HomeMy WebLinkAboutTSMinutes_2008_03_20BROOKINGS TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
City Hall meeting room
Thursday, March 20, 2008
12:10 p.m.
The Brookings Traffic Safety Committee held its monthly meeting on Thursday, March 20, 2008, at
12:10pm in the City Hall meeting room.
Members Present: Brad Whaley, Matthew Nelson, Louis Skubic, Connie Bridges, Jackie Lanning,
Keith Bruinsma, and Daryl Englund.
Members Absent: Dennis Bielfeldt, Skip Webster, Tim Heaton, Brian Lueders, and Becky
Thompson.
Others Present: Bryan Gums, Doris Roden, Martin Maca, Dick Peterson, Dan Hanson, Thad Drietz,
Dick Fergen, and Allyn Frericks.
Call to Order: Daryl called the meeting called to order. Jackie/Brad moved to approve minutes of
the February14, 2008 meeting. All present voted aye. Motion carried.
Addition to Agenda:
Old Business: A letter from a concerned citizen that complained of the safety/line of sight issue at the
intersection of 7th St. and 14th Ave. Jackie said that we will talk about this at our April meeting.
New Business:
1) Review of conditional use application for drive in food service in the B-1 district, at 425 Main
Ave (Nicks Hamburger Shop) Dan Hanson presented the conditional use request. The Traffic
Safety Committee would be dealing with traffic safety and pedestrian safety on public rights of
way. The Planning Commission/City Council will deal with the conditional use as land use
proposal. The two main areas that would fall under the Traffic Safety Committee are:
a. What’s the impact in the alley as far as access, parking?
b. What are the conflicts on Main Ave, not only for street traffic/parking, but pedestrian
access across the sidewalk?
Jackie passed out a couple handouts. One was from Banners Associates of the Nick’s area
layout. The other was the street scape drawing of downtown. Jackie wanted the committee to
see there would be 4 parking stalls removed with the Nick’s driveway. Dan Hanson did some
measuring from the hatched area on the North edge of the Safari Lounge going north to the
end of the bump out in front of Nicks is about 38 ft. We would anticipate losing 4 parking
spaces based on that plan with about 9 ½ ft stall widths. This is customary for what’s going to
be downtown. Dick Fergen measured the stalls right outside his shop and they measure 11 ft.
Dan Hanson said that the whole street scape will be restriped and the parking stalls will
probably be shrunk to 9 1/2 because that is a standard width of parking. Dan also pointed out
some other issues the Traffic Safety Committee might want to look at is the type and extent of
landscaping in the bump out. What is the height of the landscape for visibility to the north?
Also signage will be important for anybody exiting this site and for pedestrians walking on the
sidewalks. Right turn only signs aren’t always observed by the public. There are sometimes
curb designs to prevent left turns. Dan is not sure the impact of something like that would have
on storm water run off for the drainage system. Jackie said that in the ordinance it states that
the Traffic Safety committee would look at the loss of parking spaces. Louis said currently,
people now park and go in to pick up their food. If he has this drive-thru there would be less
need for the parking spaces. Daryl asked if there was some onsite parking too. Dick said yes
there is some parallel parking because it gave them an alley way if there is a problem with
back up. Dick has also spoken to 2 out of the 3 beer companies that deliver beer down the
alley and they like to deliver there beer by 10:00am. They are just going to pull up far enough
so when the other one comes they will be past the lot. Dick mentioned that with the drive-thru,
it will alleviate the need of parking spaces between 15-20 every ½ hour. Jackie asked how
many cars can be stacked between the pick up window and the alley? Dan Hanson said this
deals with on premise issues. Our regulations allow certain kinds of stacking. The stacking is
from the property line to the ordering device and that is about 72 ft on each lane. That would
allow 6 cars on the property before initial contact. So you will only get 3 cars on north lane and
3 on the south. That is an issue that the Planning Commission would deal with. The Traffic
Safety Committee should be looking at the access onto the site from the alley and off the site
onto the street. Connie asked about what type of bushes would be in the middle by the pick up
window. Dick said they are looking at height restrictions and there has to be a wall of poured
concrete before they know what type of bushes will go in. Brad mentioned that he hates to lose
parking downtown. Dick Fergen said with the new street scape plan they loose 13 parking
spaces on that intersection, without the drive up. With the drive up it will alleviate the need of
parking spaces between15-20 every ½ hour. Doris Roden mentioned that if they narrow the
parking on Main Avenue we might not lose any parking on Main but may off some side streets.
Jackie said that we are losing only 2 parking stalls from 6th Street to 3rd Street by redistributing
the parking. About 8 new stalls will be added up by the bank and a few will be added further
south.
