HomeMy WebLinkAboutApproved Minutes - 1961-08-01 PM • •
,Iutiust 1, 1961 Gl
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The regular meeting of the Council of the City of Lake Oswego convOled at 7t34..p.m.
lur Present were Coan, Ha msen, Lawrence, Ross, Stewart, Thomas and Mayor Stick;.
c.
Councilman Lawrence moved that the minutes of the previous meeting'be corrected as .`
follows: instead of Councilman Ross making the Police and Fire report, this, should
show Councilman Coan. It was then moved by Lawrence, seconded by I*msen thht the •
minutes as mailed, with the above correction, be approved.' Carxied unanimously.
Chairman.Tom Brooks of the Traffic Committee presented a written report and read '
same. At the end of his oral presentation of the written report, he introduced .
the members -of his committee present, Jack Schiffer and .Warren Oliver, Jr. The ,
. Mayor introduced Mr. F. B. Crandall and Mr. Dennis Peterson, traffic engineers
representing the State Highway CoMrnission, The Mayor also introduced County Com- . •
missioner Darrell Jones and Mr. Irv" Ourran, County Auditor. He also 'Called Utters .
tion to the letters from the Ghtet of Police and the Fire Chief in regards to the
traffic hazard created by diagonal parking. •; .
At 7258 p.m. Mr. William H. Hedlund, attorney representing the various merchants. 'i
' • in opposition to parallel parking, made his presentation. . For the purpose of- the
:record, he. presented a petition from practically all the merchants in opposition .
to parallel parking. Also presented a petition containing the names of approxi- .z
matoly 300 customers of said merchants who were in opposition to parallel.parking.
Also presented a letter from the chairman of the Board of County Comaissionera re- _}
garding the county's policy on county roads and a letter to Mr. Mitchell from the. :i _
. State Highway Department .regardinu the number of accidents upon the streets ;s
As affected. At 8130 p.m. Mr. Hedlund concluded his presentation.
councilman Stewart questioned Mr. Crandall, State Highway Traffic.Bngineer, if he i�
has personally observed our problem. He replied yes, that he has, and stated fur• i ,
ther that when people aro diagonally parl;ed'and back out into the stream of traffic,
it blocks all traffic movement. Councilmman Stewart then suggested as a possible
solution that diagonal parking.be eliminated during peak hours only.
Mr. Burt of the Fabric Shop suggested the separation line on "A" Street should be '' .$
narrowed from 5i to 2 feet. Councilman Thomas stated that he didn't feel there is :i
. any congestion at State and "A", that the .problem is caused by the traffic light; ! ' '
further stated it is much easier rind safer to back out when parked diagonally thin
to get into the traffic flow when one is parked parallel. .,
Councilman'Lawrence stated that he had observed the parking on "A" Street end, at
. the time he made his observation, there were only 14 cars parked diagonally.
Councilman Stewart inquired of Mr. Crandall in regards to diagonal parking on Com-
• mercial. Street in Salem,.also stating that Salem does not have'as much off-street • (\, f'
parking as we. do. Mr. Crandall, stated that that street was 72 feet wide curb. to j `,�
curb, that they used 45° angle paring and the stalls are 10 feet wide against Lake ;? '` `
Oswego's 8 feet. He observed that the problem here was whether you wanted to use `.
the street for garage purposes or for the movement of traffic in oafoty. : :,. .
._Councilman Lawrence asked Mr. Crandall if the State recommends 30° parking. His , .
answer was that they recomMend 45° parking,
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Mr. Larry Gillette of the G-Y Appliance S,%ore suggested a tight-turn light at State
end "A" and.another at State and "B". F. A. Patterson of the Oewogo Bike Shop said .
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he is l00% for diagonal parking. Mr. Richard 13lizzerd stated that rare ware dis-
regarding the striping on "A" Street and claimed that 4 lanes of traffic can move -
with diagonal parking.
