To: Honorable Mayor and Members of Town Council
From: Dan Sailer, Assistant Public Works Director
Title
Resolution Approving the Town of Castle Rock On-Street Parking Policy
Body
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Executive Summary
A proposed Town policy (Attachment A) is provided to assist with clarifying the Town’s official position toward on-street parking along public streets owned by the Town. This policy will provide for a consistent approach associated with future requests to restrict parking along public streets where operations and safety issues have not been identified.
On street parking is generally allowed within the Town limits on local residential streets, on some existing collector roads and in business/commercial areas where adequate space for maintaining safe traffic operations exists. As the Town has continued to grow in population, there has been an increase in requests from various stakeholders to prohibit or restrict on-street parking along public streets based on the opinion that the “look” and “feel” is diminished by allowing on-street parking, or the general quality of life of nearby residents is diminished, or concerns about property values, safety, or a combination of these. These requests generally occur from:
• Single family residential areas adjacent to a park or public school
• Single family residential areas adjacent to a multi-family residential area
• Businesses that are concerned with the impact on-street parking may have on the clientele they are targeting
While specific numbers of requests have not been tracked for prohibiting parking, some of the examples where stakeholders have requested prohibitions or restrictions include:
• Red Hawk Drive near the intersection with Wolfensberger Road adjacent to a townhome development
• Auburn Drive near the intersection with Wolfensberger Road adjacent to an apartment complex
• Multiple residential streets near South Elementary School
• Multiple residential streets near Douglas County High School
• Multiple residential streets near Castle View High School
• A residential street adjacent to Butterfield Park
• A residential street adjacent to Soaring Hawk Elementary School
In addition, recent requests have been made to the Town to implement a residential parking permit program which would give on-street parking preferences to residents adjacent to a public street where on-street parking is permitted. The Craig and Gould area is where this request has originated as a result of increased on-street parking occurring on streets in this neighborhood.
It is anticipated that these requests will increase as the Town population grows. An official Town position on this subject will assist with providing a consistent approach to addressing future requests to prohibit or restrict on-street parking along public streets, or for providing parking preferences to specific users.
Quantifying impacts that on-street parking has on the concerns raised is extremely difficult. As a customer service oriented Town, competing service requests like this can make it difficult to choose. The attached policy draft was made available to the public for feedback. While a statistically valid sample was not received, the formal feedback provided was fairly evenly distributed across three positions: 1) supports policy, 2) neutral on policy, and 3) does not support policy. The attached map provides a summary of the formal feedback provided from the public (Attachment B).
Budget Impact
None. Should a parking permit program option be preferred, impacts to the budget would occur as a result of this program being a new service level and needing to have active management. This option would require additional staff review and discussion with Town Council.
Staff Recommendation
Staff’s opinion is that accommodating on-street parking serves the larger diverse stakeholder interest, while still striving to respond to negative impacts that may result from parking. As such, the attached policy is recommended to be implemented. The approval of a policy provides for a formal position, while allowing for any future changes to be easily adopted.
This draft policy was discussed with the Public Works Commission at their August meeting. They unanimously recommend that Town Council approve the policy as drafted.
Proposed Motion
“I move to approve the Resolution as introduced by title.”
Attachments
Staff Report
Attachment A: Resolution
Attachment B: Formal Survey Feedback Locations Map
Attachment C: Typical Street Classifications
Attachment D: Comparison of Off-Street Parking Requirements
Attachment E: Raw Formal Survey Responses
Attachment F: Raw Social Media Feedback