Blue Ribbon

Task Force on Parking

As you likely know, at the urging of downtown merchants, the City extended 2 hour free parking for a six-month trial period to determine how retail and hospitality sales are impacted by 2 hour free parking. As of February 1st, the City's parking assets will be managed by SP+, a nationally recognized parking management company.

 The free parking trial and the insights from the new parking manager make it the right time to not only look at Bay Street parking, but at a number of other parking issues raised by downtown business owners and residents, tourists, shoppers, City Council, and the professionals we have called on in recent times and over the years. 

 Accordingly, City Council recruited business owners and residents to serve on a six-month Blue Ribbon Parking Task Force. A report and recommendations are expected at the end of June 2015.

 This is not the first parking study conducted by the City or its marketing partner, Mainstreet Beaufort, S.C. since parking was first recognized as a "problem" about eighty years ago. It is my hope, however, that it will be the most comprehensive look ever . . .  viewing and reviewing the parking issue on the street and from a mile high perspective looking toward the future.

 To ensure both efficiency and focus, the twenty or so member of task force will be divided into four working groups or committees that will meet regularly, with the larger group meeting only occasionally to receive reports and provide comments of the smaller, more manageable working groups.

 Once assembled, the Task Force may make some adjustments and rearrange some of the "study areas". That said the City Council has recommended the following study areas:

 Public Parking Asset Management which includes, but may not be limited to:

*       free 2 hour parking;

*       free parking 24/7;

*       2 hour free parking until noon;

*       graduated fines starting lower and rising for repeat or habitual offenders;

*       evening parking management;

*       the potential for additional meters on Charles, Carteret, West, Scott, Port                 Republic and Boundary Streets;

*       annual resident/county resident parking permits;

*       the effectiveness of the kiosks currently deployed in the flat lots (primarily             Marina and Library);

*       the experience with tokens and customer cards provided by merchants; and

*       any other recommendations offered by SP+ and/or the public

Private Parking Asset Management which includes, but may not be limited to:

*       the potential for collaboration with owners of underutilized privately                       owned flats lots, including owners of larger properties as well as those                 owned by the close-in churches; and

*       policing private lots, which has been requested by some owners and                         businesses who have lots for their customers that are used by people                     other than their customers.

Future Challenges and Opportunities which includes, but may not be limited to:

*       replacing parking spaces "lost" when streets were resurfaced;

*       examination of existing designated loading zones (businesses and                              churches) when they are not being used for their express purpose, and                  how they might be used during certain hours of the day;

*       parking for the Santa Elena Interpretative Foundation's Center which is                   nearing agreement with the County, which owns the building;

*       the impact of code adjustments that might not require off street parking for             core commercial buildings so as to open new spaces that can be used for               infilling new appropriate buildings for businesses and residences;

*       the feasibility (funding and potential private partners, location, design and              potential use) of a central parking facility that could replace some of the              Marina parking spaces so that more extraordinary open space can be                    created for recreation and events while also taking some of the burdens                off of the Library parking lot.

*       converting Bay Street to one way with angled parking on one or both sides

Business Owner and Employee Parking to include measures that make it easier to enforce prohibited/discouraged on-street parking by those who work downtown, thereby increasing parking opportunities for shoppers, diners and visitors to the Henry Chambers Waterfront Park. This might include reduced rates in certain places as well as more aggressive enforcement against abusers.

A Well Rounded Task Force will include, retail merchants, restaurants, owners of underutilized flat lots, residents of adjacent neighborhoods, and representatives of not for profit organizations located in the greater downtown.

Task Force Members

      Ginger Aimar, owner of Rossignol's and a flat lot on Port Republic Street;

      Bill Chambers, architect with extensive background planning residential                    and business structures appropriate to the National Historic Landmark                  District;

      Kevin Cuppia, owner of Modern Jewelers and short term residential                          commercial properties in the greater downtown, and long standing                        board member of Mainstreet, Beaufort USA;

      Edward Dukes, principal in Lowcountry Real Estate, owner of commercial               and residential real estate in the downtown area;

      Duncan Fordham, the "Dean of Downtown", who operates The Fordham                 Market and has been in business on Bay Street longer than anyone else;

      Donna Lang, owner of Breakwater on Carteret Street and resident of the                Old Commons neighborhood;

      John Marshal, owner of Old Bull Tavern on West Street and employer of               food and beverage workers

      Matt McAlhaney, owner of City Lofts, City Java and a resident of The                    Point Neighborhood;

      Martha Moriarity, Administrator at the USCB Historic Campus including                the Center for the Arts on Carteret Street, that will hopefully grow while              requiring a parking program to ensure adjoining neighborhoods (The                    Point and Old Commons) will not be inundated with student parking;

      City Council Member George O'Kelley, attorney with his office on Bay                   Street, longtime advocate of free parking and City Council Member.

      Jan O'Rourke, former Assistant Director and currently Interim Director of               The Beaufort County Library;

      Pat Harvey Palmer, representative of Ladys Island Business and                                  Professional Association, to represent views of Ladys Island residents                  who, fortunately, frequent the downtown area;

      Pete Palmer, former chair of the NW Quadrant Study Committee (which                   produced significant findings and about 100 recommendations, not the                 least of which was what has become successful neighborhood cleanup                days), also long time free parking advocate and resident of the Bluff                    Neighborhood;

      Lantz Price, owner of Plums and Saltus River Grill whose staff manages                  likely the largest number of food and beverage employees in the greater              downtown area;

      Tony Royal, owner of Bay Street Outfitters, who has taken downtown                       retail to a higher level by exhibiting strong marketing initiatives, and a                 former board member of Mainstreet, Beaufort, USA;

      Gene Rugala, former member of the City Redevelopment Commission and                resident of North Street near Beaufort Elementary School, which has                    experienced traffic and parking snarls in a residential neighborhood,                     and a businessman with strong analytic skills;

      Lloyd Sidwell, retired public administrator and resident of Depot Road,                     who is highly engaged in downtown initiatives and dedicated supporter                of programs at the Beaufort County Library and the Center for the Arts                at USCB;

      Nan Sutton, owner of Lula Burgess located between Bay and Port                            Republic and a resident of Craven Street;

      Courtney Worrell, principal in 303 Associates which owns and manages a                 number of business assets including the Beaufort Inn,  the Port                            Republic Square parking lot, and has plans for expanding short and long              term living opportunities within the greater downtown;

      Turner Wortham, resident of Craven Street, Chair of Old Commons                          Neighborhood Association and a business executive with extensive                      administrative experience.

 David Cargile, Chairman of HIPAA.com, CEO of Cargile Consulting Inc, and the former CEO of companies traded on the NYSE and NASDAQ exchanges will serve as the Chair of the Task Force charged with keeping the Task Force and Working Groups moving at a pace to meet the deadline.  

Advisors

Additionally, we anticipate Mainstreet, Beaufort USC Chair Charlie Williams, Greater Beaufort Chamber of Commerce Chairman Will Achurch, Historic Beaufort Foundation President Conway Ivy, SP+ parking managers and others will serve as advisors, attending meetings and providing historical background and current data as needed by task force members.

I am very excited about this aggressive and intensive exercise in civic engagement and have high hopes that many good ideas will be forthcoming.

"Pro-drilling forces have a lot to prove"

  ISLANDPACKET   - Editorial

http://www.islandpacket.com/2015/02/01/3569672/pro-drilling-forces-have-a-lot.html