ACTION:
____________________________
Clerk/Secretary
Department: City Manager Item No: D1
Prepared by: John Conley, City Manager Meeting Date: October 8, 2024 Approved by: John Conley, City Manager Agenda Location: Discussion SUBJECT: COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER DOWNTOWN STREET CLOSURES AND PUBLIC SPACE RECOMMENDATION:
1.Discuss the formation of an ad-hoc committee to evaluate the closure of public streets, one-way streets, parking considerations, and public open space in the Historic Downtown area, and provide direction to staff.
2.Adopt City Council Resolution No. 2024- , amending the Operating Budget for Fiscal Years 2023/24 and 2024/25.
CORRELATION TO CITY COUNCIL GOALS: A Cleaner, More Beautiful Vista; Parks and Recreation; Economic Development; and Traffic: Continue to Improve the Flow of Traffic for All Forms of Travel, Reduce Congestion, and Improve Roads and Sidewalks.
PRIOR ACTION: On March 26, 2024, the City Council discussed permanent street closure(s) in Downtown Vista and provided direction to staff to study one-way street options on Main Street and E. Broadway with added street parking, temporary closure of S. Indiana Street for events, conversion of three parking spaces to parkette, Cyclovia event, and advertisement of public parking in the Rylan Apartments parking structure (No Vote).
A complete list of prior City Council actions is included as Exhibit 2.
STATEMENT ON THE SUBJECT: On March 4, 2024, the Central Vista Business Improvement District (CVBID) Advisory Board held their regular meeting and invited business owners to discuss the idea of closing streets in the Historic Downtown area. The discussion included the concept of providing additional space for individuals to walk and bike, the creation of outdoor seating and dining areas, and concerns regarding decreased parking availability and increased traffic congestion. Following this discussion, on March 26, 2024, the City Council discussed the Historic Downtown area and asked staff to further evaluate opportunities for increased parking, public street closures and/or one-way streets, and the use of City- owned public space. A location map of the Historic Downtown area is included as Exhibit 1. The Historic Downtown has a general grid-pattern street layout with varying rights-of-way that include some on-street parking and pedestrian plazas. The City further owns the property at the southeast corner of Main Street and S. Indiana Street, where the gazebo is currently located. This combination of public rights-of-way and City-owned property presents an opportunity to further evaluate this area to improve parking and the use of the available public space. In order to effectively evaluate the various concepts requested by the City AGENDA
REPORT
CITY COUNCIL
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION
SUCCESSOR AGENCY
BUENA SANITATION DISTRICT
JOINT POWERS FINANCING AUTHORITY
1. Discussed the formation of an ad-hoc committee. Directed staff to add a Community Safety Commissioner to the committee, appointed Councilmember Contreras to the committee, and to bring the item back to the City Council for further discussion. 2. Adopted City Council Resolution No. 2024-162. Vote: 3-0 (Green and O'Donnell absent)
MEETING DATE: October 8, 2024 PAGE 2
SUBJECT: COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER DOWNTOWN STREET CLOSURES AND PUBLIC SPACE Council and make informed recommendations regarding future improvements, staff recommends establishing an ad-hoc committee with a defined scope of work.
Ad-Hoc Committee Membership. Staff is recommending a combination of elected and appointed City officials, downtown business and property owners, Chamber of Commerce representation, and residents, as follows:
•One member of the City Council
•One member of the Planning Commission
•One member of the Traffic Commission
•One member of the CVBID Advisory Committee
•One member representing the Chamber of Commerce
•Two business owners in the Historic Downtown area
•Two property owners in the Historic Downtown area
•Two residents in Historic Downtown area
The committee appointments can be made by the City Council or by City staff, at the City Council’s direction. The Committee would be staffed by the City Manager’s Office, Public Works, Economic Development, Planning and Engineering. Once appointed, the Committee would establish objectives and goals and discuss the anticipated scope of work in a kickoff meeting ahead of the technical studies, discussed below.
Recommended Scope of Work. Staff recommends the scope of work include a technical circulation and parking analysis from a Traffic Engineer, as well as design concepts for the public space from a Landscape Architect or Architectural consultant specializing in the use of public space. The Traffic Engineer would be asked to provide the following general scope of work to evaluate circulation and parking in the area:
1.Collect data of existing conditions, traffic volumes, turning movements, and parking.
2.Develop a total of three alternative scenarios for circulation that include scenarios for one-way schemes and street closures.
3.Analyze the impacts that each alternative would have on access, circulation and parking.
4.Develop criteria to rank the alternatives.
5.Draft conceptual drawings for the preferred alternative.
6. Develop a cost estimate for the preferred alternative.
7.Present findings to the Committee and ultimately to the City Council.
The cost of this technical analysis is estimated at $75,000.
The Architect/Landscape Architect would be asked to provide the following general scope of work to evaluate the City-owned property, inclusive of the gazebo property:
1.Site Analysis and evaluation, existing conditions documentation
2.Public Outreach / Community Engagement
3.Develop prioritized evaluation criteria and perform data analysis
4.Draft three or more design recommendations
5.Develop a cost estimate for the preferred alternative
6.Present findings to the Committee and ultimately to the City Council.
The cost of this design study is estimated at $30,000.
The Committee will conclude this effort with a final report to the City Council, inclusive of their recommendations.
10/08/2024 D1 2 of 7
MEETING DATE: October 8, 2024 PAGE 3
SUBJECT: COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER DOWNTOWN STREET CLOSURES AND PUBLIC SPACE Schedule. Following the direction of the City Council, staff can initiate this effort within the next three months, once the Committee members are appointed and contracts for the technical studies are completed.
