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Special Events Parking Policy September 3, 2013 Page 2 For years the City has issued Special Event Permits for annual events such as Fiestas Patrias, Cinco de Mayo, Dia de los Muertos, O.C. Pride, Aces Car Show and Patchwork Fairs, to name a few. These special events usually occur on weekends, either a Saturday only event or one that runs for both Saturday and Sunday. The typical City process for any large scale event in the Downtown that requires the closure of one or more public street is for the promoter to submit a Special Event Permit application to the Police Department for review and approval. When a Special Event Permit is issued by the Police Department, the City notifies the Operator who then posts signs one week in advance to notify patrons of the upcoming special event and the fact that the parking facilities will operate under the pre -pay parking rate on that weekend. This process is designed to give the daily users ample time to make other parking accommodations. In addition, individuals with a current monthly parking pass are not charged to enter the facilities during a special event. The purpose of charging the pre -pay flat rate is for operational logistics; that is, to allow for safe and efficient entry and exit from the parking garages and to prevent long queuing that could significantly impact the traffic flow on public streets. The revenue collected from the special event is to offset the operational costs of the Operator in providing additional security guards services and staffing for additional maintenance and cleanliness of the garages after the event. The additional staffing and security measures ensure that during the special event the parking facilities operate in a safe manner. Further, this approach has the least negative impact to the City and surrounding businesses or residents and allows for a quick return to normal operations for the daily users of the garages. Although the City has operated the downtown parking facilities for decades, a recent review of City documents determined that the parking rate policy had not been the subject of a formal action by the City Council. The Municipal Code, Chapter 36, Article IX Section 36 -431, states: "The council may, by resolution, declare the necessity for the use of parking meters on any municipally owned or operated parking lot, may fix and determine traffic patterns for the movement of traffic on such municipally owned or operated parking lot and governing the ingress and egress thereto and therefrom, and when the council regularly passes and adopts any resolution for any of said purposes the same shall control the use of the area affected thereby, and said regulations may be applied to lots open to public use or to lots restricted to certain classes of vehicles and to certain hours and days." The Municipal Code clearly provides the Council with the authority to establish a rate policy for the City parking facilities through the adoption of a resolution. Given the absence of official documents, it is recommended that the Council adopt the proposed resolution confirming the current parking rate policy. The proposed Parking Rate Policy contains the following provisions: • The rate charged for each facility during regular hours is $1 per hour or any fraction thereof with the first 30 minutes at $0.50 and a $7 maximum daily. A flat pre -pay evening rate of $2 to $20 may be charged. The current evening flat rate 55C -2