Loading...
2008-03-18 TPC MinutesTRANSPORTATION AND PARKING COMMISSION City of Northampton City Hall, 210 Main Street Northampton, MA 01060 -3199 (413) 587 -1249 Fax: (413) 587 -1275 MINUTES March 18, 2008 David Narkewicz opened the meeting at 4:05 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Puchalski Municipal Building, 212 Main Street, Northampton. Members present David Narkewicz, Leslie Stein, Maureen Carney, Wayne Feiden, Ned Huntley, Russ Sienkiewicz, James Lowenthal, David Reckhow (arrived at 4:18pm) and Bill Letendre (arrived at 4:39pm) Members absent Keith Wilson and Paul Sustick 1. Public Comment No one present for public comment. 2. Minutes of January 15, 2008 & February 26, 2008 Feiden moved to approve the minutes of January 15, 2008 and February 26, 2008. Lowenthal seconded. Stein had a correction to the January 15 minutes. She stated that on item 7 she wanted to clarify that she would like to have all bus stops, whether full or courtesy, to be signed. The vote passed unanimously as amended (7 -0). Presentation on new Pioneer Valley ridesharins!/carpooling effort: Jeff Brown, www.ridebuzz.org Narkewicz stated that Jeff Brown from RideBuzz was present today and has been going around to other communities to explain the event and he is looking for agreement to sign onto the event. Jeff thanked the Commission for having him present. He stated that he is building a community based, community driven, ride share program that is valley wide. It is Internet based to rapidly and conveniently use the program. He is looking at low -tech solutions as well to allow users to tap into a broader user base. CET, CO -OP power, PVPC and PVBALLE are all co- sponsors. There is an upcoming event on April 3, see attached handout. His vision is that this would be a comprehensive system to distribute empty seating. There are about 1.4 million empty seats in the Pioneer Valley each day. Future vision is to use mobile technology and to have the ability to push a button and have a car pool show up in 5 minutes. This could be used as a way to give community members quick access to carpooling. The trends are quite concerning and he wants to address this in a socially cooperative way. There were some brief questions and answers. Jeff stated that he wants to effect positive change in places of need. He tries not to use a car but he does own one. He realizes some people have to use a car. Franklin County Community Development Corp is helping with cost of the event on April 3. He is open to community involvement and this is an open invitation to civic leaders. David Reckhow arrived at 4:18pm. Sienkiewicz stated that this is different than previous ride shares that the Commission discussed. Jeff stated that this is a rapidly different approach. This will show you where people are going and when. It will also be used with public transportation so that pick up /drop offs can be coordinated with the bus stops. There was a brief discussion about whether a computer terminal could be put at bus stops to coordinate ride sharing. PVTA's 800 number could also be included. Could we put a computer terminal at the bus stops to coordinate ride sharing? There was a discussion on how this was going to work, the cost involved in developing and funding this. Jeff stated that it is volunteer based at this point and he is evaluating a proposal for funding of the upcoming community event. There was a discussion over security concerns and how they would be addressed. Discussion over how the CORI request could be done. Jeff stated that people's security concerns are one of the most important factors to look at. He doesn't want to make the system too complicated to get into. He would like to see something like user feedback that is used on Ebay because this is when social etiquette comes into play. It has been tremendously effective. Huntley questioned how liability would be dealt with if there were an accident? Jeff stated that is a very important question as well. Those are the two most important questions. Waivers would definitely be signed but that only goes so far. If we go for a cooperative member approach a member is less likely to take legal action against their own co -op. 2 There was a question about whether individual insurance policies would be valid in a case like this. There was a discussion over insurance issues. Jeff questioned whether the Commission is willing to be a Co- Sponsor of the April 3 event? He would like to communicate with a list sery for this event. The meeting is geared toward forming the organization. He is interested in finding someone who feels strongly about this and would act as facilitator for this community. If anyone is interested in speaking for the town about multi modal transportation they can also speak at the event. Not asking for finances. Just asking for endorsement. There was a brief discussion about the Commission's policy. Stein moved to co- sponsor the event. Carney seconded. Letendre arrived at 4:39pm. There was a brief discussion about whether an event should be held in Nrothampton as well and whether anyone from the Commission could be present at the event on april 3. Huntley - If we are sponsoring this we should have an event in Northampton as well. It was clarified that there is a follow up event on April 14 at 7:30pm at the Media Education Foundation. The vote passed unanimously (9 -0). 