South Grand Parking Study
July 12, 2001

Meeting opened by Emily Andrews SLACO

Self-introductions around room, in attendance were:
Mark Abbott, Tower Grove Heights
Dave Drebes Tower Grove East Neighborhood
Sarah Winter, Tower Grove East resident
Dave McCreery S. Grand Business District
Craig Solberg Solberg Investments
Michelle Taylor Commercial District Manager
Patrick Moore the Tower Grove East Neighborhood
Carole Jerome Tower Grove East Neighborhood
Alderwoman Jennifer Florida 15th Ward
Alderman Ken Ortmann 9th Ward
Emily Andrews, SLACO

Mark Abbot asked what we're going to do with the study - what happens when we have the results? Will it be ratified by the Planning Committee?

Discussion followed, the group agreed that the study is a starting point.

Alderwoman Florida brought up ward redistricting and how that might affect the study. After some discussion, Alderman Ortmann stated that the funds for the study are already committed and won't be affected by redistricting.

Patrick Moore asked if there were parking studies from around St. Louis and other cities available tonight.

Michelle Taylor passed around one from Soulard. We will request more examples of parking studies when our liaison from St. Louis Development Corporation (SLDC) is assigned.

Michelle asked the committee for clarifications and guidelines concerning our liaison from SLDC. There was some discussion about SLDC as the sponsoring agency for the Parking Study.

Dave Drebes asked if there is an alternative to SLDC, like East West Gateway. Michelle said we'd have to pay EW Gateway or any other agency.

Alderman Ortmann responded that there is not an appropriate alternative to SLDC, but we should feel confident that this committee will drive the process.

The group decided that we will benefit from the experience of an SLDC liaison. Emily Andrews will write a letter to SLDC on behalf of the committee requesting that the assigned liaison will: Help us understand what we can realistically expect for $16,000; Provide us with a template of a Request For Proposals (RFP), as well as guidelines for an RFP; Attend every meeting.

As a way to get to know one another better, committee members were asked to share their vision for the process and why they're participating

• Emily Andrews wants to see South Grand succeed and wants this to be a community-minded process.
• Dave D. wants information about current parking situation, wants the process & results to be valid and to support action in the future.
• Sarah Winter wants the process to result in a product we can agree on and work towards together.
• Dave McCreery is proud of the S. Grand area. Wants to see a product that can be an example and that retains the diversity of the people who live and work in the area.
• Alderman Ortmann wants the study to be the basis for future direction and opportunities for the neighborhood.
• Craig Solberg: parking is vital to the business district and hopes the study will help us understand the importance of the issue.
• Michelle wants facts about the parking situation and wants the study to help S. Grand succeed in a cooperative way.
• Carole Jerome: the impact of parking is clear, we need to plan well and want to see S. Grand succeed.
• Patrick: the local level of government is often most effective - this process can be a model for others and an opportunity for S. Grand.
• Alderwoman Florida wants information about the parking situation on S. Grand. What we learn in this important process will help us implement a solution that benefits the entire business district.
• Mark wants to lay out a parking strategy for the next decade that will prevent disputes with a common vision. He is concerned that we don't have enough money for a sufficient study and about what to do with the study once we have it.

• Hard Data: Number of parking spots - in lots, on street, at meters, number of patrons, crunch spots, open space, average speed of vehicles on S. Grand, pedestrian crossings, accidents, bus routs - frequency & ridership
• Bias towards keeping historic structures intact. Bias towards finding alternative solutions. Use existing space wisely
• Soft Data: Interviews with developers (both on S Grand and elsewhere), with business owners, with residents, with business patrons
• How will the Community Improvement District (CID) status change S. Grand Business District?
• Is there room to build? What about future expansion?
• Create formulae that give us extreme scenarios and a middle scenario for parking solutions; Best case scenario
• What's the outlook for the present? What about 3 - 5 - 10 years from now?
• Building occupancy
• Signage needs?
• Data on employees of the S. Grand Business District: Where do they park? How do they get to work? Where would they be willing to park?
• Data on residential parking: needs & patterns
• Volunteers doing some of the work (i.e. counting parking spaces, residential garages, street trees, etc.)
• Study should be in phases (i.e. data collection phase, recommendation phase, feedback phase).
• Public meeting to present findings & recommendations
• Steering committee to gather information and input from the neighborhood/public
• Take into consideration that this is dense urban area and an historic district - therefore we value the unique architecture, it needs to stay or become more pedestrian friendly, we want to keep the fabric of the neighborhood intact