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Mr. Edward Pearson, owner of commercial property on tst and "A" Rpt►ke in behalf of
parallel parking, stating that it is standard in other cities and provides greater •
safety and claimed that on an average,, there once better than 20 unused parking
spaces on Second Street. Mr. Richard Wilmott also spoke in behalf `of parallel parking. .•
Mr. R. P. DeBellis commented upon Mr. Wilmott'e statements. Councilman Lawrence 'them .
asked Mr. Mollie if he was in favor of eliminating diagonal parking. Mr. Mollie'
replied, yes. At this point the Mayor asked Mr. Well's if he meant what he said
and if he was sure he hadn't misunderstood the question. His reply was, that he had .�
and that he opposed parallel parking and that he would like to see diagonal parking ,
restored on State Street. Councilman Hermsen stated that it is ridiculous the way., .
it is now with pert diagonal and part parallel parking, and that it has to go one (va%,/
or another. •
Councilman Lawrence then moved, Hermsen seconded that the report of the Traffic Com-
mittee be adopted and that the City Attorney be instructed to prepare a resolution
implementing their recommendations and thet.said committee should be thanked for
their time and effort which has gone into preparing the report. During the dis- .
- cussion, Councilman Coen wanted to be furnished information in regsrda to how much I`
space would be used if the perking stalls were at a 45o angle. Councilman Hermsen
commented on Councilman Stewart"e suggestion of eliminating ell parking during cer..
tain-peak hours. Councilman Thomas concluded that this is not the solution.
Mr. Crandall, Traffic Engineer of the State Highway Department,' in reply to on in- j
quiry, stated that there is this contractual commitment to eliminate diagonal park-
, ing when requested by the State and the State does not like to do it on a straightIOF
J demand basis. But the State feels that the time has come when accident prevention
and impediment to traffic flow is as greet as it is, that diagonal parking should
be eliminated.
The Mayor then made a statement that he was opposed to diagonal parking for safety
reasons, which is supported by the data furnished by the Traffic Committee. This •_., :
is particularly true for "A" Avenue. At 9i30 p.m., the question was called for: _
Upon a roll call vote, Coan, Hermon,. Stewart and Themes voted Ho. The report of
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the traffic Committee was rejected. ,
It was then moved by Thomas, seconded by Ross that the Traffio Committee was to con•.i
tfnue their study and.employ a traffic engineer subject to the approval of the +
Council to aid them in their study'and to report back to the Council.
Mr. William Blizzard then suggested that some business men be put on the'commmittee.
The Mayor asked Mr. Blizzard if he wanted to correct hie statement in regards to - `".
business men not being on the committee. He failed' to do so. Mr. Oliver then stated
he was a member of the Traffic Committee and a business man.
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• Question was then called for and motion carried. 4 .
At 9a45 p.m. a 5-minute recess was ordered. At 9i58 Council reconvened. i
hat`li ►A,Y%A§M2liI - d. 'D. Gleason
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Requested authorization to call for bids from selected bidders to paint the fire
h+.il and the city hall, sum not to,exceed $10X. Moved by Caen, eeoondeif by Ross
such authorization be granted. Carried.
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' illill.
Presented petition supported by 39 names requesting Cornell Street be mode an
arterial from its Junction with Oak Street south to the beginning 0 Cornell Road.
Mayor referred this to the Traffic Committee.
Administrative Assistant requested the Council to indicate their ppsition on the
Marylhuret Fire Contract. Moved by Thomas that the Merylhurst contract be reduced
• from $600 to $500. Failed for lack of a second. It was then moved by Thomas,
seconded by Lawrence that tho contract as presented for $600 stand. Motion carriedn
. Hermson voting No. .
• Moved by Coen, seconded by Lawrence that, if the Marylhurst contract was not' exe-
cuted forthwith that the City of Lake Oswego notify the college that the City
woOd terminate the fire-fighting protection now provided. Upon the question being
• cr,2,ted fo:r, the motion failed, Hermon, Stidd and Ross voting No and Thomas abstain-
,;ing '-
'.Presonted the request from Gateway Chevrolet requesting 1-hour parking on Leonard ,
;Street. Mayor referred this to the Traffic Committee for study and report.
Called attention of -the Council to the letter from Mrs. Winchester in regards to
' the posting of "no-Parking" signs in the Lake Grove swim •area. Also presented `
copy of her letter sent to the Oswego Review. Mayor referred to the Public Safety
\,. ';Committee for recommendations.
Called to the Council's attention the request from tho Oregon Alarm Systems for a .E
revision of their franchise. Referred to City Attorney for advice.
!-• Letter from Southern Pacific notifying the Council that flashing light signal at
SBryant Road was placed in service on July 28, 1941.
gly FNGXNF,F • R. N. Cruden . .
Made a report in regards to stoppage'of, work due to strike conditions on L.I.D. II ,
Lake Bay Court.
