NSB hopes to improve parking woes with $83K consulting firm

Based on a recommendation in the city’s parking task force’s final report, the New Smyrna Beach City Commission Tuesday night approved a contract with engineering consulting company LTG, Inc., paving the way for a parking improvements action plan.

Commissioners approved an $83,330 contract with the Ormond Beach-based company.

City Manager Khalid Resheidat told commissioners that he, Assistant City Manager Ron Neibert, Police Chief Eric Feldman and city parking enforcement staff recently met with LTG representatives to discuss the parking task force’s recommendations and the services the city is looking for.

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Several of those recommendations aim to help resolve the city’s lack of parking, not only in the two popular business districts — Flagler Avenue and Canal Street — but also the Venetian Bay neighborhood and other parts of the city.

What will LTG do to alleviate NSB’s parking woes?

In October, when the task force presented its final report to the City Commission, Resheidat said hiring a consultant was necessary because the city did not have the available staff to tackle what he referred to as medium- and long-term recommendations in the task force’s final report.

With the help of LTG, the city hopes to set out an action plan that addresses most of the recommendations presented last year.

The company divided its action plan proposal into eight “tasks,” to be completed in approximately eight months, each directly addressing the task force’s recommendations while also presenting new ideas.

The first task is a meeting between the company and city officials “to verify the goals of the project, confirm timeline and identify existing relevant data and reports,” which include current policies, technology in use, a special events calendar for affected areas, parking inventory and more.

In what LTG describes as Task 2, the company will “visit parking locations and document noted observations as well as obtain photographs of each site” for data collection, which will help in determining parking demands in popular areas.

Commissioner Lisa Martin raised a point about when this data should be collected.

“Beachside, Saturday at 10 a.m. for a sunny July is really very different from Saturday at 10 a.m. in March,” she said. “Where we start that baseline for analysis, that month, I think, is a very important component.”

Resheidat said parking data collection timing could be discussed with LTG during the initial meetings.

Task 2 also includes an analysis of parking inventory, a review of policy documents and land use regulations, and an audit on current parking management strategies which would “identify financial trends to make recommendations on potential private partnerships, new revenue sources or parking department staffing implementation."

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In its proposal, LTG noted that “there are recognizable best practices for immediate implementation which can be done concurrent” with Task 2.

Those are outlined in Tasks 3 and 4, which include two pilot programs that could be implemented soon:

• Six-month paid parking app: LTG would consult the city to “to identify one appropriate location to launch a six-month pilot program for paid parking through a smart phone app requiring less infrastructure.” LTG would also host a public meeting to present the idea to residents.

• Seasonal remote parking and wayfinding signage: LTG would consult the city to “identify one appropriate location to launch a pilot program for remote parking during a high-traffic event or season (e.g. spring break or Memorial Day)." In other words, finding an alternative place in the city for parking other than Flagler Avenue or Canal Street during a busy time, such as summer. LTG would also include wayfinding signage indicating where drivers could find that alternative location.

Task 6 of the proposal directly addresses a task force recommendation: creating a parking and mobility department.

“The purpose of the mobility department will be to combine into a single unit various activities related to multimodal transportation which may include, but not be limited to, parking, parking enforcement, parking lot/structure management, parking fare management, scooter rentals, electric bike rentals and more.”

LTG will research how other municipalities may have implemented and operate their own mobility department, according to the proposal.

Establishing the community’s role in the plan

Task 5 outlines how LTG will keep NSB residents and business owners updated on the steps in place to improve parking.

One planned idea includes hosting two public workshops, while another proposes what are described as “stakeholder meetings.”

For the latter, LTG would work with the city to “identify up to 10 stakeholder organizations and six individual activists” who will meet with LTG “as needed to ensure pilot programs are successfully implemented.” These are not to exceed 10 meetings, the proposal added.

Commissioner Randy Hartman chimed in on the proposed task, arguing that the so-called six “activists” should be “non-business owners.”

“The parking task force was made up of citizens, but a lot of those citizens were also business owners,” Hartman said, adding that giving space to residents who don’t own businesses would better help represent the needs of the entire community.

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Task 7 would involve LTG’s final recommendations and implementation plan, which will include all the data and analysis conducted throughout the eight-month project.

The final task outlines how LTG will, throughout the project, conduct interviews with city staff “to garner information from those with first-hand experience, to understand operations which could fit beneath a mobility department, and hear staff perspectives on parking to ensure a successful project effort.”

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: New Smyrna Beach hires LTG, Inc., as parking consultant