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LTC 229-2005 Residential Parking Permit Zone Three/Michigan Avenue Update CITY OF MIAMI BEACH Office of the City Manager Letter to Commission No. 229-2005 m '" (;J ~ ".'-- o -'" rn \JJ :;; ., CJ A request from participants of the Flamingo ParklZone Two Restricted Residentiat<RariGtg Program, was received through Commissioner Gross' Office, to allow for 'Zorffi Two" residents to park in portions of the Michigan AvenuelZone Three Residential Parking Zone, namely on the east side of Michigan Avenue between 12th and 15th Streets. Mayor David Dermer and Members of the City c~o.. mmission Jorge M. Gonzalez . ' City Manager ~=: ~~ ' --1 RESIDENTIAL PARKING PERMIT ZONE THREE/MICHIGAN AVENUE - UPDATE": Date: September 1, 2005 C::3 en.);') ~ en .......- r-r1 " --0 To: From: Subject: The City's policy regarding amending residential parking zones is to receive said requests in the form of a petition from residents within the affected areas. Requests from residents that are outside of the boundaries of the zone are only contemplated if and when residents within the affected zone petition and endorse the requested amendment. The standard procedure and public process is: (1) hold a workshop with bona fide residents from within the affected zone for comment, input, and either an endorsement or non-endorsement on the matter; (2) if endorsed by residents, it is then referred to the City's Transportation and Parking for their review, comment, and a recommendation; (3) a balloting procedure would then take place whereby bona fide residents of the zone would be mailed ballots to cast a vote endorsing the amendment or not; and (4) subsequently, the Mayor and Commission would hold a public hearing on the matter. In this particular case, Michigan AvenuelZone Three residents have not petitioned and/or requested any amendment to their zone. In fact, to the contrary, Michigan Avenue/Zone Three residents are not in favor of the proposed amendment. The Parking Department conducted a utilization survey over a two week period that identified that the on-street parking spaces on Michigan Avenue between 12th and 15th Streets were underutilized during the hours of 1.1 :00 P.M. and 6:00 A.M. (restricted parking hours for Zone Three). A notice was mailed to all residents within Zone Three inviting them to a publicly noticed workshop that was held on July 12, 2005, at the City Manager's Large Conference Room to receive comments and input regarding the matter. Although the meeting was sparsely attended, Mr. Sam Carson, President of the Flamingo Park West Neighborhood Association attended as well as Ilona Wiss, a resident of Michigan Avenue. In a prepared statement (see attached) submitted by Mr. Carson, the residents of the Flamingo Park West Neighborhood Association do not endorse the concept of allowing Flamingo Park/Zone Two permit holders within Michigan AvenuelZone Three parking areas on Michigan Avenue between 12th and 15th Street. Further research by the Administration divulged that the residential parking permit program was established mainly to address resident complaints of vehicles parking on Michigan Avenue between 12th and 15th Streets and while parked, the vehicle occupants engaged in illegal acts. The residential parking program has apparently been a successful deterrent to this illegal activity. The Police Department's Crime Prevent Unit writes, "The Crime Prevention Unit was called upon to help correct problems that residents in this area were experiencing. Our investigation into this situation revealed that many ofthe complaints that the department received dealt with people parking their cars in this area and, while parked, engaged in illegal acts" "Although it took some time to correct, the problem is definitely more manageable today than it was two years ago. It took the combined efforts of the Police Department, Parks Department, Parking Department and Public Works to make this happen. The addition of lighting, maintenance of the landscaping, and use of both police patrol and private security has corrected many of the problems associated with the original complaints." Increased utilization of any form will inherently nullify the passive security improvements to the park and may again lead to a rise in illegal activity in the park and/or neighborhood. Therefore, there is a strong recommendation from the Police Department that parking should continue to be restricted for Michigan Avenue/Zone Three participants on the east side of Michigan Avenue between 12th and 15th Streets, as this restriction accomplishes two goals: . There is a very limited area that a person would have available to conduct criminal acts. . There is an open line of sight that both residents and the patrolling police officer, have into the park area and coupled with the corrective measures listed above, make criminal acts easier to detect if the officer does not have anything obstructing their view. Vehicles parked in this area can definitely obstruct that view. In conclusion, the Administration