A MODEST PROPOSAL
/ ~~ -
Date: April 7, 1983
To: Mayor & Council
. From: William p. Craig, City Manager
SUBJECT: A MODEST PROPOSAL
Development of the downtown 1S usually viewed in terms of 1nd1v1dual
1tems - i. e., should we build a ramp; should we encourage construction
on a given site; etc. Actually, it should be considered in terms of
"packages) - related items that re1nforce each other and form a func-
tion1ng system. One such package can have a major effect 1n improving
the quantity and distribution of downtown park1ng, as well as accompl1sh-
1ng two needed 1mprovements 1n other public facilities.
STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS -
y
It is well-known by everyone familiar with the downtown that there
isn't adequate employee park1ng ava1lable for the Northwestern Bank
building. As a consequence, employees park e1ther in space leased
(tYP1cally by the bank or RCM), 1n C1ty park1ng south of County 3,
illegally in the 2-hour customer spaces, or throughout the nearby
residential neighborhood. Fortunately, the slow rate of leasing 1n
the new Hagen-Mason office building has put off the day their employees
will contribute to the problem. However, any addit10nal ded1cat1on of
existing 2-hour parking spaces for either set of employees will cause
reduction of customer spaces.
The two large structures formerly used as offices by Minneapolis-
Moline (more recently, White Motors and CPT) are considered d1fficult
to rent because of poor parking availability. A strong office worker
base is generally considered to be highly favorable for the retail
merchant community, so the vacant off1ce space affects retail too.
It is generally advised by urban planners that employee parking
should be provided on the fringe of downtown areas. This has been
successfully done on the north side of our downtown, but not on the
south.
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Police vehicles are all exposed to ice and snow conditions, Wh1Ch
tends to delay response unless all veh1cles are kept constantly warm.
The police department has consistently recommended some garage or roof-
ed space for protection of vehicles (as in St. Louis Park).
The City Hall building does not comply with hand1capped access rules.
The Edina City Hall and the County Garage offices (Washington Avenue South)
have both recently retrofitted w1th elevators, but that's not the only
way to go.
C' to ...
POSSIBLE SOLUTION TO PROBLEMS -
Construct a deck over the parking area east of the C1ty Hall,
and lease the deck surface for premium employee park1ng.
Des1gnate space for police veh1cles under the deck.
.
Layout on the top of the deck a covered walkway (north-south).
Construct a pedestr1an br1dge across County #3, and acqu1re a
walkway easement to link the deck and the pedestr1an bridge.
L1nk the top of the deck to the second level of C1ty Hall for
handicapped access.
ADVANTAGES
The C1ty already owns the land.
D1srupt1on during construct1on will not adversely affect the
retail commun1ty.
Employee park1ng will be sh1fted south of F1rst Street South and
a safe way w1ll be prov1ded for people to use the lot south of
County Road #3.
The handicapped will have access to both levels of the C1ty Hall,
but with no monthly or annual ma1ntenance expense.
Police units w1ll be available for immediate departure regardless
of weather conditions.
At least 60 new spaces w1ll be created.
DISADVANTAGES
The new parking w1ll not be d1rectly next to the reta1l d1strict.
The Slze is not optimum for a park1ng ramp.
Handicapped citizens w1ll not be able to go between the two
floors at City Hall without gOlng outside.
The new parking spaces w1ll be relat1vely expens1ve (compared to
taking down some nearby houses for parking).
e
Vertical clearance on the lower parking level will need to be
relatively high due to the needs of serV1ce vehicles (011 del1very,
garbarge, etc.).
RECOMMENDATION
The C1ty should comm1ssion an exper1enced park1ng ramp design f1rm to
see if such a ramp would be pract1cal. The cost for such a des1gn
would be 1n the $2,000 range, w1th the cost for final plans, specif-
ications, etc. being 6% or less of the project cost.