Prelim workshop results

We met with Mike Kodama, the parking planner, for a few hours on Saturday and Sunday. We had previously sent him oodles of documents to review. He saw some things that may be missing in the City's strategy but needs to speak with them. During our Saturday meeting, he asked us lots of questions to learn more about our specific issues. He came to the Sunday meeting with recommendations for our consideration.

Mike showed us some examples of what other cities are doing that would be appropriate here. After some Q & A, we decided that it was worthwhile to try a different approach so that we might have a much better outcome. While we have included the City in our activities, Mike has examples and info that the City may not have considered yet. Their participation is obviously crucial to any meaningful solutions.

At this point, we've decided to try to partner with the City to create a more comprehensive parking plan rather than do a parking study for our small area. Mike Kodama will come with us to meet with City Staff on March 16 and initiate contact with staff beforehand.

You can see an outline of things that need to be considered in our parking plan here. It's a powerpoint presentation of the basics. Think of it like an orchestration of many different factors. For instance, when it comes to traffic planning and management, there are many things that must be considered and constantly updated to keep traffic flowing. The same is true in a downtown area for parking. Good examples of how it can be managed exist but we are missing major components.