Walnut Creek to Continue to Study its Parking Problems

Walnut Creek leaders have Ok’ed broad strategies to address the city’s parking problem—or the perception that Walnut Creek has a parking problem

But don’t worry, if you’re a business worried about the suggestion to extend meter hours to 8 p.m. or to Sundays. At least, don’t worry yet.

The strategies adopted by the Walnut Creek City Council and Transportation commission at a joint study session Thursday were broad. The council directed city staff to do more work on the viability of specifics, including extending the meter hours. More public hearings would follow as well.

The strategies came out 13 months’ of study and meetings by the Downtown Parking Task Force over the highly complex—and sometimes emotional—issue of parking in Walnut Creek. 

The third-floor conference room was packed for the study session with residents and business owners who wanted voiced both support for, and discontent with, the plans.

The goal of the task force is to make parking “work” in downtown Walnut Creek by creating a comprehensive parking management plan “that reflects the diverse needs of residents, businesses and visitors,” City Councl 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.

None of the strategies, however, addressed issues that can be enforced by the city--such as businesses using up spaces in private garages for valet parking or the meter hours in private lots that are not consistent with city metre hours. 

But while the council and transportation commission agreed to the broad strategies, the council directed city staff to do some more work on the viability of certain specifics. In addition to studying the possibility of extending the meter hours, the city also needs to look at if and how much it should raise prices at meters and garages, increase the time limit for meters in areas outside city’s core downtown, and do away with the special event parking fee for Lesher Center events at the North Locust Street garages. 

At Thursday’s meeting seniors who use and volunteer at the senior club in Civic Park also learned that a plan they strongly oppose—a plan to install meters in Civic Park—is on hold. Senior club members expressed their outrage at last Thursday’s meeting and in letters to City Hal about the plan.

"We are trying to keep some easy access to the senior center, said Lou Schrepel, president of the senior club. "They deserve some consideration.

The intent of putting meters into Civic Park—which was approved in the 2010-12 budget, was to manage crowded parking conditions at the lots there, made worse since the July opening of the new downtown library. Barry Gordon, director of Arts, Recreation and Community Services, said people have been using the Civic Park lots for parking at the library, rather than pay to park in the library’s surface lot and underground garage, where library patrons are restricted to two-hour time limits. Gordon said the meters may eventually go in, but the city needs to explore ways to give senior club members and volunteers passes so they don’t have to pay the costs of meters, which for some seniors on fixed incomes is a cost they can’t afford.

The broad strategies, which council and transportation commission members approved, include finding better ways for motorists to use the public and private garages and for the city to better communicate parking options to motorists with, for example, better signage. Other strategies have to do with creating more effective management of parking for restaurant workers and others employed in downtown businesses, improving collaboration between the city and business leaders on parking and finding ways to encourage city residents to use their own downtown for shopping, dining and entertainment.

Extending the parking meter hours to 8 p.m. daily and to Sundays and possibly raising prices falls under the strategy of better managing control over the city’s “parking inventory.” 

The city has more than 7,000 parking spaces  in 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 how  there is plenty of parking in downtown Walnut Creek. At peak times, on Fridays and Saturdays, 20 percent of those spaces in private and public garages are vacant.

Much of the problem with parking in Walnut Creek—or perception of a problem—rests on the fact that street spaces fill up at peak hours—lunchtime and evenings. The parking task force, citing the research of Donald Shoup, a professor of urban planning at UCLA, found that the perception of parking scarcity occurs when more than 85 percent of parking spots are filled.

During its work, task force members also learned that thousands of employees come to work in Walnut Creek daily and a fair number of those, mostly restaurant workers on the night shift, take up street parking spaces. They pay enough to make it to 6 p.m. when the meter hours end, and then have the meter for the rest of the evening. The city woud like to find a way, possibly including incentives, to encourage employees to park in specified areas of public garages. 

The suggestions of extending meter hours to 8 p.m. and to Sunday was met with wariness from business leaders, including representatives from the chamber and Downtown Business Association.

Paula Costa, a board member of the Chamber of Commerce and a member of the task force, said some business owners, such as Bonnie Waters of Changes Day Spa and Salon, worried that charging for Sunday parking could hurt the bottom line, especially businesses and restaurants in the traditional downtown.

Restaurant owners have also expressed concern that their customers, arriving before 6 for dinner--and parking at a two-hour meter--won’t be able to relax and enjoy their meal because they’ll worry about  finishing before 8 p.m. so their meter won’t expire.

Costa also pointed out that the city needs to seriously address the perception that extending meter hours or raising parking prices is strategy to earn revenue.

Task force members have said none of the strategies are designed to make more money for the city. Council members also point out that thecity uses parking meter revenue to pay for downtown improvement projects managed by the Downtown Business Association. Those projects, which also include marketing downtown, help improve business. 

"It must be revenue-neutral and not be done so the city can make money,” Costa said. “Saying so is just not good enough at this point."

Emily Chang of the Downtown Business Association expressed concern that the city is basing its strategies partly on results of the 2006 transportation study, which never looked at parking on Sundays. Also, the study was carried out at a time when the economy was “red hot.” She urged the city to conduct another study but Rafat Raie, the city traffic engineer said another study could cost $100,000 and be unnecessary.

Both Costa and Chang voiced concern that the city was not properly informing the public about the proposed plan, but Mayor Cindy Silva said she thought the city had done plenty of communicating about the task force’s work. She noted that the meetings were open to the public, and the onus should not just be on the city to get the word out.

Resident Tom O’Brien questioned why business groups were not doing a better job informing their own members about the parking problems and the need to encourage employees to park off the street. "You can solve some of this problem and make it a little better by your participation," he said.