City of Piedmont
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
DATE: January 17, 2023
TO: Mayor and Council
FROM: Sara Lillevand, City Administrator
SUBJECT: Consideration of Changes to Parking and Traffic in the Civic Center Area to Accommodate Piedmont Community Pool Construction
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt the attached resolution which makes changes to parking and traffic in the Civic Center area to accommodate Piedmont Community Pool construction including changing traffic flows on Bonita Avenue between Vista and Oakland Avenues and temporary designation of parking spaces for two hour, city employee, and Permit A parking. The resolution also rescinds temporary parking designations put into place during the Piedmont Unified School District (PUSD) construction project at Piedmont High School.
BACKGROUND
On March 18, 2019 and August 5, 2019, Council approved temporary parking modifications to be in effect during PUSD construction at the Piedmont High School campus. Those temporarily approved parking modifications were approved to accommodate the loss of twenty Permit A spaces during construction and included designating nine temporary Permit A spaces on Highland Ave., five temporary Permit A spaces on Bonita Ave., three City Employee parking spaces on Bonita Ave., and four 2 Hour parking spaces on Bonita Ave. These parking modifications currently remain in place. The staff reports for those items have been included in Attachment C.
During construction of the Piedmont Community Pool project, all parking on Bonita Ave. between Magnolia and Vista Avenues, Magnolia Ave. between the PRD building and Bonita Ave., and the Carriage House parking lot will be eliminated, and will impact 57 parking spaces as illustrated below:
Permit A City Staff 2 Hour ADA DBFL 30 Minute Total
Bonita Avenue 13 8 4 1 1 27
Magnolia Avenue 7 2 9
Carriage House Lot 13 13
Community Hall Lot 8 8
Total Parking Loss 20 21 12 1 1 2 57
To offset the significant temporary parking loss, City staff have reviewed the civic center to identify opportunities to create additional parking. Eighteen new parking spaces have been identified by introducing diagonal parking on Highland Avenue (between Sheridan Avenue and Sierra Avenue) and Bonita Avenue (between Vista Avenue and Oakland Avenue), which in addition to redesignation of existing parking spaces, offsets 45 of the 57 designated parking spaces impacted by construction.
New Parking Designations
Highland Avenue
On Highland Avenue between Sierra and Sheridan Avenues, staff propose elimination of bus stops in each direction and placement of diagonal parking along the “Highland Strip” side of the street. Alternative bus stops are located within 500-feet of the bus stops that are proposed for removal. Staff have contacted AC Transit about these stops, and they have confirmed that having multiple stops within 500-feet does not meet their Bus Stop Spacing Policy. This adjustment results in a net gain of seven parking spaces.
Bonita Avenue
The 300 block of Bonita Avenue between Vista and Oakland Avenues can accommodate diagonal parking on one side of the street if this portion of the roadway is limited to one-way vehicular traffic. This change would extend the current one-way vehicular traffic configuration that is currently in place on Bonita Avenue on the adjacent block between Magnolia and Vista Avenues and convert the existing parking spaces on the Havens School side of the street from parallel to diagonal parking. The existing drop-off zone would remain in place. This proposed change would result in a net gain of ten parking spaces and comes with an added benefit of enhancing safety during school pick-up/drop-off.
Additional existing parking spaces have been identified to be designated or re-designated from their current designations, and will include “Permit A”, “City Staff” and “2 Hour” parking spaces.
The proposed parking distribution that is shown on Attachment B is summarized as follows:
Permit A City Staff 2 Hour ADA DBFL 30 Minute Total
Highland Avenue 11 6 17
Bonita Avenue 3 3 4 10
Magnolia Avenue 3 3 6
Community Hall 8 8
Recreation Dept. Driveway 1 1
Hillside Avenue 3 3
Total Parking Mitigation 17 18 10 0 0 0 45
Total Net Parking Loss -3 -3 -2 -1 -1 -2 -12
Agenda Report Page 2
SCHEDULE OF CONSTRUCTION
A Notice-to-Proceed has been issued to Wickman Construction with the initial working day of January 19th. The contract provides for 335 working days to complete the project so even including adjustments for weather, the project could be completed as early as summer 2024.
