This past Tuesday night, the Dublin City Council rejected the appeal of a resident to add additional parking at the Promenade by a vote of 2 to 0 with Councilmembers Kasie Hildenbrand and Kevin Hart rejecting the appeal and Councilmember Kate Ann Scholz abstaining. By rejecting the appeal, the City Council affirmed the decision made by the Planning Commission on December 9th to grant the developer a Conditional Use Permit to provide 500 parking spaces vs. the 541 parking spaces required by Dublin’s Zoning Ordinance based on the adoption of the Shared Parking assumption.

The appeal was filed by a resident based on the principle that the Shared Parking study approved by the Planning Commission to reduce the number of required parking spaces did not account for the street parking shortage at the surrounding Dublin Ranch Villages and that all 541 parking spaces would have been required in the study if the traffic consultant had incorporated the assumption that visitors of the Promenade will likely choose street parking along Finnian Way in favor of parking inside the Promenade parking garage. As a compromise, the resident suggested that the City move forward with the Promenade project only if the developer agreed to put up a $5M bond as collateral in the event that an additional level of parking is eventually required.

During Public Comment, Planning Commission Chair Doreen Wehrenberg reversed her previous position of questioning the viability of the Shared Parking model and noted that further study of the bike ways and trail system to be built as part of the Promenade project provided her with the revelation that there should be plenty of visitors walking or riding to Club Sport – thereby reducing the number of parking spaces required at the Promenade. Other current and former Planning Commissioners reiterated their position that the parking challenges at the Villages has been caused by residents and that the developer of the Promenade should not be held responsible for the parking challenges at the Villages.

In response to the criticisms levied against Dublin Ranch Villages residents by the Planning Commission and other City Councilmembers for not using their tandem garages exclusively to park cars, Councilmember Kate Ann Scholz commented that “it is presumptive to tell residents how garages should be used.” Councilmember Scholz also noted that she was not comfortable with rejecting the appeal to add more parking at the Promenade without first studying the parking challenges in Dublin.

Councilmember Kevin Hart initially complimented City Staff for compiling the robust Staff report in preparation for the appeal and then went on to publicize on television that City Staff had accidentally included a copy of the $175 check submitted by the resident (as part of the appeal process) and later provided the page number that potential identity theft perpetrators could access the checking account information. After quoting Councilmember Scholz out of context, Councilmember Hart voted to reject the resident’s appeal to add more parking at the Promenade.

Related posts:

1. Responsible City Planning
2. Dublin Ranch Villages Parking Challenge
3. Request for Boarding House in Dublin Ranch Denied

Responsible planning should not rest on theoretical use by idealized people alone. Up to now, residents and their guests have enjoyed what essentially amounts to exclusive use of the street parking within Dublin Ranch Villages. Charter Properties has no basis for believing that patrons beyond walking distance from the Promenade will always use the garage. Just like the Planning Commission’s postulation that the Promenade will never come close to needing 500 parking spaces, the developer’s optimistic assumption fails to take into account that diners, shoppers, office workers, and gym members will park wherever they feel is most convenient. The 14 allotted parking spaces on the streets around the Promenade will not be able to absorb parking overflow from the Promenade into the neighborhood streets nearby. The parking overflow will adversely affect residents in the vicinity, but the City has an opportunity now to mitigate the negative impact by insisting that at least 541 parking spaces be planned. Second chances do not come by that often, so the City should not let this one slip by its fingers.

Related posts:

1. Appeal to Add More Parking at Promenade Rejected by Dublin City Council
2. Dublin Ranch Villages Parking Challenge