Los Gatos Weekly-Times

Photograph by George Sakkestad

Parking tickets, like this one in the parking lot behind Diddams, could be become nearly extinct if the town institutes parking fees.

TOWN PARKING PLAN WOULD CHARGE FEES, BUILD NEW LOT, RAISE FUNDS

Proposal would leave money to begin streetscape work

Public hearing set June 17

By Clarence Cromwell

The downtown parking improvement plan Town Council members considered at an April 29 work session might be better named the "downtown fundraising plan."

It would let the city collect $1.45 million in parking fees annually, enough to set aside $500,000 to be used for such purposes as promoting businesses and executing the streetscape plan, Director of Building and Engineering Scott Baker said.

But a proposed parking structure, at an estimated cost of $4 million, and new fees for parking won't end the downtown parking crunch, Baker said after the council's April 29 work session.

The council agreed to hold a public hearing to consider the entire plan, including a temporary experiment of charging fees at downtown lots, although some councilmembers were wary of the idea. Councilwoman Joanne Benjamin said she's always opposed parking fees. Mayor Randy Attaway said that since voters rejected the utility-users tax, the town should ask residents before charging new fees.

Councilmen Steve Blanton and Patrick O'Laughlin praised the plan.

Blanton said, "I think [the proposed] 35 cents for a half hour of parking is reasonable, especially if we use that money to improve streets and sidewalks."

Under the current proposal, the 35 cents-per-half hour fee would only apply to those who leave cars longer than 30 minutes at municipal lots. And streetside parking would remain free throughout the eight-month experiment, although posted time limits would still apply.

Councilmembers agreed that they'll only run the experiment if residents support the idea at the public hearing. Then, if it works, the town would add as many as 180 new parking spaces and make the fees permanent.

That might mean purchasing fee-collection equipment for each lot at a cost of about $900,000. Each lot would need an electronic toll gate, as well as a machine that spits parking stubs, a central payment machine that calculates the motorist's bill and collects fees and an exit machine that reads validated parking stubs and opens the gate.

Drivers won't have to dig for nickels and dimes, though. Some computerized payment machines can accept cash, ATM cards, credit cards or monthly passes issued by the city. They could also allow special rates for employees of downtown businesses, and they could accept discount coupons issued, with the town's consent, by local merchants.

The council asked for a report before the public hearing on costs of contracting a personnel agency to collect the fees during the experiment.

The town would build about 150 of the new spaces by putting a parking structure under a town parking lot, probably either Lot 2, between Bachman Avenue and Royce Street, or Lot 13 at West Main Street and Victory Lane. The remaining parking stalls could be gained by painting new stripes on one other lot.

Building the structure would cost at least $10,000 per space, according to a report by Baker, and perhaps as much as $50,000 per space.

The yearly expenses, including equipment, the payments on the parking structure, pavement maintenance and losses from parking tickets would amount to just under $1 million. In addition to those costs, the town proposes to spend $75,000 a year to promote downtown businesses and $400,000 a year on the downtown streetscape plan. The streetscape plan aims to lure shoppers downtown by fixing up its streets with planter boxes, fancy light poles and brickwork crosswalks. The council approved the plan but hasn't yet allocated funding for it.

If the parking fees become permanent, residents might receive a yearly card, good for $15 worth of parking. Other benefits contemplated are special rates for long-term parking and for employees of downtown businesses. The Park and Ride lot, near Highway 9 and N. Santa Cruz Avenue, would still be free.

Tickets and time limits could be done away with at parking garages, Baker said. Instead, drivers could park as long as they wish, paying 35 cents for each half hour. The town would lose $30,000 a year in ticket fines, but parking fees would make up for the loss.

At the heart of Los Gatos' parking dilemma is its antiquated downtown layout. The same smallness that town officials hope will endear the area to pedestrians and shoppers makes Los Gatos a four-wheeled rodeo for motorists.

Many businesses don't have parking lots and street parking is insufficient.

A 1992 study by the town engineering department concluded that the area was then short by about 1,082 parking spaces, based on the total square footage of businesses. The same study found that the downtown would eventually need another 690 spaces.

The actual shortage is less, Baker said. He explained that the formulas used in the study assume that each shop should have its own parking lot. But in the downtown area, large public lots serve many businesses, so a customer who visits a handful of shops parks once, rather than several times.

"I think 1,000 is overkill, but I don't think 180 is going to solve the problem either," Baker said.

The town currently regulates parking by posting one- to three-hour limits in busy areas. Those who overstay the limit get a ticket--and some of them complain to the town.

In addition to the parking improvements, the town staff discussed proposals including a downtown shuttle from a Los Gatos Boulevard parking lot, designated low-cost or free spaces for carpoolers, and some kind of town-sponsored incentive for downtown employees or shoppers to ride the bus.

The public hearing on downtown parking is tentatively set for 7:30 p.m. June 17 in the Town Council Chambers, 110 E. Main St.