Parking Issues in the Museum District
Museum District Association Parking Meeting - December 2, 2006
BACKGROUND
In 2005, several residents expressed interest in exploring the possibility of a restricted parking district in a portion of the Museum District, near the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Parking can be problematic near the VMFA at times, due to events (like Art after Hours) and now during the construction. The Museum District Association gathered with neighbors interested in discussing parking issues on Saturday, December 2, 2006 at St. Gertrude High School.
MEETING SUMMARY
24 individuals attended the meeting. Interests were varied. Some were in support of some type of restricted parking, others were opposed. Still others had different issues with parking related to courtesy, enforcement and density. The meeting lasted about 2 ½ hours. It was held at St Gertrude High School on Saturday morning, December 2, 2006
ISSUES RAISED
Wide-ranging issues were introduced and discussed. A recurring thread dealt with the urban juxtaposing of single-family homes, churches, schools, institutions, and multi-family units. Our neighborhood streets were designed when there were smaller and fewer cars, adding to the puzzle. All at the table seemed willing to work together to identify ways for all of these assets in the Museum District to co-exist and thrive.
Restricted Parking District
Some participants feel that there should be restricted parking in the area around the VMFA. Currently, with the construction and loss of the parking lot, staff and visitors alike are parking all day on the residential streets, often preventing residents from parking anywhere near their homes.
These residents feel that by adding permit based restricted parking, limiting to (for example) two hours maximum, visitors would use the parking deck on the VMFA grounds (completion due in April 2007, 583 spaces) and staff would use the staff parking lot off of Colonial (200 spaces) or the parking deck. It was agreed that the group would wait until April when the deck is completed to determine if the need for restricted parking remains. (**See VMFA summary at end.)
There were also some folks at the meeting who are very much opposed to restricted parking districts within the MD boundaries.
Courtesy
Many attendees would like to see those who park on our streets be more courteous. Some folks do not ‘park smart’ and leave large spaces between cars, reducing the number of cars that could park on a given block.
Attendees would like the school carpool lines to leave intersections ‘open’ so drivers not in the carpool queue may go about their business and not become entangled in the lines.
General Traffic Enforcement
Many folks want stricter enforcement of both parking and speeding ordinances. We will ask the police to be more proactive in enforcement of the following ordinances:
• Parking too close to intersections and/or blocking intersections (the city code specifies the distance requirements.)
• Parking too long on City streets/ abandoned cars/ illegal vehicles on streets between midnight and 6:00 AM
• Speeding, especially by students
• Double parking for long periods of time
• A resident of Henrico leaves cars parked for weeks + at a time near his mother’s home in the MD – is there anything we can do about this?
Issues Related to Schools
Schools enhance the fabric of our urban neighborhoods. Over time, however, more and more students and families with cars result in many cars seeking few parking spaces. This is especially true during school events at night and on weekends. Also, the following issues were identified:
St. Gertrude – afternoon carpool
1) Cars queued up don’t ‘break’ at intersections, making it unsafe and/or impossible for others not in the queue to navigate
2) Little acknowledgement or respect for residents’ needs to get into or out of street parking spaces when the carpool queues are active
3) Parents double park for long periods of time to ‘chat’.
Note: It was suggested that St. Gertrude intermittently hire off-duty police to address these issues.
St. Benedict – afternoon carpool
1) Cars queued up don’t ‘break’ at intersections, making it unsafe and/or
impossible for others to navigate
2) Little acknowledgement or respect for residents’ needs to get into or out of street parking spaces when the carpool queues are active
Benedictine
1) Speeding by students
Issues related to Churches
It was suggested that all churches be requested to ask their attendees to park in church lots whenever possible, rather than on the surrounding streets.
Other / Miscellaneous
1) Parking near Albert Hill Middle School
Residents near the school requested that parking restriction from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM be adjusted to begin at 7:30 AM, to allow more parking by residents who work, and could move their cars in the morning by 7:30 AM more conveniently than 7:00 AM. Also, might the gates be opened and used by the buses, so that more street parking would be available?
What is requirement for provided parking for the new condos on Roseneath at Park?
2) Reserved parking in front of single-family homes
A Single-family resident living near multi-family units feels his parking is compromised due to overflow from the apartments/condos nearby. His suggestion is to be able to restrict parking directly in front of one’s house solely for one’s own use, with signage and the ability for the owner to tow cars parked in that space.
**VMFA response and summary to Restricted Parking District
Current scenario: While the parking deck is being completed, staff and visitors park wherever they can, which is often on the adjacent residential streets. This makes it difficult for those residents to find parking near their homes. This is a temporary (but long lasting) situation, which should be greatly alleviated in April 2007 when the deck is completed. Attendees agreed to reassess the parking issues related to VMFA in May 2007.
Response: Representatives from the VMFA were on hand to update the group on the parking situation from their perspective.
When the deck is completed, it will be for use by staff (for a fee), visitors, and possibly for use by Benedictine or other schools during events. It is a state parking deck, not solely for use by the VMFA.
Staff may choose to park in the deck, or in a surface lot on Colonial. The current VMFA thinking, subject to change, is that their staff will be charged $21.50/month to park in the deck, and $8.00/month to park in the surface lot. There appear to be enough parking spots in surface lot (200) to accommodate the 230 employees, since not all of the employees are on duty at the same time.
NEXT STEPS
MDA will review issues with schools and the city in the next 30 or so days. Issues with parking near VMFA will be reviewed in May 2007 once the construction is finished.
If you wish to join the group or have ideas, concerns, or suggestions about parking, please e-mail us at parking@museumdistrict.org.
Notes compiled by Zoe Anne Green, member, MDA Board
(minor updating 2.7.07 for clarity)
