January 2021

City redesigns parking spaces ahead of RCC campus opening

by Deena S. Hawkins on January 27, 2021

Matthieu Sasser | Daily newspaper

The parking lines along Caroline Street are now much clearer.

ROCKINGHAM – Parking lines in downtown Rockingham have been redeveloped in anticipation of increased traffic in the area once the new Richmond Community College campus opens to students.

Caroline Street, West Washington Street, West Franklin Street, the 100 block of East Washington Street, part of North Hancock Street, part of North Lee Street and around Harrington Square have been reinserted. On-street parking spaces will now be able to be located much more easily.

The project has been worked on and off over the past few weeks, as weather conditions permitted.

The old scratches had faded and deteriorated over time.

“With the upcoming opening of the RCC bringing additional traffic to the city center, city staff felt it was appropriate to redesign so that available on-street parking was clearly demarcated,” Deputy City Manager John said. Massey in an email.

The RCC semester will start on January 28. Although the building will not operate at full capacity, hundreds of students are expected to attend classes.

Parking had always been available on these streets before, but the new strip makes it easier for individuals to navigate the busy intersection.

The 100 block of North Lee Street was repainted when it was redone as part of the RCC Project last fall. Block 200 of S. Lee Street will be removed in the near future.

There have been concerns about parking in downtown Rockingham, which have increased since the new RCC campus.

According to Massey, on-street parking is generally available on all streets in the city, unless it is specifically signed to prohibit or limit it. There are no future tracing projects underway at this time.

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Contact Matthew Sasser at 910-817-2671 or [email protected]

Uncategorized

Milwaukee Council Requires Safety Plans for Parking Structures

by Deena S. Hawkins on January 26, 2021

Milwaukee city officials are targeting violent assaults and other crimes in places the FBI considers most dangerous: parking lots.

Under a new ordinance expected to come into effect next month, owners of parking lots and structures will be required to submit safety plans to the police before approval of the license to practice. Locations that have two or more incidents per month will be ordered to implement additional security measures, such as adding cameras or barriers, increasing lighting, or other improvements recommended by police. , under penalty of losing their license.

A security incident is defined as any activity on the premises which results in “damage to parking customers, vehicle vandalism, theft of vehicles or property inside vehicles or any other incident that threatens health, safety or security. safety and well-being of customers ”.

“This is a monumental achievement for the city to prevent future injuries and deaths of parking lot users,” said Randy Atlas, a Florida-based building safety expert who teaches crime prevention through environmental design.

The order comes following the gruesome murder of a nurse practitioner walking to her car after completing her shift at Froedtert Hospital in 2019 and a subsequent investigation by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel revealing serious flaws in security in hospital parking lots nationwide.

Parking lots in general, whether in hospitals, schools or nightclubs, are the third most common site of homicides, assaults, kidnappings and other crimes, according to FBI figures analyzed by the Sentinel Journal.

The city passed an ordinance targeting more than 65 downtown parking lots in 2018 after a spate of crime in the parking lot of the intermodal station on St. Paul Avenue. The latest ordinance extends the coverage area to the entire city.

Better surveillance and better security are needed in parking areas “because the area is often deserted, easily accessible, poorly lit and for other reasons,” the ordinance specifies.

Mayor Tom Barrett signed the ordinance on Wednesday, according to his spokesperson.

It is not clear, however, whether the ordinance will tackle crime in parking lots and private structures, such as those owned and operated by hospitals and other employers or apartment buildings. As written, it applies to garages or lots on which “a business is carried on to store motor vehicles where the owner or person storing the vehicle must pay a fee.” It exempts lots of 15 boxes or less.

While employees at many hospitals pay to park on the job, hospitals don’t always charge visitors. One of the co-sponsors of the ordinance, Ald. Bob Bauman, said he would like the ordinance to apply to all parking lots used by the public, whether or not a fee is charged. He said he was asking the city attorney for an opinion on the matter.