These temporary parking designations will remain in place until project completion.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The City submitted a design review application for this project, which was considered by the Planning Commission at its May 9, 2022 meeting. As a part of this application, the Planning Commission reviewed and approved a determination that the project is categorically exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act. The Notice of Exemption was filed on May 24, 2022 and no appeals were received.
FISCAL CONSIDERATIONS
The proposed striping and signage modifications can be implemented utilizing funding from the Capital Facilities Fund – Annual Striping Project line item.
ATTACHMENTS
A. Proposed Resolution
B. Diagram of Proposed Parking Space Designations and Temporary Traffic Changes
C. Staff Reports from March 18, 2019 and August 5, 2019 By: Daniel Gonzales, Public Works Director
Agenda Report Page 3
RESOLUTION ______
A RESOLUTION MAKING TEMPORARY PARKING AND TRAFFIC CHANGES TO
ACCOMMODATE THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PIEDMONT COMMUNITY POOL WHEREAS, on December 5, 2022, the City Council awarded a contract for the construction of the Piedmont Community Pool Project; and
WHEREAS, the construction of this project necessitates use of the public right of way to facilitate the efficient and effective construction of the Piedmont Community Pool facility; and WHEREAS, the use of public right of way for this project will displace existing parking currently designated for the community, city employees, and Piedmont Unified School District employees, which will need to be temporarily accommodated in other locations for the duration of the project; and
WHEREAS, the City Council acknowledges the challenges of accommodating parking needs in the Civic Center and thanks the community, city staff, and Piedmont Unified School District staff for their understanding and accommodation during the construction of the Piedmont Community Pool;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Piedmont does hereby resolve, declare, determine, and order as follows:
SECTION 1. The Piedmont Community Pool project is authorized to use public right of way on Bonita Avenue between Magnolia and Vista Avenues for construction project purposes, provided that one lane of traffic and the sidewalk on the east side of the block remain open.
SECTION 2. The Piedmont Community Pool project is authorized to use sidewalk and parking strip portion public right of way on the pool side of Magnolia Avenue between the Piedmont Recreation Department building and Bonita Avenue. No Parking will be permitted adjacent to this construction use.
SECTION 3. As used in this resolution, Permit A parking designations are between 7:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. on school days and city employee parking designations are between 6:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on weekdays. There are no restrictions on these spaces at other times.
SECTION 4. Bonita Avenue between Vista and Oakland Avenues is temporarily changed to one way traffic flow, headed towards Oakland Avenue. Twenty-nine temporary diagonal parking spaces are authorized on the east side of the roadway, as delineated in Attachment B, with fourteen temporarily designated for Permit A holders, eleven temporarily designated for city employees, and four temporarily designated as two hour parking. The residential parking restrictions currently in place on the west side of the roadway, along with the loading zone for Havens Elementary School on the east side of the roadway remain in force.
Attachment A Agenda Report Page 4
SECTION 5. In the Community Hall Parking Lot, five parking spaces are temporarily designated for Permit A holders and eight parking spaces are temporarily designated for city employees, as delineated in Attachment B. All other existing parking space designations remain in place.
SECTION 6. Thirteen diagonal and four parallel parking spaces are temporarily authorized on the east side of Highland Avenue between Sheridan and Sierra Avenues, with eleven temporarily designated for Permit A holders, and five temporarily designated as two hour parking.
SECTION 7. On Hillside Avenue, between Magnolia and Vista Avenues, three parallel parking spaces are temporarily designated for city employees, as delineated in Attachment B.
SECTION 8. On Magnolia Avenue, between Hillside Avenue and Hillside Court, three parallel parking spaces are temporarily designated for Permit A holders and three spaces are temporarily designated for city employees, as delineated in Attachment B.
SECTION 9. These authorizations and designations will remain in place until the construction of the Piedmont Community Pool is completed.
