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Resident urges update to Walker parking study and seasonal occupancy scenarios for downtown Carpinteria
Summary
A resident asked the commission to request an updated Walker Consultants parking study that captures fully occupied scenarios and seasonal/event variations for downtown parking counts, citing observations around Parking Lot 3 and upcoming Surfliner Inn approvals.
During the meeting’s public comment period a resident asked the commission to request an expanded baseline parking analysis from Walker Consultants to better reflect seasonal and event-driven occupancy in downtown Carpinteria.
The commenter identified herself as Mindy and said she previously spoke on the issue at the Aug. 4 meeting and submitted photos and written comments to commissioners. She summarized Walker Consultants’ 2019 downtown parking inventory methodology and results, saying the firm counted about 883 downtown spaces in the inventory and conducted observations on a Wednesday and a Saturday with five two-hour observation intervals. In the 2019 Saturday counts, she said, Lot Number 3 showed between 48 and 67 occupied stalls during the sampled Saturday observation intervals; she estimated Lot 3’s total capacity at about 113 spaces.
Mindy reported she performed additional weekend observations in August of the current year and photographed multiple Saturdays. She said most Saturdays and Labor Day weekend showed Lot 3 full, while a single third-Saturday observation was not full, and she suggested the latter may reflect families preparing for back-to-school. Based on those observations she asked staff to request Walker Consultants update the downtown baseline to include fully occupied scenarios for Lot 3 and to provide occupancy percentages in at least two categories: summer/major events (for example Avofest) and off-season.
The commenter said an updated baseline that included peak and event conditions would better inform evaluations of new development proposals that rely on the Walker study (she named the Surfliner Inn and Linden Square/Palms as projects that would use such an analysis).
The commission did not take action on the request during the meeting; staff and commissioners acknowledged the comment and noted the Surfliner project and Walker study are on separate project tracks and that Walker’s update is scheduled for public review later in the year via the public facilities committee. No formal motion or vote was taken on this public comment.
