SAVANNAH savannahga.

gov
Infrastructure &
Development

memo
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Rob Hernandez, City Manager Vs
CC: Sean Brandon, Mobility and Parking Services Director
Date: April 2, 2019
Re: Zone 1 recommendations for 2019

Beginning January of 2018, the City instituted a two-zone metered parking rate structure
for areas north of Liberty Street per a council-adopted resolution (passed May 11, 2017).
Areas north of Oglethorpe Ave., east of Martin Luther King Blvd., and west of Habersham
St. were designated Zone 1 at a cost of $2 per hour for unlimited time. Other areas north
of Liberty were designated Zone 2 at a cost of $1 per hour for unlimited time. The
arrangement was meant to help open up spaces, but still leave them available for customers,
tourists, and others coming downtown for short to intermediate trips. Staff has now
compiled the occupancy for spaces in 2018 and are prepared to make one recommendation.

Methodology

Parking and Mobility examined the paid metered spaces and compared that time to the
available time that existed for sale. As an example: if a space was available for twelve
hours in a day, and was paid for on ten hours during those twelve hours, then it has an
effective paid occupancy rate of 83%. This is not a perfect indicator of occupancy for two
reasons:

It does not account for vehicles that have not paid for a space (emergency vehicles,
decaled vehicles, etc.).
It does not account for overlapping time usage on a space (If someone paid for 3
hours, left, and someone else arrived and paid for time that overlapped with the
original 3 hours).
To account for this a factor was added to the effective paid occupancy to arrive at an
estimated total occupancy. For the purposes of this analysis, that is 5%.

The ideal occupancy for a street is somewhere in the 60%-80% range of usage. At that
rate, spaces are being regularly used, but spaces are still available.

P.O. BOX 1027, SAVANNAH, GA 31402

www.savannahga.gov
Findings

The overall estimated occupancy of Zone 1 for 2018 is approximately 60%. However,
there were some areas identified that were far below that level. These areas were primarily
between Habersham and Lincoln Streets within the zone. They include:

Occupancy Average
Oglethorpe Street (Lincoln to Habersham) 14%
State Street (Lincoln to Habersham) 25%
Congress Street (Lincoln to Habersham) 26%
Bryan Street (Lincoln to Habersham) 29%
President Street (Lincoln to Habersham) 29%
York Street (Lincoln to Habersham) 32%

The areas of Bay Street (53%) and Broughton Street (61%) between Lincoln and
Habersham were both at more acceptable levels of usage.

Recommendation

The low-occupancy rate in these areas would indicate that the rate is higher than acceptable
for optimal usage. Therefore, we recommend shifting all of the blocks between Habersham
and Lincoln within Zone 1 into Zone 2. Although Bay Street and Habersham are at more
acceptable occupancy rates, shifting the entire area over will lessen the confusion about
which area is within which zone. This would shift approximately 100 spaces into Zone 2.

Process

Council's resolution authorizing the parking plan allowed staff to move forward with
changes without council approval, but with a public process informing all effected parties
of the change. Staff recommends the following for a public process:

Action Time Overall Time

Notices will be given to all adjacent businesses 1 week May 1 — May 7
and residents in the affected area (1 week) on
an individual basis by staff.
The Downtown Neighborhood Association 1 week May 1 — May 7
(DBA), Downtown Neighborhood Association
(DNA), and Tourism Leadership Council I

P.O. BOX 1027, SAVANNAH, GA 31402

PHONE 912.651.6410 TDO 912.651.6702 FAX 912.651.6408 SAVANNAHGA.GOV
 (TLC) would all be informed of the change via
letter.
Press would be notified via press release 1 week May 1 — May 7
30 day comment period would commence. The 30 days May 8 — June 8
website would host a comment site. Links
would be provided in letters, press release, and
notices.
Final report issued taking comments into 2 weeks May 9 —June 21
consideration
After approval, meters would be adjusted to 1.5 weeks Implementation on July 1
reflect new rates. Notices would be distributed
to surrounding businesses and residents
informing them of the start date.

We will commence the public comment period in May through June with an
implementation scheduled for July 1. We anticipate minimal fiscal impact (less than
$20,000) with this change due to the low occupancy already occurring in these areas.
Should occupancy in these area shift much higher, then there may be no fiscal impact even
with the lower rate.

P.O. BOX 1027, SAVANNAH, GA 31402

PHONE 912.651.6410 TOO 912.651.6702 FAX 912.651.6408 SAVANNAHGA.GOV
 House Mani ef Place

Chamber of
Commerce

square
East El Ay Inn

Christ
Episcopal
Church ,r Reynolds
Square

Lucas Theater Warren Square

The Marshall
We
House Savannah
College of Art
and Design
aran
Jan Library
urch ,
them
ty Old Chatham
house County
Owens Davenport
iding Courthouse
Thomas Hof sar Hpuse
Annex
6
Presirent
Quartars lir
7 Second
African Bapbst
Church
Marshall Row Nebb Military Green P
Museum

Police
Colonist Park Headquarters
Cemetery

P.O. BOX 1027, SAVANNAH, GA 31402

PHONE 912.651.6410 TOD 912.651.6702 FAX 912.651.6408 SAVANNARGA.GOV