MINUTES  COUNCIL DOWNTOWN MASTER PLAN COMMITTEE  Thursday, August 29,2024-4 4:00PM City Hall Council Chambers  Members Present: Pamela Holder, Vice Chair, Council Member (left at 4:45 pm)  Nicole Bentley, Exec Dir. Heart of Brevard Lee McMinn, Citizen Member Parker Platt, At-Large Member Mayor Maureen Copelof, Ex-Officio  Members Absent: Gary Daniel, Chair, Council Member  Billy Parrish, Heart of Brevard Representative Wilson Hooper, City Manager David Todd, Assistant City Manager Paul Ray, Planning Director Becky McCann, Communications Coordinator Denise Hodsdon, City Clerk Monica Driscoll, Kevin MacDonald, Doug Miller  Staff Present:  Guests: Media:  Jon Rich, Transylvania Times  A. Welcome & Call to Order order at 4:07 PM. B. Certification of Quorum  Committee Vice Chair Pamela Holder welcomed everyone and called the meeting to  Quorum was certified by City Clerk Denise Hodsdon.  . Approval of Agenda  Ms. Holder noted that Item F Sidewalk Usage Policy needs tol be postponed until the next meeting. Mr. Platt moved, seconded by Mr. McMinn to approve the agenda as  amended. The motion carried unanimously. D. Approval of Minutes of] June 12, 2024 Meeting  Mr. McMinn moved, seconded by Mr. Platt to approve the minutes of the June 12,    2024 meeting as presented. The motion carried unanimously.  .7 Times Arcade Alley Update  Mr. Hooper reported that the' Times Arcade. Alley projecti is substantially complete. However, there are a few outstanding items, including the addition of a few new drains that weren'tin the original plans but are needed to catch rainwater from unexpected sources. Other items tol be completed are the addition oft the decorative light pole across from the Chocolate Shop, which is on order but not expected until October. He mentioned that now that the signs are installed in the Jordan St. bumpout, we feel that they look strange and don'tfunction as expected. Staff has been looking at some reconfiguration to maybe make them function better and not obstruct pedestrian traffic as much as they do now. Atthe: same, we are still working with Duke on whether the pole can be moved sO thati it's not in the middle of the walking path. We are also looking for an alternative to the: stop sign because you can'tsee it until thel last five feet, which defeats the purpose when iti is too late to stop. Mr. Ray added that the landscaping will  bei installed all at once in the fall.  F.P Parking Options  Mr. Hooper noted that since we did the bulbouts on Main Street last year, we have heard al lot offeedback on the loss of19 parking spaces. Wel have been exploring some ofthei ideas we havel heard from this committee and from constituents and Staffhas categorized those ideas into buckets. He shared the attached list for the committee's review and noted that a few of these bucket items, particularly in columns 3 and 4, are Mr. Hooper explained that the proposal in column 4 would be to reconfigure the loading zone and the parking spaces on Jordan Street to make the phantom parking space there an official parking space and expand thel length ofthe loading zone so thati it can be used by trucks and delivery vehicles again, because at the moment they are blocking the street or parking on the sidewalk. On Broad Street, the long loading zone in front of Quixote has a handicap space right in the middle ofit, which affects the utility oft the loading Zone. Ifwe move that space up to the back of the existing spaces, we might have enough dimension to add two spaces there and still have al long enough loading zone to be helpful. That buys us one space back and relocates thel handicap space to a more Mr. Platt asked about the two loading zones on the first blocks ofl Main Street and pointed out that the trucks can'treally use them sO are using the middle of the street. Mr. Hooper said they would be up for discussion, and he would be willing to explore Ms. Holder asked what items in columns 3 and 4 could we do that wouldn'tcosta a lotof money and time. Mayor Copelofthought: that signage would be one oft thei most impactful and could be done quickly with minimal expense. She also thoughtifwe  things we could do fairly easily ift the committee thinks appropriate.  convenient location.  how those are used by the businesses on Main Street.  Minutes - Downtown Master Plan Committee Meeting August 29,2024  Page2of4    created a parking map that shows all the paid and free parking areas that we could give to businesses tol hand out, that would be a tremendous impact at minimal cost. Mr. Hooper noted thats staffi is planning to add small wayfinding signage. Mr. Hooper mentioned that something else to explore is #7 in column 3, which would be to do a survey of downtown streets to find out ift there is extra space where we might Mr. Platt asked ift there is an actual parking problem, ori is there a perceived parking problem? Isita signage problem ori is ita a quantity problem? Mayor Copelofs fsaid there isc certainly a perceived problem and that the number one issue in the over-50 population survey was downtown parking. That demographic, which is large here, definitely sees parking as a problem and they are telling her that they have stopped coming downtown because oft the parking problem. She added that the businesses perceive it as a problem and are upset aboutit. Idon'tthink our visitors perceive ita asa problem SO much. She asked whati if we tried to entice the people who have stopped coming downtown with some oft the other suggestions that are on this list, like make the first hour in our payl lots free orj just make Clemson Plaza lot free. Itwould be a goodwill gesture to our residents to make ite easier for them to come downtown. Ms. Bentley said we need to figure out the daily usage of downtown, thinking about the number of businesses we have, their employees, the residents who don'thave designated parking. She agreed that the first hour free in thej paid lots would go: a long way to get folks downtown. She said we have also talked about whether iti is possible to Mr. Platt asked ift the over-50 folks were complaining about not being able to find parking or having to pay for parking. Mayor Copelof said the complaint was about not being able to find parking and having to walk too far. Mr. Platt said It thinki ifitisa quantity problem, we need to know. He asked how many businesses we have and how many parking spaces do we have? Ms. Bentley said we have about 200 businesses who have employees and about 100 oft those are public facing. Mr. Hooper thought there were: approximately 340 free public spaces. Mr. Platt said ifwe don'thave: a cleari idea ofwhat our real need is and what our real supply is, we can find ourselves in a serious problem. Hes suggested that we need to do a parking study in order to work from facts. Ifthe number one: return from the over-50 population is parking, then we need to focus on itin a way that is more thanj just speculation. Mr. Platt moved, seconded by Mr. McMinn to recommend to Council that they consider undertaking a parkingst study. The  be ablet to add more spaces.  increase the on-street parking limits from 2 hours to 3 hours.  motion carried unanimously.  Mr. Hooper noted that staff will start working on columns 4 and 5.  G.F Public Comment  Doug Miller said I appreciate everything you are doing to update us. He said enforcing the loading rules would bel helpful as some of the larger trucks can impede traffic flow and create  Minutes- Downtown Master Plan Committee Meeting August 29, 2024  Page 3of4    issues for people who are trying to find a parking spot or just trying to walk around. Also, consistency with enforcement oft the rest oftl the parking would be helpful as there are people taking advantage oft the fact that therei is one parking enforcement officer and they know her  consistent schedule. H. Set Date for Next Meeting  The next meeting of the Council Downtown Master Plan Committee is to be determined.  - Adjourn  There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at! 5:00 PM.  Minutes. Approved - Septmber 19, 20244  Parhelal Holder Vice Chair, Couhcilémber  X bunaislpuon- Denisel Hodsdon Assistant to the City Manaqer  Minutes - Downtown Master Plan Committee Meeting August 29, 2024  Page4of4