HomeMy WebLinkAboutTSMinutes_2012_10_11 BROOKINGS TRAFFIC SAFETY COMMITTEE
City & County Government Center Meeting Room
Thursday, October 11, 2012
12:10 p.m.
The Brookings Traffic Safety Committee held its monthly meeting on Thursday, October 11,
2012, at 12:10pm in the City & County Government Center, Suite 230.
Members Present: Skip Webster, Daryl Englund, Brian Lueders, Carol Rettkowski, Louis
Skubic, Pete Kirchhevel, John Howard, Gary Gramm, James Weiss, Tony Sonnenburg and
Jeff Miller.
Members Absent: Tim Heaton, Mike Fossum, and Jackie Lanning,
Others Present: Bob Fite, Abigail Howard, Leonard Witte, Troy Anderson, Stephanie
Ellwein, Tom Bozied, Emilie Portz, Adam Vaux, Gregg Jorgenson, and Melinda Jensen.
Call to Order: Englund called the meeting to order. Howard/Webster moved to approve the
minutes from the September meeting. All present voted aye.
Addition to Agenda: None.
Old Business:
Request for reconsideration of parking restrictions on 17th Street South between 7th Avenue
South and 9th Avenue South Abigail Howard, paralegal with Fite, Pierce, and Ronning
Law Office, attending the meeting on behalf of ERL Condos. She stated from reviewing the
TSC minutes from last fall, the parking restrictions were placed primarily due to the move in
of SDSU students. She stated move-in and move-out weekend was stressful on the whole
community. Howard stated the parking restrictions that were put in place are being violated.
She spoke with one of the property owners at 1615 7th Avenue South and they had no
problem with the parking prior to the restrictions being changed. She stated the only other
streets with parking restrictions on both sides are in the business districts. Stephanie Ellwein
spoke to the committee and expressed how disappointed she was in having to return and
restate her concerns. She also responded to what Howard stated. Elwein stated this was not
a problem only during move-in weekend, but that the problem began the end of August and
continued to be a problem until the parking ban was set in place. In the previous meetings,
the property owners provided pictures of what the street looked like on day to day basis.
Before the parking restrictions, the driveways were not utilized and she was told by Mr.
McClemans that the homes were constructed with enough driveway parking and she said
parking ordinances have not been followed.
Troy Anderson owns property on the south side of 17th Street S. in the center of the block. He
commented on the move-in weekend and stated it was crazy that weekend but it was that
way all over town and he said this was more than one single event. Anderson passed around
pictures he had taken. He said the mailman would not stop if the mailbox is blocked. He also
stated the college students park right up to his trailer and left no room for him to back up to
his trailer that he uses for work. He stated cars are parking right up to the driveways making
visibility impossible to see when backing out and some students have multiple cars. He
stated the issue is about safety. Adam Vaux used to be a property owner on 17th Street S.
and he stated if there was enough parking in the driveways, and why were only the home
owners at the meeting and none of the tenants were. Robert Fite addressed the committee
and the audience and stated he was representing the Condo owner. He stated the
committee was discussing on-street which is part of the public right of way and that no
property owner has the right to restrict parking on the street. He stated the only way the city
could do it was if it was a safety issue. When he reviewed the minutes from previous
meetings, he stated 99 percent of the issue was personality differences. Fite said there
should be more safety of the pedestrians by allowing parking on the streets since slowing
traffic down makes it more safe. He hadn’t heard anything presented where there was a
single incident where somebody had indicated a safety concern but talked about convenience
and parties. If the goal is to not allow parking in that area, he stated it seemed the normal
situation is you don’t have parking from 10pm – 6am. He doesn’t believe that there was any
other place that used the 7am – 9pm designation for no parking. He stated there has to be a
reasonable relationship to the safety in the restrictions that were imposed. Anderson stated
the times were picked due to the daycare in the neighborhood. He would like to have the
times parking was removed from 10pm – 6am. Miller stated that the City has been dealing
with parking issues for years. He stated there are parking restrictions put in place around one
of the schools. Restrictions have been based upon street cleaning and snow removal and
they have been from 10pm – 6am. He though that the decision on 17th Street South was kind
of opposite. Miller stated he didn’t see this parking restriction as a safety violation. He stated
there are other factors other than house parties and mail delivery services or the fact there is
someone else parked in front of their home. Miller stated the committee should consider if
there are safety issues and he didn’t believe there were. His recommendation was to remove
parking from 10pm – 6am. Miller stated if there were other parking violations that there is a
police staff member whose sole purpose is to enforce parking. Leuders stated he considered
the parking a safety issue with parking on both sides of the street back to back all day long.
Howard agreed with Leuders. No motion was made.
New Business:
Discussion of possible removal of parking on 12th Street South and 17th Avenue South to
approximately Stoney Brook Suites to the east and Torrey Pines to the south of the
intersection: Melinda Jensen spoke to the committee and she is the school’s principal at the
Middle School. She stated she was concerned with the amount of traffic in the morning and
afternoon around the Middle School. She stated there are vehicles stopping everywhere to let
their children out, and they sometimes run in between the cars. Jensen stated there is an
early childhood program on the west side of the school. She stated another concern was
when the busses exit onto 12th Street South and if there are vehicles parked along the south
side of 12th Street South that the oncoming traffic has to stop. The Boys & Girls club is also
planning on reconstructing their driveway coming out onto 12th Street South causing even
more traffic. Leuders stated removing parking to Torrey Pines would be too much parking
removed. Leuders talked with Dave Lucas from the bus garage and they thought that 20 feet
past the stop sign would be enough so the homeowners could still park on the street.
Kirchhevel asked if this corner is up for stop signs this year? Miller stated he thought this was
a safety issue since it was a school zone. Leuders asked Jensen if she thought the parking
should be removed just during school hours and to leave the parking on weekends if the
parking should be removed all together. Jensen stated she would like to see parking
removed all together. She stated there was enough parking located at the Middle School and
if there is overflow, they can park in the church parking lot as well as the Boy’s and Girls
parking lot. Leuders stated by following the 20 foot rule it would be ok for the busses to turn
just on 17th Avenue. Kirchhevel would like to the parking removed further than 20 feet.
Leonard Witte commented on the traffic signal that will be installed there and thinks it would
cause more of a problem than help the situation. Howard agreed with Witte that the traffic
light could cause a problem with traffic back up. Englund stated letters should be mailed out
to the residents and the committee would hold a public hearing next month.
Member Reports:
The next meeting will be November 8th, 2012. Meeting adjourned.
Submitted by: Chris Larson