“We are trying to resolve the backdoor issues you detailed, through licensing,” Bauman said in an interview with Journal Sentinel. “The emergency solution to this is human surveillance with eyes, ears and mouths that can talk on the phone and call for help. “

In the dark:Read the survey

Thomas Smith, security consultant for the nationwide healthcare sector, praised the Joint Council’s action, but said more needed to be done.

“I think that’s a good place to start. However, I would suggest adding specific requirements,” said Smith, who has been a consultant for hospitals for 20 years.

Atlas, hired by Journal Sentinel to assess parking lot security at five Milwaukee-area hospitals, agreed.

“This is a great intention,” Atlas said, “but they didn’t sweat the details of the implementation.” He said the ordinance did not explain the design features of crime prevention. pedestrians, ”he said. “There must be a lot more detail in the law. “

The lack of adequate security in the parking structure at Ascension Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital in eastern Milwaukee is at the center of a lawsuit brought by a woman who was stabbed more than a dozen times by a foreigner in 2018.

Lawyer Benjamin Wagner, who represents the woman, applauded the council’s action.

“This is a big step forward in requiring owners who invite the public to their premises to take reasonable security measures,” said Wagner. “It can only help.”

“Parking lots are inherently dangerous places because people are quite vulnerable when they are in a parking lot, especially when there is poor lighting and easy access to those who intend to engage in a parking lot. criminal behavior, ”Wagner said. “It’s not just about hospitals, but every hospital knows or should know and be aware that parking garages have had problems in the past.”

For Interstate Parking, which operates about three dozen parking lots and lots in downtown Milwaukee, including the intermodal station, the parking ordinance passed in 2018 has proven to be helpful, said the president of the company, Tony Janowiec.

Janowiec said this forces parking garage owners to be proactive in terms of safety, which gives the public confidence when visiting the city center.

“Sometimes having that interval to sit down and look at the data is beneficial,” Janowiec said. “Did it make a difference? I guess without that there would be a higher rate of break-ins and possibly injuries. … I think people should embrace it.

Contact Raquel Rutledge at (414) 224-2778 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter at @RaquelRutledge.

Parking spaces

Should blind people in Berkeley be forced to buy parking spaces? – Streetsblog California

by Deena S. Hawkins on January 25, 2021

At 4 p.m. Tuesday, Berkeley City Council is expected to address the subject of parking regulations. The reforms recommended by the Planning Commission would remove the minimum parking requirements for all residential land uses, with the exception of certain lots located on roads less than 26 feet wide in hillside areas. The Planning Commission also recommends the adoption of maximum parking limits and the establishment of requirements for managing transport demand for residential uses.

City Councilor Sophie Hahn proposed to maintain the current minimum parking requirements in all Hillside Overlay areas, which would mean continuing to force the inclusion of parking in residential buildings adjacent to UC Berkeley, where residents ( mostly students) are the least likely to own a car. It also recommends continuing to require disabled parking spaces in large residential buildings.

What is the best approach? To understand this, think about what minimum parking laws do, who pays the cost of complying with them, and how they affect people with disabilities.

Minimum parking regulations specify the minimum number of parking spaces that must be provided for each land use. The cost of bringing them into compliance is high. In the Bay Area, the cost of constructing, operating and maintaining a parking garage typically exceeds $ 300 per month per parking space, annually, for the expected 35-year useful life of the parking garage. the structure.

Builders pay for this parking lot, but they pass the cost on in the form of higher rents. Researched by CJ Gabbe from the University of Santa Clara and Gregory Pierce from UCLA found that nationally, bundling the cost of a garage space into rents adds about 17 percent to a unit’s rent.

“Minimum parking requirements create a major equity issue for car-less households,” write the study’s authors. Regulations force people without a car – usually on low incomes – to pay higher rents for parking that they do not need and cannot use.

