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City of Falcon Heights Planning Commission Minutes September 28, 2004 PRESENT: Commissioners Tracy, Lukermann, Harris, Lageson, Maher, Heideman, Ryan, Ziebarth, Council Member Lindstrom. Also present was Staff Liaison Deb Jones. ABSENT: DeLeo The meeting was called to order by Commissioner Harris at 7:00 p.m. The minutes of the August 24, 2004, meeting were approved. PERMIT PARKING ON LINDIG Staff liaison Jones gave an introduction of the issue before the Commission. Residents of Lindig Street have presented a valid petition to institute permit parking along the whole length of the street on the grounds that parking by non-residents is creating a hardship for residents. If the Commission recommends approval and Council approves, Lindig will have the same parking restriction as Tatum and most of the University Grove. That is, parking will be restricted to two hours between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday, unless the car displays a parking permit. Permits will be available to residents of Tatum according to the terms of the City parking policy. Lindig, the first north-south street west of Fairview, has access from Larpenteur and no outlet at the • north. There is turn-around space at the north end on City property. The street width is narrower than average for Falcon Heights. Approximately 300 feet at the south end of the street is restricted 2-hour parking on weekdays between 8 and 4, with no permit option. There are presently no other parking restrictions on the street. City Staff have been aware of the problem for some time, Jones said, and have observed informally that Lindig seems to be "parked up" most weekdays. The area most affected is the stretch just north of the present restricted zone. Parking is dense on both sides of the street. There is usually ample parking available on the northern third of the street. Earlier this year Lindig residents approached the City with concerns about non-resident parking. Staff sent a letter to residents in June informing them that parking restrictions can only be initiated by resident petition. After the petition was received, Staff counted parked cars over the space of a week and confirmed that on that section of Lindig, most or all on-street parking is taken during daytime hours. Staff also observed drivers using private driveways to turn around instead of going to the circle at the north end. The available parking at the north end is quite a long walk from the apartments at the south end. Jones noted that the apartment residents, although they were not included in the petition, are the most affected by the present situation because their building is in the existing 2-hour zone. Most of them also gave their signatures in support of permit parking. City Staff recommends approval of the petition and also recommends that permit parking be applied to the whole street so the problem won't simply be moved north a few hundred feet. Commissioner Harris asked if enforcement would be a problem. Ms. Jones responded that enforcement is always a concern because of limited resources. It would be necessary for Lindig • residents to be somewhat proactive in reporting violations. In response to a question from Commissioner Lageson, she said that the City would go through several steps before beginning enforcement. Residents will be notified before permit parking goes into effect and given time to get City of Falcon Heights -Planning Commission Meeting of September 28, 2004 -Page 1 of 3