Downtown Parking, the Future of Shadelands Business Park Discussed At Special Council Workshop on Monday

At a special workshop that will last much of Monday, the Walnut Creek City Council will discuss two issues that could have a profound impact on the city's economic future: downtown parking and boosting business in Shadelands Business Park.

With regard to downtown parking, council members will pick up where they left off in February. That's when the  to consider broad concepts and specific suggestions outlined by the Downtown Parking Task Force, which had spent 13 months studying and discussing the highly complex—and sometimes emotional—issue of parking in Walnut Creek. 

Walnut Creek is looking to create a comprehensive parking management plan "that reflects the diverse needs of residents, businesses and visitors,” City Council member Kish Rajan has said. He was one of two council members on the task force. Rajan said this sort of comprehensive plan has not been in place before.

On Monday, the council will discuss ways to implement this plan. 

The more specific--and perhaps controversial--recommendations still before the council include charging for metered parking on Sundays and extending meter enforcement from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. most days. Current meter hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Some business leaders and restaurant owners have expressed reservations about charging for meters on Sundays and after 6 p.m.

Other recommendations involve setting different prices for parking in various zones and offering free garage parking on Sundays. 

One goal of this parking management plan is to maintain a 15-percent vacancy rate for on-street parking spaces. This rate helps people find parking more easily and creates the perception that parking in downtown Walnut Creek is available.

The city has more than 7,000 parking spaces downtown, most of which are in public and private garages and lots. Only a small percentage—about 8 percent—are on the street. A 2006 study commissioned by the city documented that there is plenty of parking in downtown Walnut Creek. 

City leaders have acknowledged that the city needs to correct the perception—or misperception—that it is hard to park in downtown Walnut Creek. That idea potentially drives away customers from downtown businesses and residents from wanting to shop, dine and otherwise enjoy their own downtown. 

Revitalizing Shadelands Business Park: 

One of the Bay Area's first suburban business parks, Shadelands is not the economic driver it was when it opened in the 1960s. The business park's distance from Interstate 680, competition from other business parks, such as San Ramon's Bishop Park and Contra Costa Centre, and the failure to develop 24 acres of available land in the park have raised questions about how the city could better use it to be a major engine of jobs and the local economy. 

That said, Shadelands accounts for about nine percent of all jobs in the city and had the second-largest concentration of employees, behind the city’s downtown area, according to a 2004 city report.

During the 1990s, Kaiser Permanente established offices in Shadelands, which signaled a shift toward it becoming home to more medical offices, including those belonging to John Muir Health and Muir Orthopedic Specialists.

Shadelands started out as the home forDow Chemical and other companies. Currently, the business park is home to  and the U.S. Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute, which advances study of the genome to support clean energy development.

The city has long believed it could do more with Shadelands. A May 1997 study found that the business park continues to be viable but could stand some improvements, including rezoning to allow food and business services to serve nearby companies. 

However, the study recommended against developing housing "because of its lack of long-term opportunity and viability."

A 2004 city report took a different line on allowing residential development in the Shadelands. That report said that the Shadelands, in the long term, should include a mix of business, residential and retail uses. The report also recommended transportation improvements for Ygnacio Valley Road. 

In 2011, with the economy still in recovery, and the business park experiencing a higher than usual rate of office vacancies, the City Council will look at:

• Whether it should continue to support Shadelands as primarily a center for jobs and business.
• Steps the city could take to support Shadelands as a jobs center, if it wants to take that direction. The city, for example, could helping market the business park better or or look for ways to improve public transit connections to BART and downtown. 
• Whether the City Council should establish Shadelands as a business improvement district. 

Monday’s meeting, which starts at 8 a.m., will take place at Boundary Oak Golf Course, 3800 Valley Vista Road.