NEWS FLASH- 9/3/2024
Killing the Golden Goose…..
WHY DOES THE COUNCIL WANT TO CLOSE TRACY WAY??
On Tuesday, September 3, the City Council will consider permanently closing Tracy Way.
Why are they doing this??? There are currently 11 parking spaces on Tracy Way.
· There are physical reasons why closing Tracy Way is a bad idea:
1. Tracy Way presents an easy and safe route for residents to drop off and pick up ferry passengers.
2. Ample parking along Tracy Way and in the Ferry Landing Lot allows retail shopping customers and residents easy access to downtown stores and the ferry itself.
3. WHEN TRACY WAY IS OPEN, THEY ARE THE FIRST SPACES TO FILL UP!
· There are compelling economic reasons not to eliminate parking spaces.
1. Every parking space represents approximately $5,500 per year in stable income to the City. The closure of these 11 spaces would amount to a LOSS OF over $60,000 annually.
2. So far, the City has lost parking to parklets. It’s a moving target as to what the final parking space count will be with the ever-changing ferry landing design. Now add in Tracy Way…Depending on the reduced parking space calculation,which is deliberately obscure, the City could potentially lose up to $300,000 in parking revenue per year.
3. In today’s economy, stable income is hard to find. Sausalito’s retail sales revenue declined in FY2024 and is projected to drop further still in FY2025.
4. In FY2024 the City transferred $1.5 million from the Parking Fund to shore up the General Fund and is projected to do the same in 2025.
5. In order to “balance” its FY2025 Operating Budget, the Staff recommended a $1 million transfer from the General Fund, primarily from the parking fund.
6. It’s like “robbing” Peter/Petra to pay Paul/Paula! From Parking Fund to General Fund to Operating Budget…and yet the Council continues to erase stable revenue suppliers.
7. Who is going to pay for the new Tracy Way vision which only benefits the properties around it? You can bet it will be YOU, the residents - another loss to the City coffers.
o Just wait until the new restaurants in the Hotel Sausalito and in the old Wells Fargo building get up and running…we’ll all be taking Uber to patronize downtown or we’ll just drive to Mill Valley!
THE CITY IS KILLING THE GOLDEN GOOSE
NEWS FLASH: 11/11/23
You have 24 hours….
The Council is at it again
At an oddly timed meeting this coming Monday night, the City Council will be reviewing an appeal of a Planning Commission decision on the refurbishment of City Parking Lot 1 by the Ferry Landing. Some facts to consider:
· The Golden Gate Bridge District has committed to provide an absolute maximum grant of $2.4 million towards this work. The grant will not fund beyond that figure, so any cost overruns are the City’s burden.
· The plan approved by the Planning Commission:
o Is satisfactory to the Bridge District;
o Is preferred by the Chamber of Commerce whose members rely on the availability of as many parking spaces as possible to serve their customers.
o Is preliminarily budgeted by City Staff at $1.96 million; and
o Would result in lost annual parking revenue of just $77,000 ($5,550 per space per year).
The apparent plan proposed by the appellants:
o Would require voter approval;
o Is satisfactory to the Bridge District;
o Is not palatable to the Chamber of Commerce because it would remove +/-36 parking spaces;
o Is preliminarily budgeted by City Staff at $2.4 million; and
o Would result in lost annual parking revenue of $198,000.
Based on this comparison, the Planning Commission result appears to be a clear winner, so why the appeal? The “grounds for the appeal” contain some misinformation and some subjective opinions:
· Misinformation:
o As stated above, the Bridge District is satisfied with the plan approved by the Planning Commission so the allegation that the plan does not meet the grant requirements is in error:
o The City Council did not “approve” any plan for Lot 1 at the March 22, 2022, meeting, properly deferring to the Planning Commission for its review.
· Many subjective opinions by the appellant.
The appeal is not well-grounded. It also contains a number of ironies:
· In an “Implementation Action Plan to City of Sausalito Strategic Plan – 2020-2026”, a number of the current prominent appellants warned against allowing “scope creep” to increase costs for the Lot 1 renovation plan. They must have forgotten their own warning as the budget crept up $400,000.
