6.1. SR 08-07-1995 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

~1 ~ ~Ri FROM: Pat Klaers, City Ad ~ for DATE: August 7, 1995 SUBJECT: EDA Site Parking Stalls In April, the Park and Recreation Commission discussed the EDA site and its appearance, use, and visibility in the downtown area. The Commission ultimately recommended to the City Council that the four parking stalls in front of the EDA site be eliminated in order to increase the visibility of this green space in the downtown area. I believe that this motion was made in anticipation of a riverwalk project happening in the future plus more people currently using this green space since the Jackson Square parking lot improvement project eliminated the other green space that used to be in the downtown area. The Council discussed this issue at its June 19 meeting and concurred with the recommendation from the Park and Recreation Commission. The Council did not want to lose parking stalls in the downtown area and the Mayor suggested that diagonal parking be added on King Avenue so that there would not be a net loss of parking spaces. All of the parking stalls on the south side of Main Street are usually full, but there is also usually other spaces within close proximity to the south side of Main Street that are open and available for customers. This is especially true since Johnson's has closed and will probably be more true in the future when Snyder's closes. On Tuesday, August 1, the street crew painted over the parking stalls in front of the EDA site, and city staff received about eight to ten phone calls from concerned business owners and tenants in the downtown. Most callers commented on the loss of the parking spaces in their vicinity, and were concerned over the lack of notification that they had about losing the parking stalls and the lack of opportunity to provide comments to the City Council on this issue before a decision was made. In retrospect, it was probably a mistake to have made this decision at the Council level without inviting some of the property owners in to discuss the situation. I have suggested to the people calling City Hall that they attend this Council meeting and express their concerns and comments under the Open Mike agenda item. I do not believe that we should reestablish these parking stalls ITEM 6.1. MEMORANDUM V~~ TO: Mayor & City Council 13065 Orono Parkway • P.O. Box 490 • Elk River, MN 55330 • (612) 441-7420 • Fax: (612) 441-7425