Foothills Road - City Engineer made a recommendation and proposed an L.I.D. for a new
road to serve the industrial area below State Street. •'Instructed ,by the Council to
get together with the Portland engineers and our attorney, after he returns from
vacation, so .that there would be no conflict•with Portland's program for access to,.
their sewage treatment plant and our proposed road to• serve the industrial area. •
PEISNEL James E, Lawrence
Moved by Lawrence, seconded by Coan that the 3 volunteers, Roger L. Cott, Raymond>•E.
Hughes, and Prank Graham be accepted. So ordered.
Empa - Frank germaen ,
Informed the Council that Lake Oswego Gordon Club is going to give $100 to,be. used
to improve the memorial garden at George Rogers Park.
§gra 1.kANAIMAND. l - Curtis R. Stewart -.)
Stated there will be no negotiations with Portland until after the August 7th,bond
election. Councilman Stewart extended thanks to the press and to his Citizens'
Committee for the work they have performed in informing the public as to the merits -
of said election. .
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D • Ralph'0, Coan
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ct),tMt3,� .�Y..PY ANG .. ,r,;;NI Plp 'Men � Donald T. Rose
Moved by Ross, seconded by Stewart that questions raised by Ordinance No. 773 be
referred back to the City Rnginoor and that further otudy he made by the Planning
40 Commission and the Municipal Research Bureau on this subject. Also called to the ;
Council's attention that the Library has two problems (1 the removal of the
structures upon the donated sito and (Z) paving costs. Roth items wore hot included .
in the original cost estimate.
Moved by Lawrence, seconded by Coan that the Mayor and City Recorder be authorizes'
to accept the deed from the owner for the Library site. So ordered-
FI1+AN,( - George Thomas
Moved by Thomas, seconded by Coan that the June expenditures in the amount of
$101,311.01, as shown by the recap which is attached, be approved for payment.
. Upon a roll call vote, so ordered. ;
PU g...§a E , « Mayor Stidd .
Councilman Ross submitted the monthly report of the Fir* Department. Moved by
Lawrence, seconded by Coen that said report be accepted. The Mayor then stated that
the Public-Safety Committee should study,.the problem of nailing volunteers by other
methods than by the use'af"the ;iron. Ilia excessive use of the siren has become
annoying to the public for ambulance calla, and the committee should explore the
possibility of abolishing• the ambulance service which is in conflict with private
business. •,.
Acting Police. Chief Mace called to the Council's attention the request:for a school
crosswalk sign on Lakeview Boulevard. Moved by Lawrence, seconded by Stewart that
said crosswalk be marked as a school crossing. Carried.
41) Councilman Stewart called the attention of the Council to the fact that absentee
ballots were not available to the electorate for the bond election and deplored the
practice of denying absentee voters the right to vote. Administrative Assistant
stated that providing for absentee ballots was not mandatory; and that the decision
was made not to provide absentee,ballota for this eleotien. The Council was of .the
opinion that in the future, absentee ballots should be made available.
There being no further business, Council adjourned at 1103 p.m.
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City Recorder +
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City Traffic Committee report to be submitted to the Lake Oswego City Council at
its regulsr meeting on August 1st, 1961.
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41/ This committee since its establishment in February 1961 has held several meetings,
and has considered several problems that have come before it and wish at this time
to make the following report and recommendations as detailed heroin:
DIACONALPA( I FCC ON "A" AVENUEs From State Street through 'to Fourth Street on the
North side, and from Second Street through to Fourth Street on the South Side
Three letters from the State Highway Department dated April 27th,. July 10th and
24th, 1961, have been received by the City Engineer's Department, these lettere
'being referred to this committee for study and recommendation. The letter dated •
April 27th, 1961 deals with On Street Parking, and the four paragraphs are quoted •
herein;
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"As was explained by our representative, angle parking is' not considered
good practice on City streets which are expected to carry any appreci-
able volume of traffic. Experience in various cities in this state and,
throughout the country has indicated that angle parking approximately '
doubles the incidence of parking accidents. Also, a vehicle leaving
and entering the parking stall must back out so far into treffic that e
it will block one or more moving lanes of traffic.
In regard to the desirable width of an angle parking stall, it has been
found that such parking stalls should not be loss than nine feet in
width and ten feet is preferable. Modern automobiles ore.:approach!ng
seven feet in width, thus an eight-foot parking stall does not give Suf-
ficient room for the driver and the passenger Of the car• to enter and •
leave the car without considerable difficulty. The recommendation of
this office would ba not less than nine foot angle stalls.
