AgdaPkt 2018-08-27 Joint SA PFA - Laserfiche WebLink

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August 26, 2018 Dear City Council, This letter represents the official position statement of the Friendly Acres Neighborhood Association. In 1833, William Forster Lloyd coined the term "Tragedy of the Commons' when he observed that the common grazing land in Great Britain was perpetually overgrazed while privately owned land was well managed. "Lloyd's answer assumed that each human exploiter of the common was guided by self-interest. At the point when the carrying capacity of the commons was fully reached, a herdsman might ask himself, "Should 1 add another animal to my herd?" Because the herdsman owned his animals, the gain of so doing would come solely to him. But the loss incurred by overloading the pasture would be "commonized" among all the herdsmen. Because the privatized gain would exceed his share of the commonized loss, a self-seeking herdsman would add another animal to his herd. And another. And reasoning in the same way, so would all the other herdsmen. Ultimately, the common property would be ruined."' This scenario, observed nearly 200 years ago, is exactly the situation Friendly Acres finds itself in with regard to street parking. As the land in Redwood City is some of the most valuable in the country, economically rational individuals will try to maximize their use of this shared resource. Friendly Acres has become the de -facto commercial garage for the nearby Fair Oaks neighborhood which takes enforcement of its street parking restrictions seriously. There are also a number of car repair and car sales businesses run out of homes. Although these business uses of our streets add many cars, the biggest driver of the parking crunch is the housing crisis which forces people to crowd into cramped quarters. As land for storing cars is free, the marginal costs of owning a car are hugely reduced making driving the cheapest and most convenient option for most people for work and other trips. Thus, our neighborhood has a proliferation of cars as storing them on one's own property is akin to leaving cash on the table. In light of this, we respectfully request that you would approve the following tonight: 1. Accept the recommendation of the complete streets committee and approve the Friendly Acres Parking Permit Program from 2°d to 5`" and Broadway to Bay. 2. We humbly request that the program is actually enforced. It is our belief that some vigorous enforcement, especially at first will strongly encourage people to rethink their car storage strategies and bring them in line with RWC policies. We submit the following for future discussion: 1. Restricting the permits to two Pernlot not per address as originally proposed. Certainly duplexes, ADUs and other missing middle housing are essential and should be encouraged however additional housing should not add additional cars to our streets. 2. Expand the hours of enforcement to 24/7 as the crunch is most intense in the evenings and weekends. The most in demand times should be the most regulated. 3. As we pilot this program in the first set of blocks, we expect to learn how the program should be best implemented. We request the city consider a flexible program that adapts to the many needs of the neighborhoods. Perhaps a menu of 3-5 options that accommodate a variety of situations rather than a one -size - fits -all solution. Thank you for your kind consideration, Bonnie Miller Friendly Acres Neighborhood Association