For people with disabilities, the charges imposed by minimum parking regulations can be particularly significant. This is because people with disabilities are less likely to drive. At national scale, only about 65 percent of people with disabilities drive a car, compared to 88 percent of able-bodied people. Blind people and those who cannot drive often live in urban areas where they can meet many of their daily needs on foot, by public transport or by taxi. In many parts of the city, for example, less than half of people with disabilities drive.

The minimum parking requirements act like a matching grant program – limited to those who can find a way to match the grant. The high cost of keeping them raises rents for everyone, but only those who are wealthy enough to buy, insure, refuel and maintain an automobile benefit.

In addition, you must be able to pass a driving license test. For millions of Americans with disabilities, these two barriers are too many. About 13% of American adults say they have difficulty seeing even when wearing glasses or contact lenses. Many more Americans cannot drive because of strokes, developmental disabilities, or other disabilities. Others cannot afford a car.

Minimum parking regulations often increase rents for people with disabilities who cannot drive, mistakenly thinking that this creates “free” parking for everyone – but especially for able-bodied people with higher incomes.

In the worst case, rent increases caused by minimum parking regulations lead to homelessness. The US Department of Housing and Urban Development Annual Homelessness Assessment Report 2008 found that about 43 percent of people in homeless shelters had some form of disability. Too often Americans with disabilities end up sleeping in doorways, under freeways, or in unheated garages.

Cities across America have now recognized the unintentional damage caused by minimum parking regulations and have adopted reforms to repair the damage. Two key reforms are:

1. Remove minimum parking regulations. Progressive cities like Buffalo, Edmonton, Emeryville, Hartford, Hudson (NY) and San Francisco have removed minimum parking requirements throughout the city. Many others, including Fremont, Hayward, Lancaster, Los Angeles, Mountain View, Oakland, Sacramento, San Diego, and Santa Monica have removed them in some neighborhoods.

Removing parking minimums benefits people with disabilities in several ways. For some, this can make home ownership possible. UC Berkeley researchers Wenyu Jia and Martin Wachs found that in San Francisco, twenty percent more households could qualify for loans on condominiums that do not include parking.

Others may convert unused garages into homes. The average rent for a studio in Berkeley is around $ 1,800 per month. A Berkeley homeowner with a failing eyesight or other disability that makes owning a car unnecessary could use a home equity loan to convert their garage into an apartment. This could pay for many taxi rides, while still providing modest accommodation for someone in need.

Removing mandatory requirements for the construction of parking lots does not mean that new developments will not have parking. It just makes parking an optional convenience, rather than a mandatory purchase. This gives everyone the opportunity to save money by owning fewer cars.

Provision and use of off-street parking in Berkeley subdivisions. Source: Nelson Nygaard Associates — Provision and use of off-street parking in existing Berkeley subdivisions. Source: Nelson Nygaard Associates

It also opens up new parking possibilities. In San Francisco, new car-free homes often offer the option of renting excess parking in neighboring buildings. If Berkeley removes the minimum parking laws, the same phenomenon is likely to emerge.

A recent study commissioned by the City of Berkeley found that minimum parking regulations created so much excess parking that in the average Berkeley apartment building, 45 percent of the off-street parking supply is vacant during the hours when it is most in demand. In apartment buildings below the market price, 58 percent of off-street parking is vacant – unused and unnecessary – during peak hours. Removing minimum parking regulations will allow this existing but wasted space to be used or converted to better use.

2. Place the housing first. San Francisco no longer spends meager public money to build parking lots in its below-market real estate developments.

Octavia Court, for example, offers fifteen affordable housing units for people with developmental disabilities and their families. Making the project a car-free building served three purposes: it reduced the cost per house, allowing the city to build more houses with its limited funds; he maximized the number of apartments that could fit on the constrained site; and it has avoided spending money on expensive equipment – parking – that its residents with developmental disabilities will never be able to use. San Francisco realized a simple truth: When thousands of Americans with disabilities live on the streets, the meager funds allocated to affordable housing should not be used to subsidize cars.