There are quite a few letters already submitted in support of the appeal by people who apparently have little idea of the issues at hand.
*HAS THE CITY OF SAUSALITO EVER DONE A CONSTRUCTION PROJECT REMOTELY WITHIN BUDGET???
THIS STORY IS FAR FROM OVER:
· The removal of a lovely hedge and the installation of a concrete bio retention trench is a material design change to Parking Lot 1 and thus must be put on a ballot PER ORDINANCE 1128.. It has been determined by City staff that a ballot isn’t necessary. Loss of parking revenue will be reflected in residents’ taxes. AND more tourist cars will bleed into residential neighborhoods.
· Neither plan apparently includes the needed cost of repaving and re-striping the parking lot, a cost alone estimated in 2018 to be over $1 million:
· Both plans will rip out the bushes and trees dividing Lot 1 from Gabrielson Park, replacing them with a hideous and high maintenance concrete trench for “bio-retention”;
· Both plans would permanently close Tracy Way for ferry passenger staging, depriving residents of a pleasant spot and a place to conveniently drop off and pick up ferry commuters from the Fall to the Spring; loss of the 11 parking spaces along Tracy Way would reduce parking revenue to the City by $60,500.
Please click below to email the City Council and forward this email to your friends:
Click here to email the City Council
ALERT: The Planning Commission Hearing on this coming Wednesday, JULY 26, 2023 will consider REDUCING DOWNTOWN PARKING LOT 1 by about 40 spaces AND REMOVING HISTORIC GABRIELSON PLANTINGS in favor of a "bioretention facility
Ordinance 1128, a Citizens Initiative adopted by the Council in 1997 as part of our "constitution" WOULD require YOUR vote on these changes, but the Staff proposed resolutions specifically rejects letting the people decide.
QUESTIONS:
● WHY IS THIS A PROPOSAL WITHOUT MEANINGFUL CIVIC INPUT? The best design plans are the result of meaningful exchanges, and compromises, between designer and user. The apparent approach taken here is to push this project to completion of 90% construction drawings for the City staff to make an “It’s too late to change” argument.
● WHY IS THE CITY SO KEEN ON CIRCUMVENTING SAUSALITO ORDINANCE 1128? Ordinance 1128, a Citizens Initiative adopted by the Council in 1997 as part of our "constitution", WOULD require a city-wide vote on these changes, but the Staff proposal specifically rejects letting the people decide. To date, staff rejection of resident voter approval (or denial) is based on an incorrect analysis in a memorandum prepared by the Head of Public Works. Shouldn’t the people who use Parking Lot 1 now and into the future have a say in this design?
● WHY DO THIS? On numerous occasions, handicapped commuters, Sausalito seniors and local retailers have confirmed the need for every possible parking space proximate to the ferry landing, stores, and restaurants. Proponents of the Staff plan will no doubt argue they are preserving the seven handicapped spaces from the current plan but produce no evidence of the adequacy of this number under the revised conditions.
● WHAT IS THE POSSIBLE COLLATERAL DAMAGE?
○ Parking will bleed up into residential areas;
○ Retailers will experience a reduction in sales and the City will accordingly experience a drop in sales tax revenue: not to mention the reduced revenue from the missing parking spaces themselves.
○ The City cost estimate will, like those for the park renovations, prove to be substantially below the final cost; and
○ The proposed “bioretention facility will become more liability than asset.
■ Does the below look like an attractive divider between Lot 1 and Gabrielson Park?
Will the frequent and expensive maintenance requirements of such a bioretention facility overtax an already burdened maintenance crew?
Attend the Planning Commission in person or via Zoom to voice your opposition
6:30pm, Wednesday, July 26th
City Hall Council Chambers
420 Litho St
or via Zoom:
URL: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4052952836
Meeting ID: 405 295 2836
Passcode: oCNS66