Stakeholder Input on Parking

City Manager Eric Anderson's presentation yesterday to members of the Tacoma City Council really just began the public process to develop a final action plan for City of Tacoma leaders.

The Transit & Parking Committee has reworked its stakeholder recommendations, and the most important findings are as follows:

• As downtown Tacoma continues to grow and increase in development density, the City needs to maximize the effective deployment of transit services and other commute options, and to maximize coordination between transit services and parking operations;


• An effective downtown transportation plan should be developed that considers pedestrian, bicycle, carpool, vanpool, bus, rail, Flexcar and parking as coordinated elements of a strategic transportation system;


• Consistent, robust communication with stakeholders—the users of transit and parking services downtown, as well as equally strong communication between agencies and between City departments—will be critical to successful implementation of such policies; the City, Pierce Transit, Sound Transit and downtown stakeholders should institute a Downtown Transit & Parking Panel to foster regular communication and facilitate collaborative decision-making among parking facilities managers, parking enforcement personnel, commute trip reduction specialists, transit providers, security professionals and a broad representation of stakeholders;


• By 2020, Tacoma’s downtown area is projected to add 11,600 jobs (an estimate from the Puget Sound Regional Council); at the current level (roughly 5%) of transit use, accommodating this growth will require creation of 11,020 new parking stalls--by way of comparison, this is nearly five times the number of spaces currently existing at Tacoma Dome Station--but increasing transit use by just 4% over the same period would save the community more than $9 million.

The Transit & Parking Advisory Committee is also working with the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber to launch a new program: Destination Downtown Door-to-Door. This program will build momentum—augmenting current CTR programs that already promote use of excellent local and regional transit services—to promote awareness and utilization of commute options.

The full set of recommendations will be out later this week.

What City Leaders Heard

Yesterday was a day for stakeholders to sound off on a number of issues that will drive downtown Tacoma's future development. What did members of the Tacoma City Council hear?

City Manager Eric Anderson presented his final set of recommendations regarding future parking and transit needs, including:

• Streetcars designed to share the streets with cars and bikes and buses, unlike Sound Transit's Link, which is separated from other vehicles;
• A citywide system of dedicated paths for bicycles and pedestrians;
• Pay stations levying “market rate” charges to park on the street, with prices varying based on the section of downtown and the time of day;
• More parking garages spread around the fringes of downtown rather than taking up valuable real estate in the city’s core;
• Parking revenues directed into a separate enterprise fund, rather than the city's general fund;
• Elimination of city-mandated parking requirements--or at least a cap on the number of parking spaces required.

Anderson’s report lacked specifics about funding, timing and other details. If the City Council approves of the broad outline, he recommended forming an advisory committee to figure out how to implement the ideas. It could be nine months to a year before anything final comes to the City Council for approval.

Following the transit and parking report, Anderson laid out the costs to Tacoma of cutting off the access between downtown and the Tideflats via the decaying Murray Morgan Bridge--and he made it clear that he expects the state to pay for them.

It used to take a police cruiser five minutes to get from downtown Tacoma to the Tideflats; since the emergency closure of the bridge last week, the length of that journey has increased by seven minutes and by more than three miles. The city has added one fire engine and an extra police officer to limit the bridge closure’s effect on emergency response times, but the extra units will cost the city about $190,000 a month in overtime pay and equipment costs.

Residents and property owners on both sides of a controversial proposal to raise the allowed building height along a portion of the Thea Foss Waterway testified later in the day before the City Council. The proposal would allow a tall, skinny approach dubbed a “tower/podium” building form. Approved by the Tacoma Planning Commission following a lengthy public process, the proposal would allow only one tower in a project to be 180 feet tall; additional towers would get progressively shorter by 20 feet. It also would require an average 100 feet of space between towers to preserve view corridors.

The council is scheduled to hear a first reading of a proposed ordinance November 13th and could finalize action on November 27th.

Sound Off! on Downtown Issues Today

This is a big day for advocacy with members of the Tacoma City Council as they consider several critical issues that may have critical impact upon downtown's future development:

• City Manager Eric Anderson will offer his final recommendations regarding downtown parking and transit at the weekly Study Session today, beginning at 12 Noon; that meeting is also scheduled to include an update from the police and fire departments regarding the impact of the closure of the Murray Morgan Bridge on emergency response times;
• Tonight's City Council meeting will include a public hearing regarding height limits for new construction on the Thea Foss Waterway--the first test of the Council's intent to pursue their policy decision last year to densify downtown; that portion of the meeting is set to begin at 5:30 p.m.;
• Later, City Council members will consider a resolution that could enable an option agreement and development agreement with Winthrop Hotel LLC to sell City-owned property at S. 35th St. & Pacific Ave. for the construction of mixed-income housing--the first step in disaggregating the concentrated low income housing project at 9th & Commerce;
• City Council members are also scheduled to consider a resolution that would approve a development agreement and $1.65 million loan agreement with the Gintz Group LLC to help facilitate the acquisition and renovation of the historic Luzon Building at S. 13th St. & Pacific Ave.

People Who Stay in Glass Hotels...

Next March is the official opening date for Hotel Murano (formerly the Sheraton Tacoma Hotel), decked out with works of (world class) glass from more than forty artists from around the world. Works by native son Dale Chihuly and other notables will help showcase the ongoing multimillion-dollar makeover of downtown’s largest and most distinguished hotel---and the emerging district around it. Hotel Murano even has an art curator, Tessa Papas--how many lodging facilities can make that claim?

