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2024-06-11 Parking and Traffic Commission minutes CITY OF BEVERLY PUBLIC MEETING MINUTES BOARD: Parking and Traffic Commission LOCATION: Beverly City Hall, 191 Cabot Street, 3rd Floor Chambers DATE: June 11, 2024 BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Chair Richard Benevento, Vice Chair Darlene Wynne, Jonathan Salt, Dayna Morton, Sergeant Dana Nicholson BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Captain Jake Kreyling, City Commissioner Michael Collins OTHERS PRESENT: RECORDER: Kathryn Horrigan Welcome and Call to Order Benevento chairs and opens the meeting at 8:30 a.m. 1. Public Comment Period There are not public comments at this point 2. Continued Recommendation to the Planning Board: Special Permit#192-24 —84 Hale Street—Amit Patel Amit Patel is not yet here,they will wait to discuss until a representative is present. 3. Review and Discussion: At the request of Ward 1 Councilor Todd Rotondo related to amending Ordinance 270-42 on Livingston Avenue from Carver Street to Woodland Avenue. Prohibition from May 1 - October 1 on North Side and to consider allowing overnight parking. Councilor Todd Rotondo addressed the Commission regarding the area across from Livingston Park being congested now that the bridge is closed. Since the bridge closure there has been an increase in response time for emergency vehicles. The Councilor has reached out to the fire department regarding frustrations that neighbors in the area have been having. Since speaking with the Fire Department, the Councilor noted that the issue has not gotten better and has become increasingly worse during the baseball and softball season. He would like to impose a timeframe on the existing ordinance which has restrictions on overnight parking. There are three households that are currently being affected the most dramatically. Captain Kreyling from the Fire Department has sent a letter and an email supporting this adjustment to the existing ordinance. The issue has been percolating more this year due to the construction that is taking place on Bridge Street. The worry is that with cars parked on both sides during the baseball season,pedestrians walking may be at risk. They would like to adjust the ordinance from its current restriction of no overnight parking to no parking 8pm - 8am. Beverly Parking&Traffic Commission June 11,2024 Meeting Minutes Page 2 of 8 Wynne reads aloud to the Commission a letter of support sent in by Captain Kreyling. The letter addresses parking from Carver Street north to Woodland Ave during the baseball and park seasons. Johnathan Mckenna from 16 Livingston Ave, one of three neighbors that has been affected the most by this traffic flow issue addresses the Commission. Mckenna notes that he is opposed to the parking ban that is being proposed. If there is a change in the parking ban he would like it to only be on the days that there are Little League Baseball games. He mentions that he would still like to be able to park in front of his house, and mentions that his neighbors share the same sentiment on the matter as him. He also mentions that if it truly is an issue of a fire engine getting down the street, the cars are going to be forced down Livingstone Ave, closer to Bridge Street which will create a similar issue further up the road. He wants to know if there is a possibility of having resident parking only so that the people living in the area can still park on the street. There is also the issue of who will enforce this ordinance and make sure that non-resident are not taking advantage of the situation. The neighbors in the area would like to see a ban taking place only on the days that there are baseball games. Councilor Todd Rotondo notes that yes, there are only eight days that baseball games are played throughout the year but the teams also practice. The concerns from neighbors that the Councilor has encountered mostly pertain to the emergency vehicle response time with constriction taking place on Bridge Street over the next two years. Regular cars are also unable to get through these roads. The temporary bridge opening in 2027 may alleviate some of the congestion, but that does not address the current set of issues. He feels that pinpointing this to just game times may not be realistic, and is why he proposed to shift the parking ban from overnight to 8pm - 8am. There is ample parking at Ayers Elementary School as well as public parking that is reasonably close by on Woodland Ave. The Councilor would be happy to talk to the baseball league organizer to let them know about these additional parking opportunities. Wynne shows letters of support for the parking restriction from Paula and John Powers,Aaron Powers, Rachel Burke, and Jake Kreyling. David Jaquith,representing Amit Patel, arrives at 8:40 am Morton asks for clarification on where most people are parking when there is a game.Mckenna replies that most people are parking on Livingstone Ave at the moment and are unable to park on Woodland Ave because it is too tight. He reiterates that with no parking it feels like people will be pushed further down the road onto Gardiner Street. Most neighbors living on the street have very small driveways that can only accommodate small vehicles. Street View is pulled up on Google maps and shows the parking area for the residential homes; they have room for one car and a street parking space for their cars. The Commission remarks that it does look like it would make more sense to restrict parking on the side of the street with driveways, so that the opposite side may accommodate more Beverly Parking&Traffic Commission June 11,2024 Meeting Minutes Page 3 of 8 