It is recommended that the item be referred to the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee for discussion on potential additional funding for a skate park and design of a parking structure for the 72nd Street parking lot.

BACKGROUND:

For several years, the City has had within its work plan to site and construct a skate park within the municipal limits. Multiple sites have been explored throughout the City with each location posing challenges.  These challenges include resident objections to the use close to their homes that the City has been unable to mitigate to date. Nonetheless, the City has continued to pursue a site for such a park due to the demand from the local skating community and local residents who would like to have a place for skaters to enjoy their sport.

In the spring of 2015, Velosolutions USA, a locally-based company, made presentations to the Parks and Recreation Board and the Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Panel on North Beach regarding a mixed use, all-wheels, pump track concept. This concept varies from a traditional skate park in that it is more of a contoured and graded track suitable for skateboards, rollerblades, bicycles and the like, and it is more suited to use by persons of all ages and skill levels. A traditional skate park, while useable by rollerbladers and certain bicyclists, is more for skateboard riding and would include steeper ramps and other elements on which to launch into various “tricks”.

At the January 13, 2016 meeting, the City Commission referred this item to the Neighborhood/Community Affairs Committee (NCAC).

Upon reviewing potential locations and having discussion at several meetings, the Neighborhood/Community Affairs Committee asked for staff to seek potential locations in North Beach for the siting of one or both of these types of facilities. Several locations were presented to the Neighborhood/Community Affairs Committee at its April 15, 2016 meeting. The Neighborhood/Community Affairs Committee asked for three staff recommended sites; the 72^nd Street (P92) Parking lot, the West Lots (those lots on the west side of Collins Avenue between 79^th Street and 87^th Street), and the south end of North Shore Open Space Park to be brought to a public workshop in North Beach for the purposes of gathering the input of the public. In addition, the Neighborhood/Community Affairs Committee requested that input be obtained from the Parks and Recreation Facilities Advisory Board and the Mayor’s North Beach Master Plan Steering Committee.

At the aforementioned public input meeting, held on May 25, 2016, the public in attendance suggested the location at the North Shore Open Space Park as their desired site. It was clear that the public actually favored the 72^nd street lots location, but indicated preference for the park location due to an anticipated time lag on constructing a park on the parking lot. The Parks and Recreation Facilities Advisory Board also recommended the North Shore Open Space Park location at its May 2016 meeting. The North Beach Master Plan Steering Committee requested conceptual drawings of each of the three sites before committing to support a particular location. Unfortunately, the Committee was sunset before the drawings could be reviewed and thus it made no recommendation.

The Neighborhood/Community Affairs Committee, at the October 21, 2016 meeting, was presented with conceptual drawings of a skate park in the three locations under consideration. After a short discussion, it was clear the members of the Committee unanimously favored the 72^nd street parking lot with an understanding that the placement of a skate park at this location will cause a loss of parking spaces in the existing lot. They requested that staff return to the November meeting with more information regarding the loss of parking if a skate park is located at the site, the potential for reconfiguring the parking lot with a parking structure, the inclusion of greenspace on this block, and the inclusion of other amenities as outlined in the recently adopted North Beach Master Plan.

The NCAC continues to review placement of activities on the 72^nd street lot and alternative uses for areas of the 72^nd street lot that would not to be utilized by the skate park or parking structure.

ANALYSIS

This 72^nd Street Parking lot, also known as lot P92, is an entire block bounded by 72^nd Street on the South, 73^rd Street on the North, Collins Avenue on the East and Harding Avenue on the West. The lot contains 320 parking spaces and it serves the general commercial uses to the south and north of the lot, as well as providing parking for the North Shore Park and Youth Center, the beach, and for events at the North Beach Bandshell. Given the uses the lot serves, it sees peak usage on the weekends, when beach use is highest, and during special events at the bandshell and at the North Shore Park and Youth Center that draw larger crowds for several hours at a time.

An all-wheels skate park placed at this site would be maximized at about 28,000 square feet in area. The park could be as small as 9,000 square feet, but it has been evaluated at the maximum size thus far.  It is currently contemplated that the skate park at this site would be a hybrid skate park with both elements of an all-wheels track and a traditional skate park including areas for skaters to perform various “tricks.” 

