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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSolarVailParkingPlan_022508 Solar Vail Parking Management Plan February 14, 2008 This parking management plan is based on 69 garage parking spaces, 8 outdoor parking spaces, and Loading and Delivery spaces. It further assumes 82 units, 57 studios, 12 one-bedrooms units, 1 two-bedroom unit, 4 three-bedroom units, and 8 four-bedroom units, as well as less than 6,000 sf. of office space. Parking for employees renting at Solar Vail – this management plan is based on many years of experience operating the existing Solar Vail Property as employee housing for the Sonnenalp. While the proposed building is significantly larger, the use and a large proportion of unit types will be very similar. We therefore predict the following conditions: approximately 2/3 of the housing population of Solar Vail will consist of employees visiting the US on some kind of Visa Program limiting their visits to anywhere from 4 to 18 months. All of these employees are from foreign countries and therefore only about 20% of these employees will have cars. Employees working for Sonnenalp under visa programs have a specific contract which specifies conditions of employment. This contract defines amongst many other things the housing arrangements. Sonnenalp can manage the number of employee cars by simply specifying in the employment contract that housing does not include any parking. Since Solar Vail is within easy walking distance from work and the village, as well as directly on the bus route, this a reasonable and customary condition. Employees requiring a parking space will generally not use their cars for the short trip from Solar Vail to the Sonnenalp. Sonnenalp does restrict employee parking on hotel property depending on season and other customer driven factors. It is therefore more convenient to simply walk and use the in-town bus service for the short trip. This will significantly reduce trips in and out of the property and will allow easier management of tandem parking spaces. The present garage plan shows 36 tandem parking spaces. That translates into 18 spaces that will be difficult to access when the garage is completely full. We will manage this situation by assigning those spaces to three-bedroom and four-bedroom tenants living in units with more than one vehicle per units allowing easier communication and co-ordination of car owners. Presently, only a portion of Solar Vail parking spaces is used by Solar Vail tenants. We use the unused spaces to park overflow Sonnenalp vehicles at that location. We anticipate that this situation will occur at the ‘new Solar Vail’, in which case we would effectively use tandem space parking. Parking for Office Space – Based on the currently proposed 4750 sf of office space, the zoning requirements call for 20 parking spaces to be allocated to the office space at Solar Vail. We anticipate the following conditions relative to those spaces: about 50% of the office space will be used for Sonnenalp Administrative offices. As those functions presently exist, we know the number of employees working in that portion of this office space and can therefore predict that only 5-7 spaces will used. The office will be open and spaces will be used from 8 AM to 5 PM Monday through Friday. Therefore, the spaces will be available on weekends and for overnight parking to non-office users. This parking use pattern can be matched with housing tenants working during the day requiring parking only at night when the office parking spots are unused. Parking for guests of housing tenants and office tenants – a certain number of spaces will be used for guest parking. The current site plan shows 8 outside parking spaces. We would propose to use those spaces for guest parking. Most guest-parking will be generated by office clients and will therefore occur during regular business hours. Housing guest parking will mostly occur in the evening hours, generally after 5 PM. We therefore believe that the outdoor spaces can accommodate all guest-parking. Using the outdoor portion of the parking for guest parking will also permit spaces 41-44 to be used for snow storage in the event that on-site snow storage becomes necessary before being removed from the property entirely.