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Committee to revisit Visitation Avenue delivery, parking and raised-crosswalk proposals in January
Summary
Staff summarized prior Visitation Avenue recommendations — designated loading zones, delivery-network parking, converting a vacant teen center and raised crosswalks — and said staff will return in January with business survey summaries and updated 2025 cost estimates for committee direction to council.
Tomas, a city staff member, opened discussion of previously recommended Visitation Avenue safety and parking improvements and reminded the committee that the council deferred raised crosswalks over drainage concerns at the July hearing. He said staff collected business delivery-time information and resident input and proposed returning to the Complete Streets committee in January with a refined package and updated cost estimates.
"We can come back in January with more information from the businesses we've received to date," Tomas said, offering a timetable to prepare a clearer recommendation for council consideration.
Committee members pushed for up-to-date cost ballparks. Paul noted the prior raised-crosswalk estimate "from 2017" ranged from "$30,000 to $60,000" and asked what that would cost in 2025; staff agreed to provide a current per-crossing estimate with parameters such as crosswalk length and street width. Members also asked staff to estimate how many parking spaces could be gained by converting the vacant teen center site and to analyze ADA-parking needs at that location.
Several members flagged competing needs between residents and businesses. Christian said businesses and residents each have legitimate needs and recommended ranking candidate improvements once staff supplies cost ranges. Members and staff agreed that drainage and slope constraints remain a critical consideration for raised sidewalks and crosswalks; Tomas said that was why the committee and council previously held off and that the January return would include refined cost and feasibility information.
Public commenters and committee members discussed delivery-peak hours and options such as time-limited delivery windows, two-hour customer parking to support businesses, and using delineators or other temporary pilots to trial changes before permanent striping. One committee member asked staff to include the spreadsheet of hundreds of business responses and a short summary that the committee and public could review prior to council.
The committee did not take a final vote on policy changes. Staff committed to provide the compiled business feedback, updated 2025 cost estimates for the various improvements, and a recommendation timeline at the next meeting so the committee can decide whether to proceed to council.
The committee scheduled the Visitation Avenue follow-up for the January meeting.