4. Armory Street Parking Lot use request — N.E. Trans ender Pride March and Rally, June 7, 2008 Letendre stated that the request is only for part of the parking lot, the isolated section. They satisfied the requirement for the charitable component. He has worked with Captain Patenaude and the Mayor is also ok with it. Letendre moved to approve the request for the use of the Armory Street parking lot. Carney seconded. It was clarified that this request is for a new event the Pride March has already been approved. Letendre stated that the N.E. Transgender Pride March is giving money to Safe Passage and ServiceNet. The City needs a charitable component to justify giving up parking spaces but it is not intended to match lost revenue. The City actually doesn't loose revenue because the garage usually gets filled. The vote passed unanimously (9 -0). Traffic Miti!ation Funding Workshop (Wayne) [.]Review methodology for charging mitigation fees [.]Status of fees collected /to be collected and limits 0 Discuss process for recommending relevant zoning ordinance changes 0 Discuss process for funding allocation recommendations for specific mitigation projects. Huntley introduced Laura Hanson, Traffic Engineer. He stated that Laura is getting her feet wet and has attended some committee meetings and has been reviewing the traffic - calming program. There was a discussion over some projects that she is looking at and money for those projects. CIP money will be used for sidewalk projects but it doesn't look good because there is only $150,000 in CIP money and that is the projection for the next few years. Feiden stated that there are two areas where they are looking for recommendations, how to spend the money and how to collect the money. See attachments. City Council amended regulations for site plan review and developers should be paying incremental impact to traffic from developments. He has been tracking all of the projects that have been done and it has been done for 3 -4 years so they should go back to City Council. Right now it is done on a case -by -case basis and they are evaluating what is working and what isn't working. For a normal project it is 4pm -6pm for peak traffic and $2,000 for each afternoon peak hour traffic or $200 per daily trip. Month from now he will come back to get a recommendation on what the formula should be. Sienkiewicz stated that he would rather see the Planning Board come to the Commission with a recommendation. There was discussion over the application. Feiden stated that they prefer the project opponent to do the work. They don't like to receive cash and sometimes the cash given doesn't cover the amount of work needed. The developer is responsible to fix what is right in front of the property but this money covers work that is needed further down the street. This needs to be done on a case -by- case basis. Can't legally charge a payment in lieu of fee but you can voluntarily pay the fee. Narkewicz questioned how the formula is derived. Feiden stated that it is mostly arbitrary with what developers are willing to do. There was a discussion about what types of things can be included when determining the cost. Discussion included what the standards are across the country. Whether any discounts should be given for development. 2 The goal is to have some consistency because having a set calculation leaves the City in a better position. Discussion over payment in lieu of and where the fees go. There were questions about whether this would be part of the zoning Ordinance. Would this be part of the traffic mitigation piece? A formula would be added that people could use. Feiden stated that he would hopefully come back in a month with a proposed formula. Feiden went through the larger sheet for discussion purposes. The money needs to be used in a way that has a direct connection to the nexus. There is no hurry but he is hoping that we could start doing this. What should this be going forward. There were questions about where the money goes and whether it is a revolving fund or a transfer. Feiden stated that they don't have some of the money yet because the project hasn't started. The money they do have is sitting in an account and will need Council approval to be spent. There was a discussion about how the money should be spent. They need to know what the hard cost is of what it will take to do what is needed. The Commission would like to have Laura review the policy. A lot of times the impact is not known until the project is completed. 6. UPDATE: Traffic Calming Program Continued 7. UPDATE: Island Road Ordinances Narkewicz stated that the Ordinance Committee was presented a re- measured Ordinance. Ordinance Committee approved it and it will go to council for first reading on March 20. Councilor Reckman went out to Island Road with Captain Millin and some neighbors to re- measure the area. The neighborhood should be fine with it. 8. Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee Report Feiden stated that the Bike /Ped Committee was talking about the same thing the Commission was talking about. 9. Public Transit Committee Report Stein stated that she has a list of courtesy flag stops. The PVTA manager talked with 10 other towns about their flag stops. She is talking about putting up signs where there is not a formal bus stop delineated. Northampton is the only place where it is hard to put up bus stop signs. There was a discussion on how this could be done. The goal is to get courtesy stops signed and reduce the number of flag stops so that people will know where to get the bus. DPW agreed to review the list and present an approved list at the next meeting for the Commission's approval. 10. New Business Stein stated that the Public Transit Committee discussed the lack of bus access at the Co- op. Transit would like the Planning Board to make sure that developers think about access to public transit when a development is proposed. This is a great example of a missed opportunity. Stein moved to communicate to the Planning Board that public transit should be considered in development projects. Letendre seconded. The vote passed unanimously (9 -0). Huntley questioned whether the Ordinance for Church Street would be acceptable to Mass Highway? Feiden stated that he emailed a sketch to Mass Highway and he will follow up. Letendre stated that the bus stop that the Commission approved on Main Street has been a flurry of complaints from residents that doorways are being used as bus stops. It is not a good situation. He has thought about moving the bus stop to in front of Fresh Pasta and Broadside bookshop. He would lose a parking space but he would gain another one. There is no room for a bus shelter there. There was a brief discussion about the area of the bus stop. It was agreed that the Commission would continue to work on the issue with the PVTA. 11. Adiourn Sienkiewicz moved to adjourn at 6:09pm.Narkewicz seconded. The vote passed unanimously (9 -0). 0