TO: Mayor and Commissioners
FROM: Anthea Gianniotes, Development Services Director
THROUGH: Terrence R. Moore, ICMA-CM
DATE: October 15, 2024
Title
IN-LIEU OF PARKING FEES
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Recommended Action:
Recommendation
Review and provide direction on Ordinance No. 14-24, a City-initiated amendment to modify the in-lieu of parking fee program, and Resolution No. 80-24, a revised fee schedule.
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Background:
The in-lieu parking fee has existed in various iterations since the 1970s, with availability limited to properties within the Central Business District (CBD) and Old School Square Historic Arts District (OSSHAD) zoning districts. The in-lieu of parking fee, pursuant to Land Development Regulations (LDR) Section 4.6.9(E)(3), "allows new development, use conversion to existing buildings, building additions and/or renovations, that result in the requirement to provide new parking or additional parking, have the option of requesting some of the parking spaces to be approved by the City Commission through the payment in-lieu of parking program."
The in-lieu option was initially used as a tool to manage the impact of parking needs from new businesses locating in the downtown area. The most recent requests have been for much higher amounts of parking (12 to 33 spaces), while historically, the requests were for 1 to 9 spaces. The last five requests are 29% of the total spaces in the program for the last 20 years. They were used to facilitate new construction up to 3 stories in height, and to replace a building identified as a potential historic contributor. This pattern indicated that a revaluation of the program and fees was needed.
On May 2, 2023, a “zoning in progress” relative to the in-lieu parking program was adopted by the City Commission via Resolution No. 102-23, and has been via Resolution Nos. 196-23 and 84-24. Resolution No. 194-24 provides for an extension of the zoning-in-progress to December 31, 2024, to allow for a workshop for review and direction prior to the formal consideration of the ordinance and fee resolution.
The ordinance revamps the in lieu of parking program to limit this alternative method of meeting off-street parking requirements to projects that maintain the moderate scale of the downtown, provide for adaptive reuse, support historic preservation efforts, or help revitalize the West Atlantic Neighborhood Sub-district by implementing the West Atlantic Master Plan. Areas are consolidated in terms of the fee schedule and the Beach Area is removed entirely. Areas that abut residential neighborhoods are also removed from the program to mitigate the potential for overflow parking.
The accompanying resolution will establish new fees and will be considered at second reading of the ordinance. The resolution continues to allow for a one-time fee per space; however, the proposed fees are much higher, reflective of the cost of constructing a future parking garage and the time-value of money. Resolution No. 80-24 is attached for review and direction. The suggested base fee amount considers the current cost of building structured parking (estimated to be approximately $31,000 per space) and the cost of future construction, which will increase over time. The fee structure reflects discounted percentages to advance City policies, including providing incentives for historic preservation and encouraging investment in the West Atlantic Neighborhood. City Commission direction is needed to finalize the resolution establishing the fees.
Finally, the required findings to approve in lieu of parking fee requests are also proposed to change to provide more measurable criteria and to better reflect City goals.
The attached staff report provides a full analysis of the proposed changes, including the proposed fees.
The following boards reviewed the request and provided recommendation:
- Parking Management Advisory Board, May 28, 2024. Recommendation of approval.
- Downtown Development Authority, June 10, 2024. Recommendation of approval.
- Historic Preservation Board, July 3, 2024. Voted 6-0 to recommend approval; and recommended that the radius for available public parking options be increased from 750 feet to a quarter mile (5-minute walk); staff used 750 feet (3-minute walk) as previous City Commission considered a quarter mile too far for off-site parking arrangements.
- Planning and Zoning Board, July 15, 2024. Voted 7-0 to recommend approval.
In addition, the Chamber of Commerce provided comments, which are attached.