LTC 066-2005 Parking Meter Rentals "Bagging" CITY OF MIAMI BEACH
Office of the City Manager
Letter to Commission No. o66-2o05
To:
From:
Subject:
Mayor David Dermer and
Members of the City Commission
Jorge M. Gonzalez ~
City Manager
PARKING METER RENTALS "BAGGING"
Date: March 4, 2005
Recently, various complaints have been received regarding the volume and duration that
parking meters are reserved (bagged). Parking meter rentals are predominantly reserved
for construction, valet parking, film/print, and/or special events. All parking meter rentals
are short term in nature and are to be used for specific authorized purposes related to an
event and said event would be severely impacted to the point that it might not take place if
these metered spaces were not made available. All parking meter rentals are judiciously
reviewed and scrutinized by the Parking Department to ensure the most efficient use of
these spaces as well as minimizing the disruption to the affected areas.
The following outlines the process and requirements for parking meter rental requests for
construction, valet parking, film/print/production, and special events must undergo prior to
approval:
Construction:
· Typically identified as "green" meter bags (6:00A.M. to 6:00P.M), although some
construction rental require "red" bags (24 hours/7 days)
· A copy of the approved building permit or right-of-way permit must be submitted.
· Spaces must be used for construction related activities, such as; deliveries of
materials, pouring of concrete, contractor or sub-contracts trades work, etc. or
public safety as deemed by the Police, Fire, Public Works, or Parking Departments.
· Employee (long term parking) is not permitted at meter rentals.
· Duration and number of spaces must be kept to a nominal amount consistent with
activity.
Valet Parking:
· Typically identified by "blue" meter bags (6:00 P.M. to 6:00 A.M.).
· A copy of the approved occupational license must be submitted.
· A copy of a letter from the commercial establishment or entity contracting the valet
operator.
· A departmental review of the needs of the commercial establishment or entity
requesting service in order to properly determine the size of ramps (passenger
loading area)
· Valet storage is permitted only on an event basis and in areas of Iow to medium
demand for parking. Each request is reviewed and approved on a case by case
basis. Storage requests are predominantly granted in the Middle Beach and North
March 4, 2005
L TC - Parking Meter Rentals "Bagging"
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Beach areas.
City of Miami Beach Ordinance No. 2003-3418 (Valet Parking Ordinance)
specifically addresses the use meter rentals and associated enforcement penalties.
Special Events:
· A copy of the approved special event permit must be submitted.
· Events adversely affecting businesses and/or residents' quality of life are required to
gather approval signatures from said affected parties.
· Spaces must be used for event related activities, such as; public safety (street
closure); deliveries of goods/materials or other public safety issues as deemed by
the Police, Fire, Public Works, or Parking Departments.
· Employee (long term parking) is not permitted at meter rentals.
· No promotional activities are allowed (signs, banner, distribution of materials, etc.).
Film/Print/Production:
· A copy of the approved film/print/production permit must be submitted.
· Film/print/productions adversely affecting businesses and/or residents' quality of life
are required to gather approval signatures from said affected parties.
· Spaces must be used for film/print/production related activities, such as; footage to
be used in the piece; production vehicles, including caterers and cube trucks with
equipment; public safety (street closure); or other public safety issues as deemed by
the Police, Fire, Public Works, or Parking Departments.
· Employee (long term parking) is not permitted at meter rentals.
· Duration and number of spaces must be kept to a nominal amount consistent with
activity.
Clearly, the aforementioned are standard requirements; however, requests vary from each
type of user. These requests are closely reviewed and in most circumstances are
significantly modified in order to minimize disruption and still accomplish the goals of the
requestor while not unreasonably denying their request. All four of these parking meter
rental generators have at one time or another complained regarding the difficulty of
conducting business in the City. It has been our goal to change this perception while
keeping a balance for the parking needs of the business and residential communities.
Lastly, a segment of these complaints were specifically regarding the Washington Avenue
Streetscape Project currently underway. State statute requires utility owners, upon request
of the Contractor, (i.e. City of Miami Beach, TECO Gas, FPL, BellSouth, etc) to identify or
mark their utilities in the vicinity of a proposed construction area a minimum of two
business days and no more than five business days prior to any excavation. In addition,
the Parking Department requires 12 to 18 hours to reserve (bag) the parking meters in the
affected areas so that parking enforcement, if required, can be performed and the utility
owners can mark/identify their utilities. This potentially causes the parking area in question
to be "empty" with no apparent activity for two to three days or until the areas have been
marked by each utility owner. The Parking Department and the Contractor (Ric-Man
International, Inc.) have developed a process to minimize the volume and duration of these
parking meter rentals.
March 4, 2005
L TC- Parking Meter Rentals "Bagging"
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It is important to note that forthcoming work activities will require the contractor to complete
the project in Work Zones (consecutive one-block areas up to a maximum of three blocks).
When this next phase of work initiates, the Parking Department will remove the parking
meter heads within the individual Work Zones and parking within the Work Zone will be
displaced until the construction is substantially completed. Work Zone construction is
anticipated to take six to nine weeks per block dependent upon the complexity of the
duration and number of spaces must be kept to a nominal amount consistent with
proposed construction activities.
The Capital Improvement Project Office (CIP), Hazen & Sawyer, Ric-Man International,
and the Parking Department will continue to closely monitor all parking meter rentals
related to construction to ensure their timely placement and expeditious removal once
related work is completed. Clearly, the Parking Department will also closely monitor all
other generators of parking meter rentals as well in order to minimize disruption.
If you have any questions or need any additional information, please feel free to contact
me.
Electronic Copy: Management Team
FJ:~Ugr?$~arking Meter Bagging. TH.tar.doc