The technical studies and final Committee recommendations are anticipated to take approximately six to nine months.
FISCAL IMPACT: The proposed technical studies for this effort are estimated to cost $105,000. These funds are available in the Fiscal Year 2024/25 General Fund remaining unallocated fund balance (Account No. 0010000.310410) and may be used for this purpose. Contracts for these services can be established under the City Manager’s authority following a bidding process or can be brought back for the City Council’s consideration, at the Council’s direction.
EXHIBITS:
1.Historic Downtown Area – Location Map
2.Prior City Council Actions
3.City Council Resolution No. 2024- , amending the Operating Budget for Fiscal Years 2023/24 and 2024/25
10/08/2024 D1 3 of 7
Exhibit 1: Location Map
Historic Downtown – Project Area
City-owned or Successor Agency-owned properties
City-owned Gazebo property
10/08/2024 D1 4 of 7
EXHIBIT 1
PRIOR CITY COUNCIL ACTIONS
On March 26, 2024, the City Council discussed permanent street closure(s) in Downtown Vista and provided direction to staff to study one-way street options on Main Street and E. Broadway with added street parking, temporary closure of S. Indiana Street for events, conversion of three parking spaces to parkette, Cyclovia event, and advertisement of public parking in the Rylan Apartments parking structure (No Vote).
On September 24, 2019, discussed the public plaza at Main Street and S. Indiana Avenue and directed staff to delay the project and continue working with the business community to allow for new ideas to be presented (No vote taken).
On April 23, 2019, discussed the public plaza at Main Street and S. Indiana Avenue and directed staff to bring back a proposed Capital Improvement Project for Option C and an estimate of the costs involved in evaluating the Lowen proposal (Vote: 5-0).
On June 8, 1999, adopted City Council Resolution No. 99-78, approving an agreement for the Main Street Improvement Project with Castello, Inc. (Vote: 5-0). 10/08/2024 D1 5 of 7
EXHIBIT 2
00029213 7
RESOLUTION NO. 2024-
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CHARTERED CITY OF
VISTA, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING THE OPERATING BUDGET
FOR FISCAL YEARS 2023/24 AND 2024/25
The City Council of the City of Vista does resolve as follows:
1. Findings. The City Council hereby finds and declares the following:
A. On June 27, 2023 the City Council adopted Resolution 2023-117 approving the Operating Budget for Fiscal Years 2023/24 and 2024/25.
B. The City Council desires to amend the Operating and Capital Project Budgets at this time to reflect changed circumstances.
2. Action.
A. The Operating Budget for Fiscal Years 2023/24 and 2024/25 is amended as set forth in Exhibit A.
3.Adoption. PASSED AND ADOPTED at a meeting of the City Council of the City of Vista held on October 8, 2024, by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTAIN:
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
WALTER CHUNG, CITY ATTORNEY
By:
APPROVED
Walter C. Chung
20230814103001
JOHN B. FRANKLIN, MAYOR
ATTEST:
KATHY VALDEZ, CITY CLERK
By:
10/08/2024 D1 6 of 7
EXHIBIT 3
RESOLUTION NO. 2024-
CITY COUNCIL FOR THE CHARTERED CITY OF VISTA
PAGE 1 EXHIBIT A
1. Account Number Account Description Increase Decrease 0010000.310410 FUNDBALANCE UNRSRVD/UNDESIGTD 105,000$
0010145.521000 PROFESSIONAL SERVICES 105,000.00$
Appropriations are hereby made to fund the technical studies for Downtown Street Closures and Public Space. 10/08/2024 D1 7 of 7
October 8, 2024
D1: Committee to Consider Downtown
Street Closures and Public Space
D1: Committee to Consider Downtown Street Closures and Public Space History
•The City Council discussed street closures in the Historic Downtown area on March 26, 2024, and requested staff evaluate several options to improve parking, evaluate street closures both permanent and temporary, and improve public space
•Staff recommends establishing an Ad-Hoc Committee to discuss these issues, evaluate options, and make recommendations to the City Council on these topics.
D1: Committee to Consider Downtown Street Closures and Public Space Location
•The Historic Downtown area generally is bounded
by Vista Village Drive, S. Citrus Avenue,
Eucalyptus Avenue, and S. Santa Fe Avenue
•City-owned parcels are shown
•The scope would include an evaluation of the
City-owned gazebo property for public space
Committee
•Staff recommends the following Committee makeup:
o One member of the City Council
o One member of the Planning Commission
o One member of the Traffic Commission
o One member of the CVBID Advisory Committee
o One member representing the Chamber of Commerce
o Two business owners in the Historic Downtown
o Two property owners in the Historic Downtown
o Two residents in the Historic Downtown
D1: Committee to Consider Downtown Street Closures and Public Space
Scope of Work
•Staff recommends the Committee follow an established scope of work that would include:
o Technical Circulation and Parking Analysis
o Public Space Design Concepts
•Following the scope of work, the Committee would be asked to develop formal recommendations to the City Council
•Staff anticipates approximately three months to start the process for selection of committee members and contracting for the technical studies D1: Committee to Consider Downtown Street Closures and Public Space
•Staff requests:
o The City Council’s input on the proposed committee makeup and scope of work
o Approval to budget for the requested technical studies and initiate requests for proposals
•Staff will return to the City Council in December with a report on appointments to the Committee and initiation of the process
D1: Committee to Consider Downtown Street Closures and Public Space
October 8, 2024
D1: Committee to Consider Downtown
Street Closures and Public Space