vehicles. The parking restriction would be put a few hours past the 6pm game end time schedule to allow the parking ban until 8pm so that residents could return home and park. The Commission asks about the efficiency of the parking in the area. Rotondo notes that patrons stack the cars very well. Many of the times they are parking half on the curb. The Commission agrees that the street is not conducive to parking due to the width of the road. Commissioner Salt remarks that he feels like he is being made to decide between homeowner convenience over public safety. He believes if there are driveways at the residence it does not feel necessary to have street parking as well. Salt is making his comments under the concept that there would only be limited parking proposed on one side of the street on the residential side rather than on both sides,which Mckenna had mentioned in his previous comment. Mckenna thinks that the limited parking on both sides would encourage people to slow down. Commissioner Nicholson comments that he responded to this area on Friday night where there was a roll over on Woodland Ave. This incident happened during rush hour traffic while he was sending traffic down Livingstone Ave. The area was completely grid locked and this was when there was not a baseball game.Nicholson remarks that he is in favor of restricting the parking per the Councilor's request. He hates to restrict more parking, but there is a huge issue at hand with public safety. Commissioner Benevento asks about the width which is 28 feet curb to curb. He remarks that a road of 28 feet is not conducive for parking on both sides. This is barely an option currently with the way that the road laid out, and a parking lane needs to be at least eight feet. He remarks that this sounds like an issue relative to public safety, and agrees that it seems like a reasonable accommodation to allow overnight parking 8pm - 8am. He also comments that any restricted parking is somewhat tough to enforce. This has happened before by Henry's Market when there was restricted parking on a one way road. Commissioner Wynne agrees with the concern for safety, but also notes that this resolution may be pushing the problem further down the road as the cars are still going to come. This will need to be addressed and signage will need to be placed. Time limiting and allowing overnight parking is a good compromise. A lot of this will fall onto the Police Department for enforcement. Commissioner Benevento comments that the Commission should send a letter to the Little League as well as a letter from the Council to address the parking situation to discuss the restriction being put in place and make them aware of additional parking in other areas. This will need to be addressed in the future when road work is complete. Commissioner Salt agrees that getting the little league involved is a great idea to take ownership on advising people where to park and where not to park. If parking is allowed 8pm - 8am the neighbors will also have to be a part of this solution. Wynne: Motion to recommend City Council adopt the proposed amendments made by Councilor Rotondo subject to the following conditions: 1. That this restriction be revisited when construction on Bridge Street is complete. Beverly Parking&Traffic Commission June 11,2024 Meeting Minutes Page 4 of 8 2. That this restriction will allow parking on both sides from 8pm - 8am. 3. That the Commission will copy the Beverly Little League on our recommendation letter informing them that the restriction is recommended and that they should be identifying additional parking locations. Sergeant Dana Nicholson Seconds. Motion carries (5-0). The Commission remarks that the next City Council meeting will be held in the Fall of 2024. This restriction will be May to October only. Continued Recommendation to the Planning Board: Special Permit#192-24 —84 Hale Street—Amit Patel (Continued From Item #2 Earlier) David Jaquith, Jaquith Architects, representative for Patel, has removed the street parking from the proposed plan and is addressing the Commission now regarding the storage box that will be removed behind the building and the moving of a large dumpster. Where the storage box was once located is where the new dumpster will be located. He reminds the Commission that the owner would like to make a small one bedroom apartment above the space with a bathroom and a kitchen. There will need to be a second form of egress added to the space. The proposed staircase will still allow for one car parking and will be tucked to the side of the building in the back near the current parking spaces. The door to get into the building will not be affected. The current door to get into the building leads into the kitchen on the first floor of the space. The storage box is currently in the working area where the new dumpster will be placed. The new stairs will be placed where the current dumpster is. The dumpster will be moved to the storage box space currently. There is 15.75 feet currently between the trim board to the side of the building on the property line. The dumpsters would move and the stairs would go in that space, and this is where the second point of egress would go. The stairs will not be wider than the current width of the dumpsters that are in place. Wynne asks how the dumpster will be emptied. Jaquith responds and mentions that the width of the stairs will be 3 feet with a parking space of roughly 8 - 12 feet, and that when store owners move their cars the dumpsters will be emptied. Benevento asks if any of the cars that are parked in the parking area hang out into the sidewalk when they are parked in the space. He also scales the mockup schematic