HB Neighbors

Pages from the Updated DTSP regarding the Library use

The attached three pages are from the Updated DTSP prepared after the Nov 2nd City Council vote.  I was personally assured by Mayor Cathy Green that there would be a 99 seat MAXIMUM theater size in allowed uses. No such wording is included in the pages that address use of the site in the final DTSP. I hope this was an oversight. Please read them for yourself and YOU BE THE JUDGE!

3) Permitted Uses a) Figure 3-36 presents uses permitted within Subdistrict 1A. The table details permitted uses. Other cultural facility-related uses that have the same parking demand as the existing use not specified herein, as well as a change of use, may be allowed subject to the approval of the Director.

Do we want the power to change the use of the Main Street Library to be left up to the “Director”?  A city employee!  Don’t we want it to at least go to the City Council for approval or even better to the citizens for a vote.  Is that what everyone was supporting in the fight to save the library?  Is this a victory?

Richardson Gray Wrote: 

In addition to the possibility of a large live performance venue (community theater), with a size of as much as 25,000 SF, which could support 700 seats, and in addition to the Director of Planning’s unfettered power to change the use at the Main Street Library and Triangle Park, the newly adopted Downtown Specific Plan allows an unlimited amount of parking to be built at the library and park, in both aboveground and underground structures. Despite the HBDRA leaders’ confidence that the City will not do anything at the park and library to which downtown residents would object, I find the language regarding the library and park in the new Downtown Specific Plan unacceptable. Given that this plan is a 20+ year planning document, it is likely that none of the current HBDRA leaders will be around to protect the downtown residents from the City’s plans for the library and park in the long-term . It is for these reasons that I am strongly supporting HB Neighbors lawsuit against the City, challenging the Downtown Specific Plan concerning the library and park, and other issues as well. I encourage all downtown residents to give all of the money that they can afford, to support the HB Neighbors litigation. That is what I am doing. Without broad resident opposition, I fear that the City will continue to expand the downtown commercial district at the expense of the quality of life for all downtown residents.

HB has 2 parking issues in the downtown!

We have the current parking shortage spilling into the neighborhoods and we have the future impact that greater occupancy and new development will have on the existing problem.  The current parking shortfall needs to be dealt with and it will be difficult to solve. The future problem is preventable by actions we take now. We have the chance to prevent the city from allowing parking to worsen downtown.

HB Neighbors CEQA lawsuit is addressing the future impacts to prevent the parking problem from degrading. 

Parking demand is generated by increased development and higher densities.  When more buildings are built, higher building densities allowed, and higher levels of uses are created within the buildings, we referred to these as “Parking Demand Generators”.   If a new development is built with adequate parking on site there will still be more increased demand for street parking but, its impact will be minimal. When new parking generators are created a parking shortage occurs. 

The “tool box” or techniques that the city of HB uses to allow developers to build less parking are:

TOOL 1: PARKING IN LIEU PROGRAM

The parking in lieu program allows a developer to purchase up to 50% of the required parking from the city with the city supposedly creating this parking at another location.  As of Sept 2009 the city has collected fees for more than  263 parking spaces at an average of $4.5k per space.  The average cost to build a new parking space in our downtown is several times more (some say more than 10 times more) than the fees collected.  

TOOL 2: MIXED-USE REDUCED PARKING

Mixed-use reduced parking allows lower required parking under the theory that complimentary uses create parking demands at different times (eg. daytime office use above a nighttime restaurant use) The city of HB misuses this theory by purposing residential over restaurants. Both of these uses crate parking demand at the same time of the day. 

TOOL 3: VALET PARKING

Valet parking is purposed to add as much as 40% more parking spaces. In fact valet parking actually adds much lower additional parking and is not often available when actually needed. 

TOOL 4: THE OUTSIDE DINING LOOPHOLE

The outside dining loophole allows any restaurant to provide no parking for their outside dining areas provided they don’t exceed 20% of the restaurant area. Downtown HB has more outdoor dining area than any other commercial center in Southern California.  Outdoor dining is a wonderful experience, but it needs to have corresponding parking.

TOOL 5: TANDEM PARKING

Tandem parking is allowing one car to block in another car in certain situations.  This reduces the allotted square footage for isle  ways and increases the amount of parking spaces on a given square footage of garage.  The problem with tandem parking is that it is only fully utilized in a small number of cases.  Even in households with 2 bedrooms the tandem system quickly degrades if the residents have different working hours or other reasons why they are unable to be present for the twice daily car shuffle.  This results in one of the two cars frequently being parked on the street.

Richard Plummer

The city contracted with the firm Kimley-Horn to prepare a parking study as support for the DTSP and the EIR.  This study was based upon a parking survey conducted in August 2008, almost two years ago.  The study shows the unrestricted parking inventory of:

This map of the Downtown is from the parking study.  The area contained within the green boundaries is the parking inventory study area and the 1,927 unrestricted parking spots are all within this boundary.  We added the red circle, to illustrate the 1/2 mile distance from the center of the Downtown (the star) as identified by the study.   

The parking study did not consider the occupancy levels of the buildings nor did it adjust the parking demand levels to extrapolate parking demand for full occupancy.  The buildings within the area were NOT fully occupied at the time of the study. Once fully occupied the parking demand will increase.    

TYPICAL SUMMER WEEKEND

According to this study between the hours of 9 pm and 10 pm demand or cars actively seeking parking searched the streets from 9th St to the North, to 1st street to the South, past the intersections of Main & Palm and past the intersections of Frankfurt & Delaware heading East. The parking demand was approximately 1,800 cars at 9 pm.   At best, this means there are 192 open parking places in the downtown and a large number of cars were already parked in the residential neighborhoods as cars searched a wider area. 

Parking facilities are approximately 90% to 100% occupied on typical summer weekends and demand exceeds parking capacity during summer holidays and special events. ” Page 2 Par 3

HOLIDAY AND SPECIAL EVENTS

On a holiday or special event weekend the following hourly parking boundaries were illustrated.  We added the red circle again to show the ½ mile around the downtown.  The rainbow of lines illustrate just how far people are willing to walk.  It shows the areas impacted by cars searching for parking each hour. 

Would a residents permit parking program that covered the full ½ mile in each direction be adequate to solve the current parking problem?  This study shows that people are willing to walk more than ½ a mile for parking.  If the parking structures were 90% to 100% occupied, as they typically are, would this only shift the parking problem to the neighborhoods just outside of the permit parking area?

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD

If the current downtown buildings become fully occupied, where will the new visitors park?

If a new nightclub opens in Downtown Huntington Beach, where will the visitors park?

If a new developement is built under the reduced parking requirements of the new DTSP, where will the overflow park?

I attended the parking meeting held by the HBDRA last night. Thanks to the HBDRA for sponsoring the meeting.  It had solid attendance and it was educational for residents’.  It was disappointing that the officials on the panel had not prepared for the meeting by reading the parking study completed by Kimbely-Horn supporting the EIR associated with the recently adopted DTSP.  The data presented in the parking study was relevant to the meeting.

 Parking facilities are approximately 90% to 100% occupied on typical summer weekends….” Page 2 Par 3

Total downtown parking inventory is 2,703, including the Strand and the private parking lots not available to visitors. The parking inventory available to the general public is 1,927.

Another impact of a meter / permit program may be that it pushes parking demand further out into the neighborhood.” Page 50 par 6

Angela Rainsberger

[EIR Parking Study for the DTSP]