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While most cities charge per parking space, there is not much consistency for the specific fee charged across existing parklet programs. For example, the City of San Francisco requires $3,000 for the first parking space and $1,500 for each parking space thereafter. The City of Oakland does not charge for the parking space use. The value of the space could be determined in several ways: • $0: There are no parking meters downtown and parking is free to members of the public. • Approximately $2,500 - $5,000 annually: Hypothetical cost of parking if meters were installed (assumes cost of parking is $1-2 dollars per hour, charged for 8 hours per day, 6 days per week). The City of Seattle uses this calculation as its cost basis. • Approximately $7,560 annually: Staff connected with some commercial real estate brokers and looked at recent rental rates for commercial property. Based on this limited study, space in downtown Pleasanton rents for -$2.75-$4.50 per square-foot per month with an average of about $3.15 per square foot. Many factors affect this value, including age of building and location among others. Given that the typical area of a parking space is approximately 200 square feet, a parklet occupying a typical parking space would rent for -$630 per month, or $7,560/year. Considering that a parklet space is outdoor only and located on the street, and would not have utilities, building maintenance or other similar associated costs, its rental value could be assumed to be lower than a typical interior space. • $20,593.04, one-time fee, or proportion thereof: The Downtown Revitalization District Parking In-Lieu fee is based on a nexus study which evaluated the value of a parking space downtown. The In-Lieu fee is a one-time fee, based on the cost to construct a (surface) parking space. Annualized over 10 years, the fee amounts to approximately $2,000/year and annualized over 20 years, the fee amounts to approximately $1,000/year. Given the above information, staff suggests an annual fee of$1,000 per parking space, which strikes a balance between the current charge for parking downtown and the hypothetical value to the city of a metered parking. The proposed annual fee is a fraction of the In-Lieu fee (less than five-percent) and a fraction of the average rental rate (less than 15-percent) to lease space downtown. Although the fee would be an additional cost to the business, the business is benefitting from the use of public property to provide more dining seats and generate additional revenue. The fee would also help off-set the costs of any additional City maintenance or infrastructure associated with the parklets, as discussed above. To provide some relief for businesses investing in the parklet program, staff suggests waiving the fee for the first year of a new parklet operation which would offset start-up costs to build the parklet structure itself and allow businesses to determine if a parklet is a worthwhile endeavor. Parklets add value to the community, vitality to the downtown, and generate sales taxes. As such, while some cities charge much more than $1,000 for annual rental of City space, staff recommends capping the annual fee. The fee can be adjusted with inflation as is the case with other City fees. PUBLIC NOTICE Notice of this hearing was sent to property owners and tenants/occupants between Peters Avenue and the Transportation Corridor and as far north as St. John Street and as far south as Old Bernal Avenue as shown in Exhibit C. At the time of report publication, staff has received Parklets Planning Commission 11 of 12