Some Americans – including some of my family – have disabilities and drive. It is important to meet their needs, allowing new apartment buildings to include parking for those who want it. But people who can’t afford or choose not to own a car should never have to pay for a parking space they can’t use.

And blind people shouldn’t have to pay for parking spaces they don’t need and can’t use.

Patrick Siegman is a transportation planner and economist. While a director at Nelson Nygaard Consulting, he led the Parking and Transportation Demand Management Study in Downtown Berkeley and the UC Berkeley Parking and Transportation Demand Management Master Plan.

Parking spaces

New TA Travel Center adds 150 truck parking spaces in Huntington, Oregon

by Deena S. Hawkins on January 14, 2021

The new TA Travel Center in Huntington, Oregon offers eight diesel fueling stations, as well as 150 truck parking spaces, six showers, prepared meals and more. (Courtesy of TravelCenters of America)

WESTLAKE, Ohio – TravelCenters of America Inc., national operator of the TA Travel Center Network, Petro Stopping Centers and TA Express, has opened a new TA Travel Center to serve professional drivers and other motorists in Huntington, Oregon.

The new 12,000 square foot facility, located off Interstate 84 at exit 353, will operate under the ownership of franchisee Karam Singh.

“The TA brand is already trusted by professional drivers, and being part of the family means I can offer things like TA loyalty rewards and fuel discounts,” Singh said. “I look forward to being part of this community, bringing new jobs to the area and providing drivers with a new place that feels like home.”

Amenities at TA’s new location in Huntington include:

Restaurants: Champs Chicken, Naughty Chile Taqueria and (opening soon) Huntington Bar and Grill;
150 truck parking spaces;
40 parking spaces;
Eight diesel refueling stations;
12 fueling stations;
6 showers;
Training room;
Travel shop with fresh deli options;
Driver’s Lounge;
laundry room;
Transflo digitization; and
A TA Truck Service center (opening next year).

“There is a need for our services on this busy stretch of Oregon freeway,” said TA President Barry Richards. “We share Karam’s enthusiasm for being part of the community and providing a new place where drivers can find comfort while on the road and away from home.”

TA Huntington is the company’s sixth location in Oregon and expands the total national network of travel centers to 272.

The Trucker News Staff produces engaging content not only for TheTrucker.com, but also for The Trucker Newspaper, which has served the trucking industry for over 30 years. With a focus on drivers, the Trucker News team aims to provide relevant and objective content regarding the trucking segment of the transportation industry. The Trucker News team is based in Little Rock, Arkansas.

Parking garage

Central Ohio Parking Garage / Schooley Caldwell

by Deena S. Hawkins on January 14, 2021

Central Ohio Parking Garage / Schooley Caldwell

Text description provided by the architects. The design of the Ohio Center Garage is a response to the historic roots of its location, a former rail yard, and the Peter Eisenman-designed Greater Columbus Convention Center (GCCC), which it serves. Located on a narrow site behind the GCCC, the Kinetic Garage now behaves like a work of art welcoming anyone approaching the vast center from behind.

The design seeks to extend the language and feel of the main hall of the convention center and recall the old marshalling yard. Situated on a difficult site between the convention center and a viaduct leading to the city center, the garage had to offer an effective architectural treatment that responds to the speed of the viaduct traffic, alleviates the difficult scale of the convention center and brings an experience front door at the rear of the complex.

In collaboration with artist Ned Kahn, a kinetic facade of overlapping free-flowing mesh panels was imagined. Kaynemaile, a polycarbonate trellis, offers a facade treatment that complements existing building forms and materials, while also introducing an architectural element that could be considered part of the Convention Center’s extensive art collection. Kahn was an ideal partner, a unique blend of inspired aesthetic and practical craftsmen.

