Title
Staff Report for a City of San Leandro City Council Ordinance to Amend the City of San Leandro Municipal Code Title 6, Chapter 6-1-825 of the San Leandro Municipal Code Relating to San Leandro Parking Aides
Staffreport
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Staff recommends that the City Council introduce the proposed ordinance to amend Municipal Code provisions updating definitions and regulations involving parking aides.
Section 6-1-825 of the Municipal Code currently allows only Police Department employees to perform enforcement. The Police Department has limited capacity to monitor and enforce parking restrictions City-wide, and particularly in the San Leandro Downtown Parking Garage and other time-restricted parking areas. Currently, two part-time Parking Aides are assigned to parking enforcement. If this ordinance is approved, staff intends to evaluate the feasibility of retaining a private contractor, to conduct parking enforcement.
BACKGROUND
Parking enforcement is important to the City for two primary reasons. First, the San Leandro Downtown Parking Garage and surrounding paid parking lots were developed with the objective that the parking fees collected cover the full cost of the facility. Ensuring that users of the facility and adjacent lots are paying for parking is critical to meeting this objective. Robust enforcement is important to ensure all vehicles parked in these lots have paid a daily or monthly fee.
The second primary objective of enhanced enforcement of parking regulations is to support economic development and maximize the efficiency of the City’s overall parking system. Ensuring that short-term parking spaces are not occupied by cars parking for longer than the stated limits provides opportunities for customers to have access to parking proximate to businesses.
The two part-time Parking Aides who are assigned to parking enforcement have other assigned traffic duties. Additionally, it has been challenging for the City to maintain full staffing of the five budgeted part-time positions. As with the current status, it is common for the City to have multiple vacancies at any given time, which negatively impacts the effectiveness of the operation and requires constant attention via the recruitment and onboarding processes. The current structure provides inconsistent enforcement of the San Leandro Downtown parking garage and infrequent enforcement of time-restricted parking in the downtown.
Analysis
On October 5, 2018 the City of San Leandro released a Request for Proposals (RFP) to evaluate private contractor’s ability to provide parking enforcement services for the City of San Leandro.
Staff research finds that retaining a private contractor to enforce local parking regulations is a feasible solution, given the current limited capacity of the City to perform this service. Other California cities currently use private contractors to enforce local parking regulations (e.g. City of Vallejo, City of Antioch, and City of Union City).
This approach could include a requirement that the existing two part-time Parking Aides be offered employment with the private contractor.
The next step for this proposed approach is to amend the Municipal Code to allow other City employees and contractors to enforce the local parking regulations as designated by the Chief of Police.
City staff identified third party contracting, or the employment of other City employees as designated by the Chief of Police, as potential resources to ensure adequate enforcement of the local ordinance governing parking enforcement of vehicles within the City. The utilization of these resources may lead to more effective parking enforcement and compliance.
In order to establish this approach, the City of San Leandro Municipal Code needs to be amended to include other City employees and contractors (Exhibit A).
Current Agency Policies
City Council Goals:
• Place San Leandro on a firm foundation for long-term fiscal sustainability.
• Advance projects and programs promoting sustainable economic development, including transforming San Leandro into a center for innovation.
Previous Actions
On September 19, 2016, the City Council, acting as the governing body of the Successor Agency to the City of San Leandro Redevelopment Agency, approved the transfer of $600,000 in former Redevelopment Agency bond funds to the City of San Leandro for implementation of parking improvements.
On July 17, 2017, the City Council approved the San Leandro Downtown Parking Management Plan and Recommendations for Short-term Parking Action Plan.
On July 17, 2017, the City Council authorized the City Manager to Execute a Consulting Services Agreement with Dixon Resources Unlimited in the amount of $130,000 for Oversight of the Downtown San Leandro parking system and guided implementation of the City’s New Downtown Parking Management Plan. The City Council and the Successor Agency also approved appropriation of $600,000 from the Successor Agency to the City of San Leandro Redevelopment Agency’s 2008 Bond Funds to the City of San Leandro Parking Fund’s 2017-18 Operating Expenditure.
On February 20, 2018, the City Council approved an ordinance to amend the City of San Leandro Municipal Code Title 6, Chapters 6-1 and 6-2 to update definitions and regulations related to parking.
On September 4, 2018, the City Council approved an ordinance to amend the City of San Leandro Municipal Code Title 6, Chapter 6-2 and the City of San Leandro Administrative Code to update parking definitions and regulations related to an Employee Parking Permit Program.
Legal Analysis
The ordinance to amend the City of San Leandro Municipal Code Title 6, Chapter 6-1-825, was reviewed by the City Attorney’s Office and approved as to form.
Fiscal Impacts
None.
ATTACHMENT(S)
Attachment(s) to Related Legislative Files
• Attachment to Ordinance:
• Exhibit A - Proposed Changes to Title 6, Chapter 6-1-825 of the San Leandro Municipal Code
PREPARED BY: Mariana Garcia, Economic Development Specialist, Community Development Department