Yesterday afternoon from 3-5pm Mike McLaughlin, the counsultant hired to rework Uptown’s parking district, presented a preliminary reorganization plan to 18 residents and business owners at Hillcrest’s Joyce Beers Community Center.
McLaughlin explained that the city set forth criteria for the reorganization and that he had outreached to several community leaders and past Uptown Partnership board members for an historical perspective and garner what the community would value in the next parking advisory board. Points of agreement from the neighborhoods included sharing revenue proportionately between communities based on revenue generation; board members should have term limits; terms should be staggered; and there are issues that will need to be addressed by the new board including: staffing, communications and responsiveness.
One proposed board makeup included 7 representatives from Hillcrest (5 from the business community and 2 residents; 4 from Bankers Hill (3 business/1 resident); 1 from the Mission Hills Business Association; 1 from Five Points business community; 1 shared residents seat from Mission Hills/Five Points and 1 representative from the Medical Center. There was discussion as to whether the Medical Center representative would have voting rights since there are no meters in that area. Board members would be selected through their respective business group or residents organization in Hillcrest and Mission Hills…and via neighborhood-wide elections in Bankers Hill and Five Points.
“Sticky issues” include the Hillcrest/Mission Hills boundary; if Five Points will continue to be linked to the Mission Hills BID; and the fact that Bankers Hill has not held a residents meeting in years. This is phase two of recommendations, referred to as “Consensus Building” for a new Uptown parking district management. Another meeting will take place in the next few weeks (possibly in Bankers Hill).