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During the discussion it was indicated that consideration was being
given to the painting of parking stalls ten feet in width at a 30-
degree angle« A ten-foot 30 degree parking stall requires approximate-
ly 20 feet of curb space. This is the same length as would be required
under parallel parking and it would appear that no benefit would be ob-
tained from the painting of an angle stall.
It is the recommendation of this office that serious consideration be
given to parallel parking."
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Then followed the letter dated July 10th, 1961 in which the State drew the City's
attention to the agreement made on the 16th day of January, 1958, between the
State and the City of Lake Oswego. This letter is appended hereunder:
Dear Mr. Cruden:
At the time the signal was installed at the intersection of "A" Street
and State Street (ORE 43), it was anticipated that at some future date,
with an increase in traffic volume, it would be necessary to institute
more parallel parking requirements on "A" Street to minimize friction
. and increase traffic capacity. The need for such adjustment in parking
regulations is pointed out in Paragraph 5 under "Things to be done by
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the City" as contained in the State-City agreement covering the signal
installation, dated January 16th, 1958.
Traffic on "I," Street in the vicinity of the signal currently amounts
to some 8,000 vehicles per day, which is an increase_ of some 20 par
cent over that existent at the time of the signal installation. We be-; •
lieve that with this increase the time has arrived wherein parallel '
• parking should be instituted on both sides of "A" Street for a distance
of at least two blocks westerly of State Street. With the increased '
traffic volume, it would be advisable, both from the standpoint of cape.-
city and accident potention, to institute parallel parking throughout
the length of "A" Street in Lake Oswego. •
I trust the City concurs in our thinking as to the need for parallel
parking regulations and will give serious consideration to the matter,
looking to instituting such through appropriate ordinance."
This letter was followed by another one dated July 24th, 1961. We quote this letter
in fulls
Dear Mr,. Crucc:ns •
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This letter is a supplement to my letter to you dated July IUth • '
on the matter of parking regulation on "A" Street in Lake Oswego.
Subsequent to my letter of July 10th we made an analysis of the
-accidents on a 2-block section of "A" Street from State Street to _
Second Street.
Wring the 2-year, 5-month period from January 1, 1959 through
May 31, 1961, there wore a total of 44 reported accidents on "A"
Street In the 2-block section, inclusive of the terminal intersec-
tions. Of the. total 44 accidents, 11 directly involved a parked
vehicle or a vehicle maneuvering to "park" or "unpark". Nine of
these 11 parking accidents involved an angle-parking maneuver, and -
two involved parallel parking. Eight of these parking-type accidents
occurred on the North side of "A" Street where angle parking is in
effect. -
It is a well-established fact that angle-type parking generates a .
higher incidence of accidents than is the case with parallel parking.
Actual ease studies confirm this. Exemplary is a study in the City
of Pendleton wherein conversion was made from angle to parallel park-
ing. Based on a 6-month "before" and "after" study, accidents were
reduced from 46 to 16, representing a reduction of-65 per cent by .
reason of institution of parallel parking.
There was an article on this r;ubfect, "Influence of Parking on Acci-
dents", in the April 1947 issue of the Traffic Quarterly which pointed ,
up the differential in accident picture. One example included in- the
aforementioned article was a case study in Salem, Oregon comparing the
accident record on two street sections, one of which provided.parallel ; .
parking and the other angle parking. In this comparison,' the street
411 section with angle parking experienced 77 accidents, and the street
. with parallel parking experienced 36 accidents. With respect to park-
. ing type accidents only, of the foregoing total there were 57 in the
instance of angle parking as compared to 20 on the street section with ,
parallel parking."
We draw your attention to the accident -information as given in this -letter dated
July 24, in paragraphs 1 and 2 it states that they made an analysis of the-ecci.-
dents within the 2-block section of "A" Avenue for the period - January 1, 1959
to May 31, 1961. Accidents reported were 44 - 11 directly ,involved a parked -e ,
' vehicle or a vehicle maneuvering to park or unpark. 9 of these 11 parking acci -
dents involved an angle parking maneuver, the •other 2 parallel parking. Eight
of these 11 accidents occurred on the North aide of "A" Avenue whore angle parking
is in effect. ..
