City Council Planning Sessions

Monday, Jan. 13, 2025 I. Call to Order The Wheaton City Council Planning Session was called to order at 7:07 p.m. by Mayor Suess following the conclusion of public hearings. The following were: Physically Present: Mayor Suess Councilman Barbier Councilwoman Bray-Parker Councilman Brown Councilman Clousing Councilwoman Robbins Councilman Weller City Staff Present: Michael G. Dzugan, City Manager Bill Murphy, Special Projects Consultant James Kozik, Director of Planning & Economic Development Joseph Tebrugge, Director of Engineering Erik Berg, Management Analyst Halie Cardinal, Public Relations Coordinator II. Approval of Planning Session Minutes – December 9, 2024 The City Council approved the Dec. 9, 2024 Planning Session Minutes. III. Parking Study Update – Proposals for Employee and Customer Parking City Manager Dzugan explained that the City conducted a Comprehensive Parking Study to address concerns from the business community regarding parking limitations for employees and to provide convenient parking for downtown customers. Staff are proposing a shift to a timed customer parking model alongside the Blue Dot Program, which aims to accommodate downtown employees’ parking needs. Management Analyst Berg stated that the City conducted a parking survey in winter 2023, and results showed customers generally feel either satisfied or neutral about the City’s downtown parking options, while employees and business owners view parking negatively. To address parking challenges for downtown employees, staff recommended establishing the Blue Dot Program, which would allow employees to purchase a placard to park beyond the posted time restrictions in designated Blue Dot zones (marked by a blue circle on street signs in these areas). The annual permit fee would be $50, with renewals aligning with quarterly leased permits. Permits for the Blue Dot Program would be available at a prorated rate in July 2025, with full rates starting in January 2026. The program would include approximately 500 Blue Dot spaces. A key aspect of this program would be that the permits would be purchased by business owners for their employees, and they can be shared among employees, making it more affordable than quarterly parking permits. The intended goal would be to provide Monday, Jan. 13 2025, CITY COUNCIL PLANNING SESSION MINUTES affordable parking options for employees and to reduce the issue of employees parking in customer- designated spaces. Management Analyst Berg stated that the current on-street customer parking in the Central Business District (CBD) does not have time restrictions. Staff proposed changing the customer parking designation to timed 3-hour customer parking from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. For peripheral CBD street segments, staff recommend introducing 4-hour and 5-hour limits to standardize time restrictions and encourage employees to use Blue Dot permits. The intended goal would be to promote turnover for customer spaces and deter employees from parking in customer spaces with time limits. Staff also recommended changes to the City’s parking garages. This would include eliminating leased spaces on the fourth floor of the Wheaton Place Garage due to low occupancy and converting these spaces to daily fee parking. Staff recommended converting the first and second floors to timed 3-hour customer parking. Staff recommended the second and third floors of the Willow Avenue Garage become customer parking after 3 p.m. Staff also recommended the fourth floor become a Blue Dot zone after 3 p.m., with customer parking after 3 p.m. Management Analyst Berg stated staff met with the Downtown Wheaton Association (DWA) to solicit feedback, and the DWA suggested reviewing the City Code’s definition of “customer”; implementing 4-hour customer parking for both on- and off-street locations; and ensuring clearly defined parking signage. The DWA also suggested offering paid employee parking on the Wheaton Place Garage’s fourth floor, printing QR codes on Blue Dot signs and placards, and changing the placard colors annually. Staff recommended keeping the current City Code definition of “customer,” implementing 3-hour customer parking, creating clearly defined signage, offering paid employee parking on the fourth floor of the Wheaton Place Garage, potentially using QR codes on placards, and changing the color of placards every year. Management Analyst Berg stated that staff are seeking the City Council’s direction for customer parking time restrictions and proposed changes for the parking garages. Following the Council’s direction, staff would draft an ordinance to amend the City Code, traffic schedule and fee schedule. The City would communicate parking changes with downtown businesses and the public during the first half of 2025, update parking signs in the downtown, and issue the first Blue Dot permits in July. In response to a Council question, Management Analyst Berg stated that leased parking is in effect weekdays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Council members discussed the advantages and disadvantages of 3-hour versus 4-hour parking restrictions, discussing whether 3-hour parking would be too short for individuals attending events, and if the shift to 3- hour parking may increase available customer spaces and encourage employees to purchase Blue Dot permits. In response to a Council question, Special Projects Consultant Murphy stated that current customer parking is difficult to enforce. He stated that implementation of timed customer parking will allow for parking enforcement officers to more efficiently and effectively identify parking violations. Council members expressed support for implementing 3-hour customer parking and recommended that staff simplify the options of timed parking restrictions. Council members discussed the importance of clearly communicating the parking options in and around the CBD. They also emphasized the importance of clear parking signage in the garages.  Monday, Jan. 13 2025, CITY COUNCIL PLANNING SESSION MINUTES IV. Public Comment There were no public comments. V. City Council/Staff Comments There were no Council comments. VI. Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 7:46 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Halie Cardinal