Jackie said the vegetation on the curbed areas is going to be low. She is concerned about the
ability of the vehicles to see pedestrians as they nose out onto the sidewalk. This is a lot
different from the bank. The bank is set back 20 or 30 ft. and you can see a clear view from
both the north and south. With the Nick’s proposal you have both buildings right up to the
property line. Keith Bruinsma asked what kind of traffic control such as speed bumps is
proposed? Dick talked about automatic lights for pedestrians. The vehicle would trip a light to
let pedestrians and other traffic know that a car was coming or he could install some type of
signage. Jackie said that this intersection would be a four way stop.
Doris Roden passed out two handouts from the DBI design committee and Board of Directors
and addressed the committee about the pros and cons of the drive in. On the pros it would be
good for business. On the con part there is a great concern for the safety of pedestrians as
well as traffic. The pedestrians are not use to having traffic come out of the building side of the
block. In the alley she is concerned that the alley is not wide enough to get through while
vehicles are waiting in line. And if it is backed up it will be backed onto 5th street. Doris sent out
an email to the Main Street list-serve. There were no communities that reported having a drive-
in business in their downtown districts where buildings stand shoulder-to-shoulder; and three
communities (including Aberdeen) reported that their cities have passed an ordinance which
prohibits any driveways directly onto Main Street to preserve the historical district and to
enhance pedestrian safety and traffic flow. They were also concerned with street closures for
the downtown events on Main Avenue, having pedestrians in the street. How does that affect
the drive-thru food service when they can only turn right?
Doris said the parking spaces along Main Avenue are premium parking spaces, and when you
talk about parking spaces a drive-thru may relieve some parking on Main Avenue. They have
always said to business’s that the spaces in front of their place are not their spaces. Parking
along the Safari might create a problem because that is not an exterior wall and it is difficult to
keep the stucco on the wall. Other options would be 20 min. parking. The Downtown Brookings
Inc. Board of Directors voted 3 in favor, 2 against and one abstention as long as the safety
concerns were addressed. Dick Peterson said his concern was the safety aspect of
downtown. He is also concerned of the zero setback of the drive in and being compared to
Wells Fargo’s drive-thru that is set further back. Dick Fergen said Wells Fargo has 4 lanes
coming out. He said he has seen 4 cars sit on the sidewalk waiting to pull out onto the street
and all turn left. Keith asked who makes the decision on what the requirements are like speed
bumps/lights/signage. What part of the process would that be made? Dan Hanson said it
would have to be talked about with the consultants on the new street scape plan and the city
engineer. If a curb was built with the new street scape they would fashion it to make the cars
turn right but that could pose a problem with snow removal. Dan Hanson gave some
examples of curbs and signs. The driveways in Brickwood Plaza and Village Square were
required to be a right turn only. The state put in the one by the Brookings auto mall. This can
be mandated in the application process. Dan Hanson said the Planning Commission could
recommend it to be a conditional use and then it would go to the City Council. Council could
could pass it and then it would be given to the city engineer to sign and design. Bryan said
Dick Fergan has made it as safe as he can be by curving it out and not having it right up
against the building to give more visibility for the pedestrians. Connie said we have all seen
people at drive-ups on their cell phone and when they get their food they are digging in their
bags and are going be distracted.
Jackie thought of the new drive up at the First Bank and Trust because they use their alley.
The bank requested the city to widen the alley from 20 ft. to 24 ft., put in curb and gutter and
the bank paid for it. They also gave an easement to the city so if there were some back up a
car could get around. In this case the entrance into the Nicks is only a 20 ft. alley it would be
hard for cars to get around if they need to use the alley, especially around lunch hour. The
most concerning thing to her is the vehicles entering on to the public sidewalk. Keith asked if
Dick has thought of what type of safety devices he would use for the foot traffic? Dick said No
there is equipment to do that but we first have to begin talk about signage. Louis/Keith
motion to approve the plan that was submitted. Daryl said that the issues are the sidewalk,
the alley, and the traffic onto Main. Dick asked if those can be addressed in the conditions in
the motion? Dan Hanson said the Traffic safety committee could recommend that the Planning
Commission and City Council look at the concerns that the Traffic Safety has. Jackie’s concern
with the sidewalk lights is that pedestrians would not obey it or notice that there is a light.
Keith’s concern is the stacking and getting onto Main, where you could have a car turning right
onto Main and have another car right behind them where the pedestrians have to go around
the vehicle. The vote was 5 against, 1 in favor, and one abstention. MOTION FAILED
Member Reports
- Bryan reported that the Police Department is getting ready for Safety Town.
- Jackie reported that we did receive funding for the traffic study that we are doing east of the
interstate. We are splitting the funding City/County/business owners east of I-29 area. The
study will take about 5 months.
- Brad Whaley wanted to add the following to next months agenda.
o Problems parking on the street behind Arby’s. A lady on the south side of the street has
problems getting out of her driveway because of cars parked across from her driveway.
The next meeting will be April 10, 2008. Meeting adjourned.
Submitted by: Chris Larson