I have had some questions about bagging of meters and FL/GA stuff, so I thought I'd publish the minutes of the DVI meeting on the subject of game day parking and downtown exodus. Good info about the two waying of the streets. Hard to find info. Enjoy!

Downtown Vision, Inc.
Retail Operations Meeting Minutes
October 8, 2007
Burrito Gallery


1. Welcome & Introductions
Terry Lorince, executive director of Downtown Vision, invited the group to introduce themselves. Representatives attending the meeting to listen to and address retailer concerns included: Jacksonville City Council Executive Assistant Scott Wilson, District 4, Jacksonville City Council Executive Assistant Jenny Huxford, At-Large Group 2; Sgt. Booker, JSO; Director Al Kelly, JSO, Sgt. Leonard Propper, JSO; David Hahn, Public Works; Joe Trottie, JTA; Mike Bouda and Lindsey Ballas, JEDC; Elaine Lancaster, City of Jacksonville Property Safety Division; and Theresa Price, Sarah Horn and Jamie Hupp from the City of Jacksonville Department of Special Events. Amy Harrell, director of district services, Downtown Vision; Mark Hemphill, Mark's and Dive Bar; Brendon, TSI; Bert Hayden, Republic Parking; Mandy Rupp, Daniel James Salon; David Ball, Financial News & Daily Record; Tony Allegretti, Burrito Gallery (thanks for hosting); Gail Carter, Ga' La-Car.

2. Changing Downtown Streets to Two-Way
David Hahn gave an update on the city's planning process to begin changing some Downtown streets from one-way to two-way. Planned streets include Pearl Street between Forsyth and Ashley, Julia Street between Beaver and Union, Laura Street between Monroe and Independent, Independent Drive between Laura and Newnan, Bay Street between Ocean and Newnan. The city is also planning to reverse traffic on Julia Street between Bay and Pearl from northbound operation to southbound operation.

David informed the group that the funds for this project have been allocated, and planning is underway. The city hopes to begin construction by next summer.

3. Improving Access to Downtown Retailers During Special Events
Terry began the conversation by referencing issues brought up by Downtown retailers at the previous Downtown retail meeting in regards to patrons having access to businesses and parking during special events. She also mentioned concerns brought up by Downtown residents, office workers and neighboring communities, particularly Springfield. Amy explained that this meeting was intended to provide the opportunity for all voices on the subject to discuss the issue from both logistics and marketing perspectives.
Director Kelly agreed that the growth of Downtown necessitates the need to review current bagging procedures and traffic patterns to include access and stated his willingness to work with the Downtown community to the best of his ability while still addressing the needs of logistics for large events.
Mark Hemphill explained that the early bagging of meters for events was scaring patrons away from Downtown businesses. As an example, Mark commented that meters along Bay Street were bagged at 8pm on Thursday for the 5pm Saturday Florida State v Alabama game. Sgt. Propper explained that Bay Street is frequently used as a taxi stand during large events to provide transportation for visitors to The Landing. Mark suggested that meter bags be printed with more information, such as "No Parking after 5:00 am. on gameday." Director Kelly supported the idea of permanent signage on parking meters that stated no parking at certain times on game days, which would minimize early bagging and relieve some of the work of the officers. It would also help prevent from having to tow vehicles for overnight parking on gameday. Sgt. Propper agreed to try bagging meters at 5am Sunday for the next Sunday game, instead of bagging meters the night before. He agreed to provide an account for the number of cars that needed towed due to parking overnight. Mark and Downtown businesses agreed to let the city know if bagging the meters later helped their business.
Director Kelly reminded the retailers that if patrons' cars are towed due to bagging meters at 5am, that the patron would likely complain to the businesses.
Mark asked Director Kelly about removing the meter bags following the event, citing instances where bags have been left on meters after the event is finished. Director Kelly stated that this should absolutely not happen, and encouraged Downtown businesses to contact Sgt. Propper to have bags removed if they are left up.
Amy agreed to work with Sgt. Propper to get information about meter bagging in advance and pass that information along to businesses in the area.
Sgt. Propper stated that there would be a lot going on in Downtown over the next few weeks, including the filming of the HBO Film "Recount," Monday Night Football on October 22, Florida Georgia Weekend and the ACC Championship in December. He encouraged the businesses to have patience and reminded them that patrons of these events also visit Downtown businesses.
Brendon from TSI stated that, while the additional patronage is welcome, large Downtown events sometimes keep regular patrons away because of the atmosphere or logistics. He encouraged everyone to work together to minimize inconvenience to the locals during large special events.
Tony brought up a concern that the Downtown and Springfield communities cannot cross State and Union during many large special events and stated that it is nearly impossible to get from Springfield to Downtown during Jaguar games. Director Kelly agreed to look at the traffic patterns and find a way to improve access.
Director Kelly stated that all officers working during events are instructed to let Downtown workers, guests and residents access places they need to go by moving barricades, but emphasized that it is the role of the driver to ask JSO to allow access. The group agreed to help spread the word about this policy to minimize inconvenience to residents, workers and patrons of Downtown.

4. Special Events Update
Theresa gave an update on upcoming events, including Florida Georgia weekend. She stated that the trolleys would be running from Thursday through Saturday to help move people through Downtown, and explained that additional stops had been made at Bay & Liberty Streets and Adams & Ocean Streets to accommodate Downtown businesses.

5. Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held in mid-November. The date and location have not been decided.

Labels: parking