does not recommend allowing Zone Two residents to park on Michigan Avenue between 12th and 15th Streets in Zone Three. The sentiment of affected residents of Michigan Avenue/Zone Three is to not allow "Zone Two" permit holders on Michigan Avenue between 1 ih and 15th Streets due to concerns of increased crime in the area. This is corroborated by the Police Department's recommendation to not alter the existing parking regulations as a marked improvement has been achieved as evidenced by reduced illegal activity in the area and in turn reduced complaints. If you have any questions and/or need any additional information, please contact Saul Frances, Parking Director at extension 6483 or me at extension 6637. ::-1; Managemem Team Pin==mO:MichiganAVezone3o Itco doc Jul 0505 01:11p Gyi Inc Carson 305 538 7088 p.2 FLAMINGO PARK WEST NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOC. Mr. Saul Frances Parking Director - Miami Beach Parking System Historic Old City Hall 1130 Washington Ave. Suite 100 Miami BeachFl. 33139-4600 July 5,2005 Dear IvIT. Frances: I am writing this letter as president ofthe Flamingo Park West Neighborhood Association and as a homeowner in this unique historic single family neighborhood. Although I was not a resident of the neighborhood when the Zone 3 parking district was created, a number of our members were, and they have educated our group as to its history. Following is a summary of that history, as recalled by Ilona Wiss, who has lived on Michigan Avenue since 1989: A few years ago, we were experiencing a huge problem with all-night cruising on our street. It was a combination of people seeking anonymous sex and drugs and increased through traffic....people using our streets as a shortcut alternative to Alton Road as it became more congested. The problem was exacerbated by the availability of unrestricted parking. The police informed us they were not able to do anything about the cruising or people hanging around in their cars or on the sidewalks and advised us to request restricted parking as a means of limiting the intrusion into our neighborhood after the park closed at nighf The idea was hvofold: limit the loitering opportunities and reduce the through traffic by restricting parking to residen1s of our single family neighborhood during the hours when the park is closed. V\7hen the Zone was created, there was a lot of discussion as to whether it should be a separate Zone or part of the already existing Zone 2. Everyone recognized the importance of maintainjng the unique, peaceful character of our neighborhood as much as possible and that to do that, we needed to restrict all of the parking to the residents of our single family neighborhood, except for the baseball stadium lot. \Ve agreed that, because of its proximity to 15th Street, the use of the stadium lot by Zone 2 residents, who would accessed it from 15th Street, would not greatly impact our neighborhood. Everyone agreed that allowing Zone 2 residents to park on th~ east side of Michigan would significantly increa.se the traffic in our neighborhood and invite people to hang around where they don't belong. That idea was rejected. The creation of Zone 3 for our residents only has helped significantly. We still have through traffic problems and people looking for fun, but it is much better than it was. Opening up the parking on Michigan Avenue to Zone 2, which extends from 16th Street to 5111 Street, would have a very negati. ve impact in our neighborhood and would undo many of the positive changes that have occurred in recent years. \Ve strongly oppose expanding Zone 3 in any way. Our unique single family Jul 05 05 01: 11 p Gyi Inc Carson 305 538 7088 p.3 FLAMINGO PARK WEST NEIGHBORHOOD ASSOC. page 2 neighborhood must be protected from the impact of the growing multifamily neighborhoods that surround us, We would like to work with the City to calm our traffic even further with the creation of four way stops at evelY corner and installation of "no through traffic" signs to discourage the intrusion of cars seeking to avoid the heavy traffic on Alton Road. .We would be happy to meet with you at any time to discuss these matters with you and other City representatives. Most sincerely, Sam Carson, President Flamingo Park West Neighborhood Association, Inc. 1350 Lenox Ave. Miami Beach FL 33139 Phone 305 673 8514 Fax 305 538 7088 Email SCarson652@aoLcom cc: Mayor and Commission Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager Tim Hemstreet, Assistant City Manager Chuck Adams, Assistant Parking Director/Off-Street Kevin Perkins, Parking Enf<;1rcement Manager Kenny Wright, Parking Sales/Marketing Manager N 0 Z m DiDD~DDiD~D~D w ;0 .1S II 0 0 m C/) - 0 0 'TI II 0 0 m r- Z )> s: -f - z )> G') r 0 0 D~D -0 ...N.... " 000 )> )> >z-l -<men :::0 ;0 en",:I: ~:iJ~ " r-rnm ^ -<-10 ::%J0l - --< ~ Z D~ ~Ol mo ~D 0-1 G) _:I: -N -Co !:z -0 6>m D~ ~;;; m CJ ::0 0 ~ D -f Nm N ox 0 0 Z(j) c- o m-i ,..,., s::: ,..,., Z -., (') Z Z -., :J: 0 m ,..,., C) X ::0 G) VI )> 0 0 Z W ::0 z m (j) '1S l -i D D~wO~DD ::0 () -i m 0