,754, a decrease of 13% over the same period last year. The paratransit service transported 1,527 passengers in September, a decrease of 42% compared to September 20 18. Average daily ridership was 73, a decrease of 45% with Zone 1 ridership decreasing by 29% and Zone 2 ridership decreasing by 29% compared to September 20 18. FYE 20 paratransit ridership is 5,978, a decrease of 31% with Zone l ridership decreased by 33% and Zone 2 ridership decreased by 21 %. Community Planning and Transportation Committee Minutes October 24, 2019 Page 2 Item 1, continued: Mr. Lombardo highlighted transit activ1ties and said trammg and trans1t10n of paratransit software/technology was completed with the vendor. Staff continues to discuss the Joint Transit and Public Safety Maintenance Facility to be constructed near the current City Fleet Maintenance Facility on Da Vinci Street. City Staff is also continuing to work with the Federal Transit Authority Region VI Staff to obtain access to the federal grant/reporting systems. He said several public meeting presentations have been made regarding the one-eighth percent sales tax ballot question on November 12, 2019, for funding public transit. Staff met with Norman Regional Health (NRH) System representatives regarding the opportunity to continue a partnership to assist in funding paratransit operations. He said NRH has allocated $50,000 annually to paratransit operations in Norman for the past seven years. Councilmember Petrone said the City has an ordinance requiring taxi companies to have at least one vehicle that is wheelchair accessible and the City needs to enforce that requirement because there are taxi companies in Norman not meeting that requirement. She said during the bus and paratransit transition, the disabled community was unable to attain rides to necessary doctor appointments and taxi companies were unable to transport them. Chairman Holman asked Staff to look into local taxi companies not meeting ADA requirements and Ms. Beth Muckala, Assistant City Attorney, said she would research Norman's requirements for taxi companies. Council member Petrone said there is a disconnect with Embark on accessing paratransit for doctor appointments and believes the City, Embark, and NRH need to have open lines of communication regarding paratransit service. Mr. Lombardo said Embark uses a different type of scheduling software than Cleveland Oklahoma Rapid Transit (CART) used so there has been ongoing training, which has caused some hiccups. He said Embark is hiring and training additional drivers and, hopefully, within the next 30 to 60 days the entire system will be at the same level of service it was before the transition. Mayor Clark said CART provided more paratransit service than any other bus system, which was beyond the traditional service of bus systems. She does not know if the City should work on other ride share options, but paratransit service will continue to be very expensive and hopefully the service will become more effective as drivers are trained. Mr. Lombardo said Embark has a tiered rate structure for the three paratransit zones, which increases the further out the person lives. Mayor Clark asked if the $50,000 from NRH is part of the City's transportation budget and Mr. Lombardo said yes. Counci Imember Petrone said $50,000 does not sound like a lot of money from NRH and hopes Staff is working with NRH to obtain a substantially higher contribution considering the money hospital administrators make. Mayor Clark said the hospital does not "have" to contribute any money, the City cannot make the hospital contribute more money or any money if they do not want to. She said while she would like more money from NRH, she felt Councilmember Petrone's comparisons about NRH salaries and their contribution to the bus system is out of line. Council member Petrone said Council has allowed NRH to monopolize the Community Planning and Transportation Committee Minutes October 24, 2019 Page 3 Item 2, continued: medical industry and another hospital might be willing to contribute more money to the transit system if they could locate in Norman so she looks forward to addressing that issue. Mr. John High, 1705 Dakota Street, said he knows of disabled riders who lost their job because they could not schedule a ride with Embark and no one knew who to complain to so the transportation system, as a whole, needs to be reviewed. Mr. Lombardo said he will ask Mr. Johnson to contact Mr. High regarding the scheduling problems. Items submitted for the record I. Public Transportation Monthly Report for September 2019 2. Norman Transit Ridership Totals for September 2019 *** ** Item 2, being: DISCUSSION REGARDING PARKING REGULATIONS. Mr. Scott Sturtz, City Engineer, said Ms. Carrie Evenson, Stormwater Program Manager, will be participating in this discussion. He said a lot of requests have been made by Council regarding issues that are connected to other issues and if the City does one part without the other the City could really have problems by making things complicated or possibly missing some very important items needing to be addressed. He said Council requests have included a review of the Stormwater Engineering Design Criteria (EDC), a parking minimum and maximum with landscape requirements, and incentives for Green Infrastructure (GI) and Low Impact Development (LID). Mr. Sturtz said Management Partners, who recently completed a development process review, recommended updating the EDC and standard specifications and drawings. He said over time, the City has incorporated new ordinances into the EDC that include the Water Quality Protection Zone (WQPZ), Total Daily Maximum Load (TMDL) , a Tree Ordinance, and updated ADA requirements to include accessible right-of-ways known as PROWAG. On September 24, 1996, Council adopted the EDC and Standard Specifications and Construction Drawings (Specifications). The purpose of the EDC was to provide guidance to developers and design professionals regarding the design of all public infrastructure including roadways, stormwater systems, drainage, erosion control, waterlines and sanitary sewer lines. Specifications provide guidance for contractual agreements and the construction of all public infrastructure. On July 11 , 2006, an amendment to the EDC and Specifications was approved by Council. Community Planning and Transportation Committee Minutes October 24, 2019 Page 4 Item 2, continued: Ms. Evenson highlighted ongoing efforts to address standards and requirements as follows: November 15, 2017 • Community Planning and Transportation Committee (CPTC) began discussing green codes and LID incentives. • Multiple meetings were held