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Title
8:00 p.m. - 8:30 p.m. Parking Study Recommendations Report
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DATE(S) OF PRIOR COUNCIL CONSIDERATION OF THIS ISSUE:
February and June 2022
EXPLANATION AND SUMMARY:
The purpose of this presentation is to provide an in-depth summary of, and update to, the commercial parking study that, in February 2022, the Vienna Town Council directed be carried out. The parking study is a multi-departmental initiative executed by Nelson Nygaard, a national transportation planning firm with a Washington, D.C. office, that also served as a sub-consultant for the Code Create effort providing data to support updates to the zoning code.
On April 15, Nelson Nygaard will present the results of this work to the Town Council at the work session. It will include the research conducted and the resulting recommendations and strategies. The recommendations presented in the report are guided by an existing conditions analysis found in Attachment #2. The parking recommendations are attached to this memorandum as Attachment #3.
Since the start of the study, the Town has worked with Nelson Nygaard to complete the following:
• Town-wide Parking Survey (Attachment #1)
• Existing Parking Conditions (Attachment #2)
• Stakeholder Engagement Events
• Parking Recommendations (Attachment #3)
The presentation document is included as Attachment #4.
The parking study focused on evaluating the existing conditions in the Town’s main commercial areas, which was the study area. The recommendations provide policy considerations, parking management programs as well as short-term and long-term actions that the Town and relevant stakeholders could consider, to improve parking within the study area.
Existing Parking Conditions Assessment (Inventory)
At the start of the parking study effort, Nelson Nygaard completed an inventory of all public and key private parking resources in the study area, primarily along Maple Avenue, Church Street, Mill Street and Dominion Road. The exact study area is shown on a map in the report titled Existing Parking Conditions (P. 10, Attachment #2). The report details key findings after assessing the usage of parking from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for a weekday and a weekend day in Vienna’s commercial core. An analysis of over 5,000 parking spaces was completed during the inventory process. The report discusses key findings, including observations regarding the most-visited locations within the Vienna study area by car and peak times for parking in off-street and on-street parking spaces.
The existing conditions report generally comes to the following conclusions:
o In most locations in Vienna, during the times studied, there is plenty of parking to meet the demand for parking. To be specific, in the study area, there are almost always plenty of parking spaces available in most parking lots at almost all times of the day.
o The parking challenges are in specific locations - including sites of specific businesses.
o The parking study recommendations respond to both parts of the conclusions - general availability of parking, but specific-location challenges.
Parking Survey
The parking study initiative also included an analysis of parking behavior and preferences by Town residents and visitors. The survey was administered from January 31, 2023, to March 1, 2023, via the Town of Vienna’s website. Seven hundred forty-seven (747) responses were received. Survey respondents were asked to describe what works well about parking and traveling around Vienna’s commercial areas and what could be improved. The survey itself is Attachment #1. A summary of the results of the parking survey can be found in the Existing Parking Conditions report (page 32, Attachment #2).
Stakeholder Engagement Events
A major component of the parking study initiative was to engage residents, visitors, and businesses, -asking for feedback from business stakeholders about the parking experience for employees and customers. The project team invited Town businesses to attend one of two focus group sessions in May 2023. In addition, presentations were made to, and input was received from, members of the Town Business Liaison Committee and the Planning Commission.
Planning Commission
Town Staff and Nelson Nygaard presented a draft to the Planning Commission at the January 24, 2024, and March 13, 2024, meetings. Planning Commission requested more information about recommendations that were incorporated into the Code Create update, examples of parking ratios for peer jurisdictions, specific parking recommendations that did not make it into the code, and other information outlined in the meeting minutes. The recommended parking ratios and effects on example properties, as well as a table of peer jurisdiction parking standards, are included in the Report Appendices (Attachment #2).
The Planning Commission expects to complete its recommendation regarding the parking survey at its April 10, 2024 meeting, which is likely to be after the packet has been sent to the Town Council. Once staff has received the final recommendation memorandum, staff will forward it to the Town Council to be included in the packet as Attachment #5.