SECTION 10. Resolutions 13-19 and 49-19 are hereby rescinded. [END OF RESOLUTION]
Attachment A Agenda Report Page 5
Attachment B Agenda Report Page 6
Attachment B Agenda Report Page 7
Attachment B Agenda Report Page 8
Attachment B Agenda Report Page 9
City of Piedmont
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
DATE: March 18, 2019
TO: Mayor and Council
FROM: Paul Benoit, City Administrator
SUBJECT: Consideration of Public Parking Spaces for Temporary Use by Piedmont Unified School District (PUSD) Staff during H-1 Bond Construction
RECOMMENDATION
Approve the temporary use of designated public parking spaces by PUSD staff holding valid Permit A parking permits during the H-1 Bond related construction at one or more of the following locations:
1. 9 new parallel parking spaces along the Highland Ave. Strip curve at the intersection of Highland Ave. and Sheridan Ave. as shown on Exhibit A.
2. A new designation of the 11 existing unregulated diagonal parking spaces (and one (1) new diagonal parking space) as shown on Exhibits B and C, on the west side of Bonita Ave. between Magnolia Ave. and Vista Ave. to include the following:
a) Five (5) Permit A parking spaces for temporary use by PUSD staff. b) Three (3) City of Piedmont Employee parking spaces.
c) Four (4) 2-hour parking spaces for general use by the public
BACKGROUND
Starting on April 1st, PUSD will begin construction of the first of 2 phases of construction to being implementation of the approved Master Plan. City staff from Public Works, the Police Department, and the Fire Department, along with City Engineer John Wanger have been working with Pete Palmer, Director of Facilities for PUSD to review iterations of the Construction Management Plan developed by their contractor, Overaa Construction. This plan is currently under review and many details related to the construction impacts in the right-of-way still need to be resolved and approved prior to the start of construction.
DISCUSSION
At the City Council meeting of March 4, 2019, Pete Palmer made a presentation of the most recent construction management plan and answered Council questions related to the impact of construction. Not included in this plan were provisions to accommodate for the loss of 20 Permit A parking spaces for PUSD teachers and staff on Magnolia Ave. along the frontage of Piedmont High School and the Alan Harvey Theater. Mr. Palmer made a request that the City consider Attachment C Agenda Report Page 10
allocating public parking to temporarily accommodate this loss during the construction. Council urged PUSD to find as many parking spaces on campus as possible using creative techniques such as tandem parking with monitors and use of available space near and around Witter Field.
Various alternative locations around the center of town were also discussed. In conclusion, Council directed Staff to work with PUSD and return to the next meeting with viable alternatives for consideration.
Two (2) potential locations have been identified that could help alleviate the loss of Permit A parking for PUSD staff.
1. The curve along the Highland Ave. Strip at the intersection of Highland Ave. and Sheridan Ave. This area has adequate length for 9 parallel parking spaces along the inside curb, and the existing roadway is wide enough to accommodate a parking lane and a travel lane to meet conventional standards. See attached Exhibit A for a photograph of the area. Parking spaces would be marked with the standard “L” and “T” markings to designate each parking space, and the painted Yield would be moved over into the new travel lane.
2. There are currently five (5) Permit A parking spaces up from the Dress Best for Less loading space on the west side of Bonita Ave. between Magnolia Ave. and Vista Ave.
Continuing up the street towards Vista Ave., there are 11 additional existing diagonal parking spaces which are currently unregulated. These are in front of the Recreation Center Tennis Courts. See attached Exhibit B for a photograph of this existing parking area. Staff also believes that one additional new diagonal parking space can be created at the corner of Bonita Ave. and Vista Ave., (see Exhibit C) which would make available a total of 12 diagonal spaces. Staff proposes that five (5) spaces be designated as temporary Permit A to assist PUSD staff during construction, three (3) spaces be designated for Recreation Department/City Staff, which has historically been lacking adequate parking, and four (4) be marked for general public 2-hour parking to alleviate some of the impact of the construction on persons having short-term business in the center of town.
In all instances, new signage applicable to the Council’s designation would be installed as shown in Exhibit D. All new Permit A signage will clearly state “temporary during construction”.
FISCAL CONSIDERATIONS
City of Piedmont will implement the installation of temporary Permit A signage, and PUSD has agreed to reimburse the City for incurred costs.
