SN 22 Town Hall Meeting

March 26, 2009

I attended the town hall meeting at the Multi-Service Center located on Heights Blvd. The topic of discussion was clubs and bars on Washington Ave.

To recap the meeting, the following things were discussed:

• Parking Management Division (PMD) explains the options of "commuter parking" restrictions
• Liliana Rambo (PMD) explained the city is pursuing a 40-block radius for the parking program
• Her division is in charge of valet services
• They have issued 48 parking citations within the area
• 5 bars have applied and only 2 have been approved and 1 denied
• 34 No Parking signs will be installed in the area
• The City's Planning & Development Dept. has issued 25 violations to various bars/clubs
• They have conducted 35 inspections of clubs/bars/restaurants in the area
• 11 businesses have been found in violation of the parking ordinance
• They will revisit the off street parking ordinance
• The typical spaces for bars/clubs is 10 per 1,000 sq. ft.
• The City's Public Works & Engineering Dept. is working on better signage in order to enforce the parking ordinance

Questions that came up during the discussion include:

• Enforcement of the law by HPD on duty at these clubs/bars
• Cost of services to these locations (track incidents)
• 6603 Wesctott building (doing construction on the weekends without proper permits)
• Extending the parking ordinance up to I-10 (Camp Logan)
• Boundary of the parking ordinance (No Parking Signs might be the answer)
• Not allowing supply trucks to these businesses because they break the culverts, sidewalks.
• Revisiting the grandfather clause in terms of the number of parking spots allowed on the businesses
• Some bars have 18 spaces and about 200 people show up
• Littering the neighborhood with alcohol bottles and debris
• There are 16 licenses in the pipeline for the area
• Volume of alcohol consumed by the patrons is an issue
• Requiring customers to use valet parking
• Some valet companies are parking the cars on the streets
• Revisit the valet ordinance (the city is considering making revisions)
• The owner of the Drake spoke about his bar and stated that they have an on-duty officer during the weekend patrolling the streets to prevent off street parking; he also paid for No Parking signs around his establishment; they have 300 parking spaces