and mentions that the width to the street from the parking area is less than twenty feet. The dumpster takes up an additional three and a half feet. This is currently a space for a compact car parking space. He brings up the question of what happens if in the future there is a larger car. What if an SUV needs to park in the compact space that is renting the residence above, there will be an issue of the sidewalk being blocked, If this is approved this could lead to illegal parking in the future. Wynne remarks that if this is possible for the project to be safely built with stairs,parking, and a dumpster then that is fine. This would need to be a safe space with all of the noted conditions approved. She also notes that it is very important for the cars parked there to be able to fit into the approved spaces, as well as empty the dumpster on site without causing an Beverly Parking&Traffic Commission June 11,2024 Meeting Minutes Page 5 of 8 illegal parking situation. She also wants to make a note that even with the cars parked,people will still be able to exit the building from both forms of egress. Commissioner Salt wants clarification on where the workers will be parking. Jaquith notes that they will park behind the building in the lot that is being addressed, they currently live and work in the space. Salt asks for clarification on the relief that they are looking for outside of the normal conditions. Wynne mentions that the owner is looking to provide one parking space for the unit rather than the two required. She also mentions that the issue currently is if one car can park there with the proposed ingress and egress. Salt mentions that he feels like the issues which have been discussed before have not been addressed from the previous meeting. Wynne brings up the point of how the stairs will go over the door of the first level shop. No matter what, there will still be a car parking there, and the owner wants to have a living unit for the people running the store. The Fire Department have also seen the plans that are being shown today and have made a note of the two egress. They did want clarification on where the new dumpster will be placed. Jaquith mentions that the dumpster will now live where the storage box currently lives. This will clear up more space. His biggest issue is that he wants a livable unit for the people currently working at the shop. Commissioner Benevento asks if they need to have a dumpster or can they use tote barrels. This would mitigate the issue of parking spaces with the dumpster. Jaquith says they would need potentially three of the totes to equal the dumpster and have more frequent pickups. They may also need to change the garbage pickup schedule. Commissioner Nicholson adds his comments that the building is old and has looked the other way in the past for parking enforcement. There is now a bike lane and cars have historically parked on the sidewalk area. He recommends patrons of the business park across the street in the rocky area which would be better than the current situation. He worries that moving the dumpster to the side of the building won't be the best solution, and can cause issues with neighbors. He notes that there is a bike lane across the street and there is a 15 minute parking limit. There is another abutting property that almost shares the current parking lot. He feels like there is not enough space to fit everything required. The Commission as a whole has a conversation about the sidewalks being redone in the future and how they will all have granite siding. The curb cuts that exist will be formalized moving forward as well with new sidewalks. Commissioner Benevento mentions that this conversation is to address that the owners would like to allow the workers of the shop to legally live above the space, with one designated parking space and a bathroom and kitchen. Wynne brings up the point that this space could potentially be rented out in the future. Even if the current owner would not want to rent the space out, it may be something that could take place in the future if ownership changes. This residence is supposed to have two parking spaces that are available on site with the current zoning. The planning board is only reviewing the parking space for this residence. This is only for a special permit for the residential parking relief on site. Beverly Parking&Traffic Commission June 11,2024 Meeting Minutes Page 6 of 8 Wynne comments that there is already a parking space here and the issue can be restated that the car cannot hang onto the sidewalk. If it hangs over in the future it will need to be cited. There will be parking there no matter what the outcome is, and the difference in her opinion is who owns the car. The Commission as a whole discusses the potential of a tenant living upstairs who does not work at the store. In that situation, who will get the parking space? The owners would take preference of the parking space and the tenants would need to find additional parking. They briefly mention the safety concerns, and that those will be addressed by the Building Department through a Building Permit. The Fire Department was concerned about the dumpster positioning under the stairs and that's why they are moving the dumpster. They are not required to provide buffer areas for the parking to the abutting property because there are fewer than three spaces. The Commission would like clarification if the totes can go under the stairs or not. They mentioned that their property used to be an old Fire Station. Morton mentions that the people who work there are currently living there, and that building this out would make it safer. Salt wants to clarify that this will be a tenant