Planning staff briefs commission on parking and loading draft, Redding Parking Authority given 30 days to comment

City planning staff told the Sept. 16 Planning Commission workshop that the city is circulating an updated parking-and-loading ordinance draft for stakeholder review, that the Redding Parking Authority was asked to comment within 30 days, and that the commission will reconvene comments before re‑submitting to Berks County Planning Commission.

Staff said members of the commission already had a copy of the draft (dated in city materials as 05/24/2024), and that recent staffing and board turnover at the Redding Parking Authority and council changes meant they needed to re-brief those agencies. The staff presentation said the city intends to update the draft with any RPA comments, then move to county review and eventual council action.

Why it matters: changes to parking and loading standards can affect downtown businesses, private development projects and the design constraints developers must meet during land-development review; the city flagged the need to place the latest draft on a shared FTP site so all reviewers use the same version.

Key points - The Planning Division met with the Redding Parking Authority the morning of Sept. 16 and gave the Authority 30 days to submit comments on the draft parking-and-loading amendments. If the RPA submits comments earlier, staff said they will incorporate them sooner. - Planning staff asked for a shared repository for the ordinance drafts so reviewers and new council members can find the latest version rather than relying on email attachments. - After a review cycle with the RPA and any internal edits, staff plans to re-file the draft with the Berks County Planning Commission for their review and comment.

No vote was taken at the workshop; staff said it will continue stakeholder outreach and will indicate how any RPA comments have been addressed when the draft is returned to the commission.