By: Chester Nakahara, Public Works Director
Jeremy Bowers, Police Chief
Bret Black, Fire Chief
AGENDA REPORT PAGE 2 Attachment C Agenda Report Page 11 Image capture: Apr 2018 © 2019 Google
Piedmont, California
Google
Street View - Apr 2018
791 Highland Ave
EXHIBIT A AGENDA REPORT PAGE 3 Attachment C Agenda Report Page 12 EXHIBIT B AGENDA REPORT PAGE 4 Attachment C Agenda Report Page 13 EXHIBIT C AGENDA REPORT PAGE 5
Attachment C Agenda Report Page 14
EXHIBIT D AGENDA REPORT PAGE 6
Attachment C Agenda Report Page 15
City of Piedmont
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
DATE: August 5, 2019
TO: Mayor and Council
FROM: Sara Lillevand, City Administrator
SUBJECT: Consideration of Temporary Parking Restrictions in Front of Piedmont Middle School
RECOMMENDATION
Approve recommendations to temporarily change the existing parking restrictions for the loading zone in front of Piedmont Middle School for the duration of the construction related to the Piedmont Unified School District (PUSD) facilities.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Approve the proposed revisions to parking signage in front of the Piedmont Middle School for the duration of the PUSD construction activities.
BACKGROUND
In April of 2019, PUSD began demolition and construction of the facilities paid for by Measure H1. PUSD staff has communicated the construction project will take approximately 2 years to complete and developed a traffic management plan for the affected areas near the high schools, PUSD administrative facilities and the Piedmont Middle School. City staff and PUSD Director of Facilities Pete Palmer, have met regularly to coordinate efforts related to the construction project and related traffic issues.
The area of the loading and parking zone in front of Piedmont Middle School that extends from Magnolia Avenue to Bonita Avenue has been an area of focus and on-going discussion due to the impacts of the PUSD construction activity combined with the intensity of vehicular activity during student drop-off and pick-up times. Also, this curb area is used by parents who need to park for a short time to accompany their pre-school aged children who attend programs at the Recreation Department. A photo of this area is attached as Exhibit A.
Currently, this area is restricted to student drop off and pick up only from 7:30 – 8:30 a.m. and 2:45 – 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, and from 1:30 – 2:15 p.m. on Wednesday. Otherwise, the area is restricted to 30 minute parking on weekdays from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. A photo of the existing signage is shown on the left side of Exhibit B and is labeled Attachment C Agenda Report Page 16
“Existing Signage”.
Based on the impacts of the PUSD construction on parking in this area, and observations of how this loading zone is being used, Pete Palmer and city Staff recommends the following revision to the signage in order to streamline the flow of traffic as much as possible so construction traffic and student loading can co-exist in this impacted area:
• Student drop off and pickup, school days only, 7:30 to 8:30am and 1:30 to 3:30pm with Unattended Vehicles Not Allowed.
• Otherwise10 Minute Parking, school days only, 8:30am to 1:30pm and 3:30 to 6:00pm • Reducing the 30 minute parking restriction to 10 minute loading A layout of the proposed signage is shown on the right side of Exhibit B and is labeled “Proposed Signage”.
Reducing the allowable parking/loading time from 30 minutes to 10 minutes will keep the area clear for construction traffic while still allowing access for short duration public parking during non-impact times, including enough time for parents of preschoolers to park and drop off /pick up their children participating in Recreation Department programs held at the Recreation Center.
If the City Council approves the parking restriction changes, new signage will be installed prior to the start of the school year. The City and PUSD will cooperatively provide the public with notice related to the change. When the PUSD construction is complete, the City and PUSD will revisit the issues related to this area and report back to the Council with any proposed changes to this current proposal.
By: Jeremy Bowers, Chief of Police
Chester Nakahara, Public Works Director
AGENDA REPORT PAGE 2 Attachment C Agenda Report Page 17
EXISTING LOADING ZONE
@ PIEDMONT MIDDLE SCHOOL
EXHIBIT A AGENDA REPORT PAGE 3
Attachment C Agenda Report Page 18
EXHIBIT B
EXISTING SIGNAGE PROPOSED SIGNAGE
AGENDA REPORT PAGE 4
Attachment C Agenda Report Page 19