It's no secret that the area around the hotel has undergone a stunning transformation in just the past few years. The BIA and other parties are now involved in helping to align this significant new private venture with public and nonprofit investments in Tacoma’s brand as a center for glass art. Hotel Murano's glass art will help tie key locations like the Museum of Glass and its distinctive cone-shaped hot shop, the Tacoma Art Museum’s collection of early Chihuly works, and the Bridge of Glass into one conceptual whole. It's also one more reason to brand Tacoma as one of America's most creative cities.

Featured artists include Chihuly, Hiroshi Yamano of Japan, Richard Whiteley of Australia, Miriam de Fiore of Italy, Karen La Monte of the Czech Republic, Vibeke Skov of Denmark, Janusz Walentynowicz of Poland, and Costas Varotsos of Greece, among others.

Admittedly, March is a long time to wait to experience the excitement; fortunately, Hotel Murano maintains the Looking Glass, a blog celebrating the hotel's renovation and promoting positive happenings throughout downtown.

Another Shooting Downtown

Three people were injured--one critically – early Thursday in what Tacoma police describe as a gang-related shooting outside a downtown nightclub. A lone gunman fired into a crowd of 50-60 people milling around the parking lot at closing time at McCabe’s American Music Cafe, injuring three people. McCabe's has been the site of several incidents over the past few years, including a fatal shooting in 2002.

The City of Tacoma has regulatory zoning--unlike many other cities (such as Seattle)--that allows then City great discretion over business' licensing. Well-run businesses are always concerned about their impact upon neighboring properties and the community in general. Tacoma Police and other city officials should examine McCabe's situation carefully--hopefully with the unflinching cooperation of the current owners--and take action to maintain a safe but vital downtown.

More on 9th & Pacific

Participants in last week's 9th & Pacific Community Forum raised a number of issues that needed clarification and/or action:

• It has been observed by residents and businesses alike that transients and “bad element” people get off the Link (light rail) at the end-of-the-line stop at 9th & Commerce and start being a nuisance after 8:00 p.m. Has Sound Transit given any thought to discontinuing free rides on the Link?
• Laura Hanan, owner of the Rowland Building on Pacific, asked if BIA could change its late shift to end at 4:00 a.m. (currently, it ends at 3:00 a.m.). BIA committed to look into ending the shift at a later time based upon review of incidents reported between 3:00 and 4:00 during weeks when patrols were out then.
• Pierce Transit and Sound Transit are negotiating regarding ridership exclusion--individuals who have been expelled from either agency's public transportation will be excluded from both through a communication and identification process. When will this safeguard be (back) in place?
• Cheryl Gorsuch (co-owner of Sanford & Son, has lived above the store for almost 20 years) reports that after the Link stops running--any night of the week--is when the street disorder becomes visible. She regularly calls 911 or TPD non-emergency number to report suspicious activity. Gorsuch suggested a 50-cent charge for riding the Link, thinking this will eliminate last riders staying in the residential/business end of downtown and keep them nearer the Tacoma Rescue Mission at night. Is this feasible for Sound transit to implement?
• Though Sound Transit has installed dusk-to-dawn lights on its Link stations, some building owners refuse to do so; consequently, it is pitch black in areas along Commerce at night. Lt. Darlington will revisit building owners along the stretch of Commerce to talk to them about crime prevention through environmental design (CPTED) improvements.
• Sound Transit is currently planning to install video surveillance equipment at all stations; all trains have taped video surveillance. Pierce Transit has CCTV installed throughout the downtown transit center. BIA is working with the City of Tacoma and private property owners to fund cameras at corners where nuisance complaints are high, adding real-time video to enforcement efforts.
• Lt. Darlington explained that “non-traditional policing” is necessary due to the low number of patrol officers (no more than five at any given time in his sector, which includes downtown, the Tideflats, Northest Tacoma and Hilltop). From time to time, TPD may deploy Special Emphasis Teams (SET) whereby units are focused to one problem area at a time instead of sweeping the whole area. BIA is negotiating with the City of Tacoma to fund one additional dedicated officer, which would allow for more robust swing shift coverage.

This blog will give a progress report on these identified issues as more information becomes available.

Thanks to Kala Dralle, City of Tacoma Community & Economic Development Department, for her notes which are the basis for this post and yesterday's post.

Murray Morgan Bridge Closed

The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) announced today that the 94-year old Murray Morgan Bridge has been closed to all vehicular traffic. Traffic--estimated to be about 1,300 vehicles daily--headed across the Thea Foss Waterway is being routed over the nearby SR-509 bridge.

During the past few weeks, WSDOT bridge engineers have been conducting a comprehensive inspection of the bridge. They found additional structural deterioration and determined that the bridge must be closed to vehicular traffic to ensure public safety; pedestrians and bicyclists will still be allowed to use the bridge for the time being.

Opened to traffic in 1913, the bridge was built to provide access from the downtown area to the industrial area in the Tideflats. As early as 1997, the City of Tacoma and WSDOT began discussions about the future of this corridor and whether to replace, rehabilitate or remove this structure. In 2002, WSDOT reduced the bridge from four lanes to two lanes and imposed a 10-ton weight limit to prohibit all heavy vehicles, except emergency response vehicles, from crossing the bridge.