throughout 2018 regarding the Home Energy Rating System (HERS) and LID incentives for water conservation. June18,2018 • CPTC discussed current parking regulations and ways to reduce overall parking impervious surface. • CPTC directed Staff to examine Tulsa's parking regulations, develop maximum parking regulations, use of parking lots during off-peak seasons, obtain input from business owners and developers. June 26, 2018 • Council approved Amendment No. 2 to K-1617-120 with Meshek and Associates to review, assess, and comment on the existing stormwater related sections of the City' s EDC. February 28, 2019 • CPTC continued discussion on parking regulations. • CPTC requested a goal to have minimum with maximum parking requirements combined with increased landscape requirements, impervious coverage requirements, and develop best management practices to include landscape and stormwater. Subsequent Staff meetings identified common areas of interest between parking regulation discussion and LID incentive discussion being led by the Planning Department and Development Coordinator respectively. May23.2019 • CPTC discussed how parking requirements and LID incentives were interrelated to stormwater quality. • Staff requested that a comprehensive review of current ordinances, EDC, parking and landscape requirements, and other be completed with the goal of identifying and removing barriers to and providing incentive for LID also reducing parking and impervious surface. July L 2019 • Partial funding for EDC update was approved in the FYE 20 Capital Budget o EDC was last updated in 2006.  Community Planning and Transportation Committee Minutes October 24, 2019 Page 5 Item 2, continued: Ongoing efforts address standards and requirements, continued: May 28. 2019 and July 2, 2019 • Staff met to discuss potential Request for Quotes (RFQ) for a comprehensive review of ordinances, EDC, and other standards o Developed an RFQ with following requirements: • Review current City ordinances and EDC • Identify barriers and incentives for GI/LID • Review parking, landscaping, irrigation requirements and/or incentives • Provide recommendations for change • Conduct stakeholder and public input meetings • Develop LID Design and Operations and Maintenance Manual • Develop training sessions to educate the development community on incorporating LID into projects and associated benefits August 22, 2019 • CPTC continued discussion on parking requirements Ms. Evenson highlighted the comprehensive review and update of standard and requirements as follows: • Goals o Update all standards and requirements • EDC updates needed to reflect changes in technology and industry sections • Will include recommended changes identified by Meshek and Associates for stormwater sections • Include parking and landscaping requirements that have been under discussion by CPTC o Identify and remove barriers to GI/LID • Requirement of City 's stormwater permit • Benefits of comprehensive review under one contract o Potential cost savings with one project versus multiple projects with separate contractors all reviewing the same documents o Unified approach that reduces potential for conflicts resulting from multiple efforts led by different departments and eliminates duplicative stakeholder meetings o All current ordinances and requirements in one document for clearer communication with the development community • Estimated costs: $300,000 o $275,000 currently budgeted for EDC update in FYE 20 and FYE 21 Capital Fund Ms. Evenson asked the Committee their thoughts on the process and whether the topic should move to a Study Session. Tf that is not necessary, an RFQ has been prepared and the EDC has been incorporated into a draft document. Community Planning and Transportation Committee Minutes October 24, 2019 Page 6 Item 2, continued: Chairman Holman said two years is too long to reduce required parking and Mr. Sturtz said funding will not be available until 2021 and in the meantime meetings will be held with developers and the public, which takes time. Councilmember Holman said a lot of development can happen in two years and there could be a lot of parking lots built. Ms. Evenson said Staff recognizes two years is a long time, but Staff wants to deliver a good product. She said the City is asking the consultant to review a lot of documents, not just EDC, but all zoning ordinances and tangible guidance documents associated with those ordinances. Council member Petrone asked if a pilot program could be done on commercial properties larger than a specific square footage during the two-year period to scale back parking lot sizes. She said the large parking lots are not even being filled during Black Friday because more and more people are shopping online. She suggested giving developers' leeway on how large of a parking lot they need versus what the City requires. Ms. Jane Hudson, Director of Planning and Community Development, said the City could provide an administrative variance, which would require amending the Zoning Ordinance. Councilmember Hall said she wants to give Staff all the tools they need for best practices in regards to parking and stormwater issues. Mr. Sturtz said everyone on Staff believes GI/LID development is important and tries to encourage developers to incorporate GI/LID in their design process. He said there are little things developers can do that can have a big impact. Ms. Evenson said there is a new product, pre-cast impervious concrete, that is produced in blocks and does not need to cure as long as traditional concrete. She said it is an interesting product that developers need to be educated about so they can use it if they choose. Chairman Holman said he would like to see the City use the product as well on its future developments. Chairman Holman said he would like full Council to review the proposal for their input and supports amending the Zoning Ordinance to allow an administrative variance on parking lots. Items submitted for the record I. PowerPoint presentation entitled, "Parking Requirements (Comprehensive Review of City Ordinances, Engineering Design Criteria and Standard Specifications)," Community Planning and Transportation Committee dated October 24, 2019 ***** Community Planning and Transportation Committee Minutes October 24, 2019 Page 7 Item 3, being: MISCELLANEOUS COMMENTS. Chairman Holman distributed a flyer for the 4th Annual Lake Thunderbird Workshop and Clean­ up Event to be held October 27, 20 l 9, and encouraged everyone to participate. ltems submitted for the record 1. Flyer for 4th Annual Lake Thunderbird Workshop and Clean-Up Event for October 27,2019 ***** The meeting adjourned at 4:51 p.m. ATTEST: