New Approaches to Parking Management

In this webinar, presented live on November 17, 2021, we learned about the 'new approaches to parking management' and heard from cities addressing parking issues. 

Agenda: 

9:00 am - Welcome

9:05-9:35 - Barb Thoman, RETAP and GreenStep Cities Advisor

• NEW Approaches to Parking Management Guide

9:35-10:05 - Tony Johnson, Senior Planner - City of Saint Paul

10:05-10:40 - Small Group Discussions

• Are your municipal parking requirements helping or hindering your city’s ability to meet it’s goals?
• What changes do you think would make sense?
• What barriers do you see to improving regulation and management of parking?
• What resources or technical assistance would be helpful to you?

10:40-11:00 Report Back

11:00 Conclude

View the workshop recording: 

View the slides and additional materials:

 Resources: 

• New approaches to parking management Guide (Barb Thoman, 2021)

• St. Paul parking ordinance

• Electric Vehicle ordinances

• Reducing Transportation Emissions Through Better Zoning (Great Plains Institute, 2019)
  
• BPAs 3.3, 6.5, 9.4, 14.1
• Living Streets Best Practices (GreenStep Cities, BP 11)

• American Planning Association Planning Magazine

• National Parking Reform Network 

• Streetsblog (and Talking Headways podcast)

• streets.mn

Best Practice Actions related to this topic: 

• Transportation
• 14.1 Reduce or eliminate parking minimums; add parking maximums; develop district parking; install meters and charge for parking at curb and city-owned lots/ramps.
• Land Use
• 6.2 Demonstrate that regulatory ordinances comply with the comprehensive plan including but not limited to having the zoning ordinance explicitly reference the comprehensive plan as the foundational document for decision making.
• 6.5 Adopt climate mitigation and/or energy independence goals and objectives in the comprehensive plan or in a separate policy document, and include transportation recommendations such as becoming an EV-ready city.

Register for upcoming GreenStep Cities and Tribal Nations workshops here. You do not need to be a GreenStep community to attend.

 Visit the GreenStep Cities and Tribal Nations program website at www.mngreenstep.org.

RETAP Celebrates 20 Years!

The Minnesota Retired Environmental Professionals Assistance Program (RETAP) has been providing free help to Minnesotans for two decades. A virtual presentation on October 27th, co-hosted by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and Minnesota GreenStep Cities, highlighted the program’s achievements.

We celebrated the program’s facility assessments and community sustainability projects. RETAPers have completed 422 facility assessments over that past 20 years. After a facility assessment, the assessors draft a report with recommendations. Reports identify retrofits, equipment upgrades, and behavior changes with payback projections. All the proposed recommendations over the years add up to savings of over $4 million. Facilities are encouraged to address all the “low hanging fruit” opportunities. These are things like lighting retrofits and a prescribed control of indoor temperatures. This mix of behavioral and equipment changes has experienced a high implementation rate.

The community sustainability team has been involved in highly impactful work. Work has ranged from quantifying the true cost of public parking, municipal water, urban trees, bike lanes, and more. Providing metrics and realistic action plans has been their recipe for success. RETAP work has engaged local government staff and elected officials in sustainability. This work has supported better long-term decision-making. It often provides the groundwork for continuous improvements.

Agenda: 

9:00: Welcome & Introductions
9:15-9:20 - RETAP overview - Alison Cameron, MPCA
9:20-9:40 - Community Sustainability - Michael Orange and Barb Thoman
9:40-9:55 - Facility Assessments overview - Don Bailey and Rick Person
10:05-10:20 - RETAP highlight projects - Rick Person
10:20-10:40 - RETAP History - Tom Segar
10:40-11:00 - Who should utilize RETAP services, and why? - Rin Porter and Rick Person

View the recording: 

View the slides and additional materials: 

Resources: 

• RETAP website and contacts 
• Join RETAP - applicants may be retired engineers, scientists, managers, or other professionals from a wide range of technical and non-technical fields. You must be a self-starter and independent worker, and be comfortable working with computers. 

• 20-Years of RETAP Infographic

• Road Diet Summary (Barb Thoman)

• New Approaches to Parking Management Guide (Barb Thoman) and Nov. 17 webinar

• West Saint Paul Sustainability Assessment (Michael Orange)

• EAB cost-benefit analysis calculator (Michael Orange)

• Addressing the Sustainability Gap in the Development Review Process (Michael Orange)

Best Practice Actions Related to this Topic: 

• 1.3 Invest in larger energy efficiency projects through performance contracting or other funding or through smaller retro-commissioning/retrofit projects in city-owned/school buildings.
• 2.4 Describe energy/water efficiency outcomes and other green building practices at businesses and not-for-profit organizations located within/nearby the city.
• 25.2 Create or participate in a marketing/outreach program to connect businesses with assistance providers, including utilities, who provide personalized energy, waste or sustainability audits and assistance. 

Register for upcoming GreenStep Cities and Tribal Nations workshops here. You do not need to be a GreenStep community to attend.

 Visit the GreenStep Cities and Tribal Nations program website at www.mngreenstep.org.