Land Use & Environment Committee

City Hall Meeting Minutes 601 4th Avenue E Olympia, WA 98501 Land Use & Environment Committee Information: 360.753.8244 Tuesday, May 30, 2017 5:30 PM Capital High School Commons, 2707 Conger Avenue N.W. Special Meeting 1. OPEN HOUSE 1.A 17-0546 5:30 - 6:30 p.m. Missing Middle Project Open House The open house was held, and information was provided. 2. CALL TO ORDER Chair Hankins called the meeting to order at 6:38 p.m. 3. ROLL CALL Present: 3 - Chair Julie Hankins, Committee member Clark Gilman and Committee member Nathaniel Jones OTHERS PRESENT City Manager Steve Hall Community Planning and Development: Director Keith Stahley Deputy Director Leonard Bauer Public Works: Deputy Director Debbie Sullivan 4. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The agenda was approved. 5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - None 6. COMMITTEE BUSINESS 6.A 17-0410 Downtown Parking Strategy Update Ms. Sullivan gave an update on the Downtown Parking Strategy. An online survey was made available to the public to receive feedback on parking in the Downtown City of Olympia Page 1 Land Use & Environment Meeting Minutes May 30, 2017 Committee area. The key themes gathered from the survey are: · Public safety and cleanliness is a problem. · People can find parking nearby. · Parking takes time, is inconvenient and difficult. · Parking is a deterrent to coming Downtown. · There is support for a parking garage. Individuals who participated in the survey provided the following suggestions for the best strategies to improve parking Downtown: · Build (centrally located) garage. · Free/inexpensive parking. · Better signage and education of lots. · Improve safety and crime issues. · Provide more public parking. Some ideas, specifically from stakeholders, are: · Improve the pedestrian experience. · Improve signage. · Address employee parking on-street. · Parking structure. · Employee shuttle. In the creation of a Parking Strategy, aspects of the Downtown Strategy will be utilized. When looking at the character areas identified in the Downtown Strategy, it will be beneficial to include a separate character area for the Downtown core that specifically addresses access. The information was received. 7. REPORTS AND UPDATES Chair Hankins asked if anyone from the public would like to speak. Various members of the public spoke about the following: · The expected population increase in Downtown and the effects of this increase on parking. · Different parking options and their costs for employees in the Downtown area. · Public confusion with parking Downtown; lack of signage. · Shifting parallel parking to angled parking. · A future parking garage. · Parking used for Downtown parks versus Downtown retail. · Safety of walking around Downtown. · Aggressive driving Downtown puts pedestrians at great risk. · Parking requirements for new construction. · Current policies. Mr. Stahley reported the next Land Use and Environment Committee meeting is June 15, 2017 at City Hall. Topics include amendments to drive-thru business requirements City of Olympia Page 2 Land Use & Environment Meeting Minutes May 30, 2017 Committee and historic resources inventory. 8. ADJOURNMENT The meeting adjourned at 7:38 p.m. City of Olympia Page 3