His experience makes him very sensitive to the difficulties of designing large-scale kinetic structures. Kahn helped shape the vision for “Silver Lining,” the name for three 3,000-foot-long expanses of mesh curtains. Schooley Caldwell worked to ensure that the artwork could be fabricated and installed to fit an ambitious and compressed construction schedule. There has been extensive collaboration with the structural engineer to adequately address the potential for atmospheric icing.

Additionally, local steelmakers worked closely with Kahn, New Zealand-based Kaynemaile and the Construction Manager for the installation. Special attention has also been paid to the rigging. The results exceed expectations. The skin of the building is dynamic; capturing the light on sunny days and moving in graceful waves as the mesh catches even a slight breeze. The effect is spellbinding. Ned Kahn’s inspiration was tremendous and, like much of his work, connects us to natural forces that over time we have learned to ignore. “Silver Lining” allows us to experience a simple breeze with a unique joy.

Parking spaces

Oklahoma City Garage Adds 1,100 Parking Spaces

by Deena S. Hawkins on January 12, 2021

The 1,100-seat convention center garage is open and crews finish installing a colorful mural depicting modern Oklahoma City and traditional Native American culture.

The garage is adjacent to the new Oklahoma City Convention Center and the Omni Hotel, both of which open this month. Construction is slated to begin this spring on the eight-story Boulevard Place, a mix of apartments and businesses just north of the garage.

The garage, which opened on Friday, is designed to provide public parking for the convention center, hotel and apartments as well as the Chesapeake Energy Arena.

The mural, by glass artist Martin Donlin, wraps around the south, east and west walls of the garage. The project is a partnership between Embark and the Oklahoma City Bureau of Arts and Cultural Affairs and is funded by the City’s 1% Arts Initiative.

The installation “What is the city but the people? Is described by Donlin as being from William Shakespeare’s play “Coriolanus”. His mural will use multiple layers of patterns and images exposed by the placement of polycarbonate tiles and attached to steel cables extending from the second to sixth floors of the parking lot.

Donlin said his design would weave an eclectic mix of cultural and natural elements, with inspiration drawn from the ancient and modern worlds. He said Oklahoma City’s architecture and traditional Native American textile patterns all contribute to the final design, an ode to Oklahoma City and the modern public plaza.

Parking garage

Des Moines could buy foreclosed The Fifth parking garage for $ 40.5 million

by Deena S. Hawkins on January 11, 2021

The city of Des Moines could shell out around $ 40.5 million to buy a 751-space parking lot, part of a downtown complex called The Fifth that is in foreclosure after developers fail to pay a loan to construction.

Des Moines has offered to buy the 11-story parking lot, which is now “essentially complete,” at the corner of Fifth Avenue and Walnut Street, according to a petition filed Friday night. The final price will vary as the loan earns $ 3,306.40 in interest daily. The actual value of the structure is also unclear as far fewer employees work and park downtown during the pandemic, and it’s unclear how many will return.

The garage is the first of three buildings, including a 40-story skyscraper, planned for the complex. The future of The Fifth is uncertain amid ongoing legal action.

Bankers Trust Co. and Christensen Development, whom a court appointed to oversee the completion of the garage, filed a fast-track application to have the court allow the sale because “the delays increase costs at a substantial rate given the amounts owed. “, indicates the query. Christensen Development was granted permission to sell the garage when it was appointed receiver in October.

The city also requested an expedited hearing on Monday, according to a statement from City Manager Scott Sanders.

It’s unclear whether the city would operate the parking garage to recoup the $ 40.5 million spent to buy the property or attempt to sell it to another owner.

Sanders declined to comment further.

The progress of the $ 170 million project has been marred by delays, which is the main point of contention for the ongoing legal proceedings.

Plans call for the garage to form the base of the 40-story tower, which would house apartments, a 21C hotel-museum. and a bar. A separate five-story building would house an Alamo Drafthouse cinema as well as two floors of offices and a restaurant on the ground floor.

