2024_01_31 - Special - Laserfiche WebLink

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vacant lot just south of the railroad tracks between 7th Street and 9th Street. The lot would be designed to provide 138 additional parking spaces during mall construction at a cost of approximately $500,000. The lot would include lighting, ADA accessibility, staff and shuttle pickup/drop-off areas. He also provided details of a downtown shuttle service and the consideration to incorporate the cost of the service in the 2024-26 budget. As public comment, Cassie MacDuff thought one factor not being considered was people's preferences and that people do want to park on State Street where the street provides a beautiful setting with shade. She encouraged the Council to consider making Citrus Avenue a one-way street. Andy Hoder stated that parking meters would not be popular, and he raised questions about the value of a Parking Benefit program and listed safety concerns regarding the current state of the existing City Hall lot. Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Evan Sanford was grateful to have been a part of this ongoing conversation, and he highlighted the concerns and priorities of his members: a critical shortage of parking in downtown, loss of Mall parking will have a huge impact on downtown and the Redlands Bowl parking; no plan exists to deal with special event parking; existing City Hall site should be redeveloped into a large, 1000+ space parking structure; and they opposed a paid parking program. Bobby Garrity urged the Council to provide better infrastructure to promote more walking, cycling and the use of transit. Joshua Hall opposed a bicycle sharing program. Beverly Noerr, Executive Director of the Redlands Bowl Performing Arts, reminded the Council that culture plays a huge role towards improving the quality of life within the community and the Bowl events attract over 100,000 people annually. Brianna Egan said the city's downtown has become a popular destination, and she thought the City should encourage more walking and cycling and should explore a pricing strategy for paid parking instead of building more parking. Council Members asked questions of staff and discussed at length their thoughts and perspectives, including, the importance of improving infrastructure for pedestrians and bicyclers, promoting accessibility for all, concerns related to the hot summer months and how that might impact pedestrians, support to pursue shared use agreements with private owners, and consideration of a shuttle service. It was agreed that parking was all about location, and they were in favor of a feasibility study to analyze redevelopment opportunities of the existing City Hall site. On motion of Council Member Jenna Guzman -Lowery, seconded by Mayor Pro Tempore Paul Barich, the City Council unanimously approved, by roll call vote, to 1) Increase parking enforcement of timed -parking zones; 2) Implement safety improvements to Citrus garage and Centennial Plaza underground parking; 3) Analyze redevelopment opportunities of the existing City Hall site; 4) Lease the SBCTA lot at 7th Street and railroad tracks; and 5) Incorporate the cost of a downtown shuttle service in the draft 2024-26 budget request. Vote: 5 - 0 Passed City Council Projects Review City Manager Duggan explained that since October 2021, periodic City Council workshops have been held to discuss and prioritize requested projects made by individual City Council members to the City Manager. This approach was taken to allow the City to better focus finite staff time on items the full Council wishes to pursue and in which order. He led the discussion, allowing for a brief description of each project. The projects listed included: tree lacing, feather flags, loitering ordinance, Orange Street widening, installation of temporary sidewalks where Special CC_January 31, 2024 Page 2