The Hillcrest Business Association (HBA) held a special two-hour board meeting this evening to discuss Mayor Sanders’ Parking Utilization Proposal. The plan, in essence, would provide for the mayor to implement extended meter hours (including Sunday and until 11pm) and the ability to change the rates charged in order to achieve an optimum utilization rate of 85%. “Hotspots” like the core of Hillcrest would be likely areas for increased rates. The mayor would seek direction from community parking districts. The Uptown Partnership addresses parking issues in the communities of Hillcrest, Bankers Hill, Mission Hills and Five Points.
After much discussion, two motions were made by boardmember Steve Moore. The first motion was to endorse the letter sent to the Uptown Partnership from Council Districts 2 and 3 (which represent Uptown). The letter stated that any process involving funds from the public should be open and transparent; the Uptown Partnership should consider expanding the number of board members and adjust the method of board member selection; work with the City Attorney’s office to examine alternative methods for boardmember appointment; implement a system of term limits; and finally form a Joint Standing Committee to focus exclusively on potential solutions to parking problems in the Hillcrest business district. The motion was unanimously passed. The second motion was to exclude Hillcrest and the Uptown community from the Mayor’s Parking Utilization Proposal. It passed 6-4.
The Uptown Partnership will hold its monthly board meeting this Thursday at 4:30pm in their office at 3108 Fifth Avenue. One item on the agenda will be “to review and comment on a memorandum of understanding prepared by the Hillcrest Business Association for the Hillcrest project committee established in May 2009” at the direction of Councilmembers Todd Gloria and Kevin Faulconer.
The next regular board meeting for the HBA will be held next Tuesday, June 9th at 5pm in the Joyce Beers Community Center (followed by the Hillcrest Town Council at 6:30pm).