Mandelbaum Properties won a bid in 2017 to develop the city-owned site, which previously housed a dilapidated parking lot. Under a complex development agreement, the company had to have completed the garage by August 16, 2020 and have started construction of the tower by October 31, 2019. In return, the city granted it a forgivable loan of $ 4 million and up to $ 10 million in tax rebates.

Des Moines filed a notice of default against the developer in June for failing to meet these deadlines.

In September, Bankers Trust Co. filed a foreclosure petition against Justin and Sean Mandelbaum and 5th and Walnut LLC, alleging that they had failed to pay a $ 48 million loan for the garage that was due the previous month. The property was to go up for sale immediately – with the city listed as a junior lien holder – unless the developers ask for a delay, according to the petition.

A week after the lockdown, the Mandelbaum brothers filed a counterclaim seeking $ 101 million in damages from the city. They alleged that Des Moines officials committed “flagrant violations” of the development agreement, falsely declaring the project in default and ultimately triggering the foreclosure petition. The cross-claim seeks a temporary injunction preventing the city from recovering the property.

► More:Faced with default, developers of downtown Des Moines skyscraper sue city for $ 101 million

Todd Lantz, attorney for the Mandelbaums, said in a statement that the proposed sale “comes as no surprise.”

“In fact, it confirms exactly what our clients alleged in their lawsuit against the city last fall – that the city’s multiple and inexcusable violations of its development agreement were designed to get the project back in hand,” said Lantz.

A rendering of the Alamo Drafthouse cinema in "The fifth" in downtown Des Moines.

Justin Mandelbaum previously told the Des Moines Register that his company had requested time extensions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Previous negotiations for the extensions, carried out in late 2019 and throughout 2020 as Justin Mandelbaum said construction documents were being finalized, never resulted in formal agreements approved by city council. The city even offered an additional payment of $ 2 million after the tower was completed, although that provision never received a council vote.

If the sale is approved, the foreclosure petition against the Mandelbaums would be dismissed and Christensen Development would no longer act as receiver.

In the sale proposal, Bankers Trust attorney Mark Rice wrote that neither the bank nor Christensen Development believed they could sell the garage for a higher price if they were to proceed with a foreclosure sale.

The real estate market for this type of property is limited, they argue in the motion. The two declined to comment when contacted by the Registry.

Des Moines currently has seven downtown parking garages. A 2016 analysis showed that aging ramps saw their annual revenues fall by $ 3 million over five years, and garages had a deficit of $ 19.1 million over a decade.

At the time, city leaders talked about reducing the number of city-owned spaces, increasing parking fees, and even subsidizing bus passes and Uber riders. Since then, the COVID-19 pandemic has reduced the number of workers driving downtown, as many businesses have moved to virtual operations. A major downtown employer, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., offered one of their buildings for rent.

It is not known what impact additional parking would have on the city budget, especially one of this price. By comparison, a 600-space parking garage at 402 E. Second St. cost about $ 20 million to build.

Des Moines City Council is expected to authorize the purchase of The Fifth parking lot and a judge is expected to approve the motion before it can go to council. This approval is expected to arrive before January 21 to be included on the January 25 meeting agenda.

The bank hopes to finalize the sale by March 31.

Meanwhile, Lantz, the Mandelbaums’ attorney, said the developers hope to continue working on the rest of the project, including the hotel and the apartment tower. The garage’s sale price is about $ 8 million less than the original loan, which “confirms that the Mandelbaums were on track to complete the parking lot several million dollars less than budget,” he said. -he declares.

“The city’s actions last summer and now are focused on confiscating these savings, even though the savings were contractually promised to the developer,” Lantz said in a statement. “The Mandelbaums expect similar success if they are allowed to build the remainder of this large mixed-use project downtown. “

Kim Norvell covers Growth and Development for the Registry. Contact her at [email protected] or 515-284-8259. Follow her on twitter @KimNorvellDMR.