We wish to draw your further attention to paragraph 3 of this same letter which
states it is a well-established fact that angle-type parking generates a higher
incidence of accidents than is the case with parallel parking. Actual case-studies .
confirm this. Exemplary is a study in the City of Pendleton wherein conversion was '
made from angle parking to parallel parking. Based on a 6-month "before" and "after"
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study, accidents were reduced from 46 to 16 representing a reduction of 65 per cent
by reason of institution of parallel parking. '
We would also further draw your attention to a case study made in Salem, Oregon, as
mentioned in paragraph 4 of the July. 24th letter which states a comparison of the
accident record en two street sections, one of which had parallel parking, and the
other angle parking. In this comparison the street section with angle parking ex-
perienced 77 accidents, and the street with parallel parking experienced 36 accidents.
With respect to parking type accidents only, of the foregoing.total there were 57 in
the instance of angle parking as compared to 20 on the section with parallel perking.
The Traffic Committee has made a study of the information available to it including
personal observation by members of the committee of the traffic congestion problems . .
at the intersection of State Street and "A" Avenue. In this regard the committee
directs the Council's attention to the agreement botwoon'the State and the City of
Lake Oswego which was entered into between these parties on the 16th day of
January, 1958, in particular we refer to the "THINGS TO BE DONE BY CITY", and to
paragraph 5 under this headings
"City agrees that, if in the future, it becomes necessary for safe and
11 expeditious movememt of traffic through said intersection, upon request
of the state, to adopt an ordinance requiring parallel parking on the
northerly side of "A" Avenue, and for any additional distance on the
• southerly side, as may be required." .
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After having given most serious consideration find study to all the pertinent
matters as contained in the correspondence received from the State Highway
0 Department, together with the obligations of the City as contained in the
agreement dated January 16th, 1958, especially as set out in parayiraph 5
under the heading of "THINGS TO BE DOtNtr. BY THE CITY", our committee now submits
the following recommendations to the Council for their consideration and
decisions •
"THAT PARALLEL PARKING BE INSTITUTED ON BOTH SIDES OR "A" AVENUE,
IN LAKE OSWEGO -• FROM STATE STREET IN THE EAST THROUGH TO TENTH
STREET IN THE WEST." ,
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REfp1MiNDATIN t ,...2t ,.
"THIS COMMITTER RECOMMENDS TO THE CITY COUNCIL THAT lifE CITY POLICE
SUPERVISE AND CONTROL THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC AT STATE AND "A" AVENUE
BETWEEN THE HOURS OF 4 and 6 P.M., MONDAYS THROUGH FRIDAYS. THIS
SHOULD BE DONE MANUALLY OR ELECTRICALLY, AS WE FEEL THAT THIS.WOULD
RELIEVE THE CONGESTION OF TRAFFIC DURING THESE HOURS."
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RECgMMFAIDATION NO,3s
"IT IS FURTHER RECOMMENDhD THAT CONSIDERATION Be GIVEN TO SIMILAR
III SUPERVISION AND CONTROL ON SATURDAYS DURING THOSE HOURS OF LIKE
CONGESTION AT THIS INTERSECTION." : .
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To further' support the above recommendations, We:submit the following statistical
data as obtained from the State Highway Department who made a mechanical check of
traffic on March 22 and 23, 1961, at the ,intersection of State Street and "A" Avenue.
Time North West North • South West South Total for
to to to to to to each
_._._. Wesj, North Seat _- North_ - --iotit WAOt hex ,:
3 -4 193 117 333 333 211 200 1387 •
4 --5 166 167 520 484 361 2550 194E
5 -6 237 125 696 - . 333 286 214 1893
6 -7 141 89 333 216 196 153 1128
737 498 1882 1368 1054 817 , 6356
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Total number of vehicles passing through the intersection during the 16-hour period
and the 24-hour period are given hereunder.
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16-hour - 175391 24-hour 7 193' 3; average 4-hour traffic during the 16-hour', -
period was 4385, during the 24 hour period it was 3272, but during the period
of 4 hours from 3 to 7 p.m. the total of traffic passing through this intersec-_
tion reached no loss than 6356 vehicles, which substantiates the conclusion of
the State Highway Department when they point out that there has been an increase
of 20 per cent during the period of the 3 years and seven months since the agree-
ment between the State and tho City was entered into.
Our Committee will be on hand when this report Is before your council on Tuesday, -
Auguat 1st, 1961, to answer any questions that may be forthcoming at that 'time.
When the vacation period, which is now with us, is over we have other problems
which will call for careful study by this committee.
With our compliments:
lir .
. .S/ .T. R..Bxooks Chairman
. .Robert H..Huntington . . . , Member
Robert T. Morrison •
. . . . . . • . . . . . . . . . .Member
. .J0cli Ai f fgr Member
Warren Oliver, Jr: Membar
July 28, 1961
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