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Commissioner Balch: It appears to be utilized in this area, I'll just say that and without <br />any environmental issues in this area, it seems like it might be an initial one to take a <br />crack at. <br />Commissioner O'Connor: And some too we could better access into the Main Street so <br />you don't have to walk two blocks down to get to a street to where.... <br />Beaudin: ... are you talking about a pedestrian cut through? <br />Commissioner O'Connor: Well, because of the grade elevation change, that we put in <br />some kind of a staircase. <br />Commissioner Balch: Well, there is one actually. That's what actually drew my attention <br />to it. The staircase is there. It's a concrete stair. It's got truncated domes and it's ready <br />to go and it's great. You're on one grade in gravel, you go on a very freshly poured <br />concrete staircase, you get to the bottom and you end up on gravel again for another 15 <br />feet or 10 feet and you walk into the parking lot. It puts you right into the back parking lot <br />of that establishment next to McKay's where you step over a curb. <br />Beaudin: It's not accessible, so there would have to be a ramp system and a whole <br />other level of investment if we made it an official public path. But yes, the idea of getting <br />people to Main Street and getting people out of the parking lot, understood. <br />Commissioner Nagler: Just out of curiosity, this staircase that Commissioner Balch so <br />articulately described, who built it? It's only 3 or 4 years old. <br />Beaudin: So the property owner of Fleet Feet, Craig Semmelmeyer, he approached us. <br />He wanted to build a staircase and that is part of the City property transportation <br />corridor including the flat part down below. So we went out and worked with him on <br />putting that in there. We have a downtown trails master plan that shows how we want to <br />put parking in the corridor including the regional trail and it has a series of those stairs in <br />the plan. So this was one of those staircases in the plan that he approached us to <br />install. It's not ADA, so when our building folks were out there, they said as long as you <br />put appropriate signage that says you can get to Abbey Street for your ADA access that <br />would be acceptable. <br />Commissioner Nagler: Is the sign there? <br />Beaudin: There should be a sign on the staircase. <br />Commissioner Balch: Is the ADA requirement consistent with all of the parking <br />requirements in the downtown because when I've been through the St. Mary's lot, I <br />didn't think there was any ADA there. <br />Beaudin: I'm not talking about ADA parking spaces, I'm talking about ADA access <br />because of the staircase. It wasn't ramped, so you have to provide alternative means to <br />get to the point, like if you wanted to get to Main Street. The arrows point you to take <br />Abbey Street. <br />PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, August 24, 2016 Page 36 of 39 <br />