LOCCNA_response

LOCCNA response to CBE Draft Parking Management Plan dated March 28, 2005.

Section III, "Event Traffic and Parking" and Section IV, "Parking for Religious Events" remain insufficient and do not comply with the LOCCNA/CBE agreement or the Conditional Use Permit in the following respects:

The threshold for special parking arrangements must be for events of 150 or more people.

III. C. 1. should be either removed or refer to events of fewer than 150 people (not "More than 150 People" ). The permit requires a plan for events with more than 150 people. Encouraging attendees to walk, carpool, or be dropped off/picked up is good, everyday neighborhood courtesy and should be a common theme for all events at the synagogue, whether they are expected to have more or less than 150 people. Including an insert with invitations for events of 150 or more that simply reminds people of this common courtesy and "warns" about limited parking is not a substantive plan and has little constructive effect. For many people, this phrasing essentially alerts them that they better allow extra time to hunt for parking space.

III. C. 2. This paragraph fails to address the intent of the LOCCNA/CBE agreement requiring Beth El to provide adequate parking or to make the necessary additional parking arrangements ahead of time for all events of 150 or more people. This is mandatory - it is not optional depending on whether one particular off-site parking location is available on the day and time of the event. Beth El must make additional plans and arrangements to satisfy this requirement for all events (both religious and non-religious) anticipated to have 150 or more people.

This paragraph must be for events for more than 150, not 200, as 150 is the threshold for a plan as set forth in the permit and agreement. The addition of the First American Title parking lot is helpful, as it should be available all weekend. However, it only adds a few parking spaces, so alone, it is notsufficient. If the Magdalene is available (possibly) Friday night, Saturday a.m. and p.m., it is likely to be sufficient for Shabbat services, including Bar/Bat Mitzvahs, but it must be available for every Bar/Bat Mitzvah. Invitations to Bar Mitzvahs (or events with over 150 people) should include parking instructions and have mechanism for verifying that attendees follow the instructions.

In addition, the Use Permit and the Agreement require that valet parking be utilized, at least to increase the number of spaces available on the CBE site. Valet parking was included in the first draft, as required, but appears to have been eliminated.

IV. Parking for Religious Services.

Somehow, religious services have been removed from the events for which satellite and valet parking must be provided. The Agreement and Use Permit make no such distinction. Religious services, particularly Bar/Bat Mitzvahs were discussed at length in the negotiations, and the Agreement applies to them.

General comments:

The new plan is considerably worse than the first draft. Not only have none of our concerns been addressed, but the plan is less in compliance with the Use Permit than the first draft. It does not have a "plan" for every event which more than 150 people are expected to attend. As written, it only has a plan for "non-religious" events of more than 150. What are such events? Are there "non-religious" events at a religious institution?

Also, as stated above, the use of valet parking, as required by the Permit and Agreement has been eliminated.

Lastly, I repeat these comments from our response to the first draft:

The JCC is not likely to be available any time that it is needed; i.e. Saturdays and High Holidays.

The Magdalene should be available and used every Saturday, and it should be sufficient for those days. But what about Sunday events, e.g. KeeTov orientation, preschool orientation, Chanukah Fair, Purim Fair, etc.? These are always more than 150 and usually more than 200.

And what about days other Sundays when Magdalene is not available. The plan makes no provision for such days.

For Sundays and other days that Magdalene not available, and especially for High Holidays, the plan needs more options for satellite parking with Shuttle bus.

The Magdalene is not likely to be available for High Holidays--only if one of them falls on Saturday and, of course, the other will not be on Saturday. JCC is not available; therefore, there is really no plan for the High Holidays. And the plan must provide for the inevitable times on which the High Holidays are not on Saturday or Sunday.

Again, CBE should locate another satellite parking and a van for shuttle to/from the satellite lot (e.g., those listed above, and preferably more than one of them for High Holidays).