apartment, and that potentially using totes will give more room to this car parking. This could be something that could be added in as a condition. Commissioner Benevento adds that if a large car is parked there they will get cited and this could be a recurring problem. By moving forward, this will allow for a more safe living condition and will help this small family business. The request before the Commission is only to address if a car can park in the space that they have. The retail parking space requires eight parking spaces per business and they technically only have one space provided. They are now adding the residential unit, which requires two additional spaces. They have parking across the street, but with the new bike lanes this space is increasingly hard to use. He notes there is virtually no parking in the area. The enforcement concern is that this has been a historic business with limited parking for a very long time. The enforcement of this would be a waste of time to the Police Department. Should they vote in favor of the one car and let it go because of the historic meaning of the business. Commissioner Nicholson mentions that the cars that have been parking have been out of the way and have not caused an issue. The new curbing will keep people from parking on the sidewalk. Wynne: Motion to recommend the Planning Board approve Special Permit 192-24, subject to the following conditions: 1. The dumpster shall be placed so it complies with all relevant building, fire, and/or health codes, not blocking the egress of the door on the first floor or under the stairs being built. The storage box shall be removed, as shown on the revised plan. 2. The parking space is only large enough for one compact vehicle. According to existing regulations, no car may extend over the sidewalk when parked and any car that does so may be ticketed. 3. Owner must put signage on the building for a compact parking space. Beverly Parking&Traffic Commission June 11,2024 Meeting Minutes Page 7 of 8 4. If trash totes are a reasonable alternative, and they create more space for parking totes, the owner will consider switching from a dumpster to the totes. Morton seconds the motion. Motion carries (5-0). 4. Approval of Minutes: a. May 7,2024 The members review the May 7, 2024 draft meeting minutes. Salt: Motion to accept the May 7, 2024 meeting minutes as written.Morton seconds the motion. Motion carries (5-0). 5. Construction of Project Updates,if any a. Temporary Traffic Control Plan: 4-6, 8 Rantoul Street& Portion of 10 Rantoul Street—Amara (f/k/a DW Rantoul Gateway)—Procopio Companies Commissioner Nicholson mentions that there is still a roadway restriction in place due to construction. There have been no complaints received. The lane restriction will be removed after July 4th,but he is not certain on the date. He adds the construction team has been very accommodating and have been listening to the recommendation of the Police Department. Wad 2 City Councilor Danielle Spang has a comment to share by a resident living on Cox Court. She mentions that equipment has been started on the site at 6:30 am rather than lam. Multiple times at 6:25 am a huge bulldozer has started right across from her kitchen window. Commissioner Nicholson mentions that this will be addressed immediately. b. Post-Development Monitoring Study: Mission Boathouse—One Water Street— Beverly Restaurant Associates LLC Commissioner Wynne mentions that a letter of reminder for conducting the post-develoment parking study has been issued to the restaurant owner. She adds that the Commission waived the traffic portion of the study, but the parking count has not been waved. Mr. Bloom needs to provide the study that has been requested. Commissioner Benevento wants a hard date and confirmation on when this will start, adding that complaints have now come in from Wellman Street. This needs to be done and they need to know when the study will happen. They will require the entire study if this is not done within the time limit. The Commission as a whole addresses the following concerns. They should not be receiving phone calls from residents. The parking count is not providing solutions,but the Commission cannot make any decision without actual data. The parking count was a required condition at the time of approval, and the Commission wants to know supply, demand and time of day. Commissioner Benevento adds that the study will be needed by the August meeting. 6. Anything not known by the Chair prior to 48 hours before the meeting, if any,that cannot wait until a further meeting. An email was sent with concerns regarding traffic signals at Bridge and Livingston to be Beverly Parking&Traffic Commission June 11,2024 Meeting Minutes Page 8 of 8 removed, and replaced by a new signal at Bridge and Kernwood. The concern is how this signal will address the pedestrian issue. Benevento explains that the Livingstone signal does meet traffic signal warrants. At Livingstone, a rectangular rapid flashing beacon will be placed at the former signal. Once the new bridge opens traffic numbers will be much higher. Past traffic counts were taken when the previous bridge was open, and never met volume requirements for signal warrants. This came from Mass DOT, to remove the signal. The alternative is a rapid flashing beacon. There will be more cross traffic at Kernwood compared to Livingstone. The light at Kernwood makes more sense. 7. Adjournment Nicholson: Motion to adjourn. Salt seconds. Motion carries unopposed. Meeting adjourns at 9:51 a.m. The July meeting will be canceled. The next regular meeting of the Parking and Traffic Commission is scheduled for Tuesday August 6th at the Beverly Police Station.