A discussion with Velosolutions USA, the firm that originally introduced the all-wheels track concept to the City and a builder of skate parks, indicated two different options for construction: a park with an asphalt track or one of concrete.  Velosolutions USA further offered per square foot cost estimates of $25.00 per square foot for asphalt and $35.00 per square foot for concrete.   These cost estimates were inclusive of park landscaping.  given these estimates, cost for a skate park at various sizes and construction materials is provided below in Table 1.

TABLE 1 - Estimated Hybrid Skate Park Cost

In 2012, The City originally allocated $400,000 for construction of a skate park of which $396,280 remains available for this project.  Should it be determined a skate park of construction or size that exceeds the available budget is desired, additional funds will need to be budgeted for the project.

PARKING IMPACT

If the City were to maximize the size of the skate park and provide the largest contemplated footprint of 28,000 square feet, the park would occupy the area of approximately 100 parking spaces in the existing lot.  With this assumption, City staff contacted Walker Parking Consultants, who had prepared a 2014 parking analysis of North Beach, and asked for a basic assessment of what the loss of these spaces would mean to the parking occupancy levels of the lot. The resulting analysis can be found in Table 2.

The calculations in Table 2 do not include additional parking that would be needed for visitors to the skate park. While many users of the park will ride skateboards to the location, the park could be a draw from a larger area and thus attract users that will arrive by automobile. Staff is working with Walker Parking Consultants to ascertain parking needs for the park, however, additional research is required to make a more direct correlation of parking demand from such a use due to varying types of skate parks and the limited number of such public parks locally, in the state, and across the Nation.

TABLE 2 – Parking Occupancy Impact

     Observed Conditions

    Potential Conditions*

   *Does not include additional parking demand for skate park or other uses

Table 2 (Observed Conditions) shows that without factoring in the additional parking needs of the skate park, the lot experiences full occupancy only in the late afternoon on Saturdays with the remainder of the Saturday and weekdays showing significant vacancy throughout the day. When the loss of 100 spaces (Potential Conditions) is considered, it shows that weekday parking needs could be accommodated, but Saturday usage would become even more deficient. Again, this analysis does not address the additional need for parking due to the skate park though It is unlikely that the additional need would put occupancy over capacity during weekday periods, but it would place even more burden on the Saturday parking need.

Additional parking needs that may come from expected development in the area, coupled with even somewhat successful North Beach revitalization efforts, would then mean that this lot would start to see additional demand pushing occupancy levels even higher.

Given this, unless the City wishes to minimize the footprint of the skate park (it can be as small as 9,000 square feet) it would be best to look at the vision for the block contemplated in the North Beach Master Plan for the entire block.

PARKING STRUCTURE COST ESTIMATES

Basic cost estimates for building a parking structure can be determined by using the City’s current parking space cost factor of $30,000 per space for construction of parking structures + 30% of this cost added on for soft costs (design and other). Table 3 shows costs of the examples given and two sizes between the examples. It should be noted that these are just estimates and there will probably be additional costs based on the type of ground floor uses (Table 3 assumes no ground floor parking).

TABLE 3 – ESTIMATED PARKING STRUCTURE COSTS

 Currently, it is estimated that there is $2.8 million available in North Beach Impact Fees/Fees in Lieu of Parking which can be used to increase parking availability in the North Beach area.  The Commission could choose to develop the program for the full 72^nd St. lot and then fund for the design of the parking garage based on the size determined appropriate for the approved program., Funding for the garage construction could be appropriated in the future, thus allowing time to develop the funding.

UTILITIES

It has also been found that significant utilities exist under the 72nd Street lot.  Stormwater, water, and sanitary sewer lines are all located underground.  Additionally, an FPL electric transmission line also traverses the property.  Engineering has indicated these lines are aging and probably need replacement and that relocation around the lot is possible.  A more in-depth review of utilities is required to determine the need for utility relocation/replacement which will also be influenced by the development program ultimately chosen for the lot (i.e. just siting a skate park or including a parking structure and other various uses).

A skate park has long been desired in the City.  The 72nd Street parking lot (P92) has been identified as an appropriate location by the public and the Neighborhood/Community Affairs though depending on the size of the skate park, may necessitate the need for a parking structure if the Commission desires to maintain or expand area parking inventory.  Cost estimates have been provided for the skate park at various sizes and construction materials, and estimates have also been provided for the construction of a parking structure at various footprints.  The Committee may wish to review whether to recommend additional funding for the skate park to allow for a larger area or more durable construction material.  Additionally, the Committee may wish to recommend funding be requested in the FY 2017-18 budget for the design of a parking structure at this site.