Title
Recommendation to Approve the City Aquatics Center Parking Action Plan with a 50-Space Onsite Parking Lot, No Paid Parking and Prioritizing Shared Parking Agreements, Off-Site Employee Parking, Time-Limited Parking and Incentives for Alternative Transportation (Recommendations 1-B, 1-C, 1-D,1-E, 3-A, 3-B). (Recreation 10051400)
Body
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Adam W. Politzer, Interim City Manager
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
For the proposed City of Alameda Aquatics Center (Aquatics Center) at Jean Sweeney Open Space Park, staff is recommending a 50-space onsite parking lot with shared use for the upcoming adjacent community garden. Following City Council direction, staff completed a parking analysis which found parking demand will exceed on-site capacity during peak periods. To address this, staff recommends a cost effective, operations focused strategy that prioritizes shared parking agreements, including adjacent overflow parking at the College of Alameda (COA) and the Research Park at Marina Village, off-site employee parking, time-limited parking, and incentives for alternative transportation (Plan Recommendations 1B-F, 3A and 3B). Staff does not recommend paid parking and enforcement or new parking technology due to enforcement complexity and potential neighborhood spillover impacts (Plan Recommendations 1F-1J, 2A-2C). Staff also does not recommend neighborhood parking limits and/or preferential parking program (Plan Recommendations 3A and 3B). This proposed approach meets projected demand, minimizes impacts to surrounding neighborhoods, and allows the City of Alameda (City) to monitor conditions, adjust and implement additional strategies as needed.
BACKGROUND
The proposed Aquatics Center project is located at the west end of Jean Sweeney Open Space Park and will consist of two pools, a mechanical building with locker rooms, an administrative building, and, as proposed, a 50-space parking lot.
On June 23, 2025, the Planning Board approved the Aquatics Center plan with the reduction of four parking spaces from the proposed seventy-one to sixty-seven for improved functionality of the parking lot.
On July 1, 2025, ARPD staff presented the Aquatics Center project to City Council for approval with funding plan, and an Addendum to a Mitigated Negative Declaration pursuant to Section 15164 of the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines. City Council approved the Addendum to the Mitigated Negative Declaration and the Aquatics Center project, while also directing staff to include an add alternate to the bid package for a 50-stall parking lot. City Council requested staff return prior to the project construction contract award and provide further analysis of parking requirements, negotiate with adjacent property owners to access their existing parking facilities, and provide updates on the Transportation Demand Management plan.
City Council also directed staff to provide further analysis of parking requirements for the Aquatics Center and proposed community garden. ARPD staff contracted with Dixon Resources Unlimited (DIXON), the same vendor providing parking strategies for the City’s Ferry terminals. The analysis by DIXON compared the two parking lot configurations, one with sixty-seven parking spaces and one with fifty spaces along with the planned aquatics programming and developed an Aquatics Center Parking Action Plan, included as Exhibit 1.
DISCUSSION
Staff is recommending construction of the 50-space parking lot leveraged by the agreement with COA to provide staff parking throughout the day and overflow public parking nights and weekends as well as limited timed parking up to two hours and incentives for people who use alternative modes of transportation such as bicycle, walking or transit. The Aquatics Center Parking Action Plan (Parking Plan) evaluates anticipated parking demand, operational constraints, and potential neighborhood impacts associated with the new facility. The study identifies that parking demand will vary seasonally and may exceed on-site capacity during peak periods, particularly summer weekdays and weekends. The Parking Plan included shared usage with the planned community garden in the recommendations.
The DIXON analysis used the traffic study data from Fher and Peers Traffic Impact Analysis report (Exhibit 2) for the Aquatics Center operational usage, based on proposed programming. The analysis reviewed the operational needs for weekday summer, weekday non-summer, and weekends. DIXON identified when each parking lot configuration meets or exceeds parking demand and provided parking management recommendations.
The Parking Plan provides a range of strategies to balance parking supply, reduce spillover impacts, and maintain accessibility for the Center users and the surrounding community. Staff recommends prioritizing operational and partnership-based strategies to manage parking demand before introducing pricing mechanisms or capital-intensive technology systems. Staff does not recommend the Parking Plan’s recommendations to implement paid parking and enforcement or neighborhood parking limits and/or preferential parking (Plan Recommendations: 1F - 1J, 2A - 2C). These can be considered in the future after assessment and analysis after implementing the operational and partnership-based strategies. Recommended items include the following:
• (1-B): Establish designated City employee parking at the COA Science Annex to preserve on-site parking for users of the Center
• (1-C): Implement transportation demand management strategies such as carpool incentives, transit subsidies, and bike programs to reduce parking demand.
• (1-D): Pursue agreements with nearby property owners to provide overflow and event parking on their properties.
• (1-E): Implement parking time limits (90 minutes to 2 hours) to promote turnover and availability aligned with program durations. The majority of programming offered at the center will not exceed 2 hours.
• (3-A): Promote walking, biking, and transit through incentives and outreach to reduce reliance on on-site parking. ARPD will offer a discount of 5% to users who present either a bus pass or indicate they traveled to the Center by methods other than by automobile, included as Exhibit 3.
• (3-B): Allow flexible use of the parking lot during off-peak periods for community-serving activities such as events or park access.
ARPD reached agreement with the COA and is continuing discussions with Bluerise Ventures (owners of the Research Park at Marina Village) for access to their parking lots that are adjacent to the Aquatics Center.
• COA agreed to provide ten unrestricted City employee parking spaces at all times the facility is open and 126 overflow spaces for the public during weekday evenings 5pm-10pm and all day on weekends. ARPD will provide discounts for Peralta College District students and staff ranging from 15-50% depending on the program.
• Bluerise Ventures is reviewing the request to provide 25-35 unrestricted parking spaces for public overflow parking. ARPD will provide discounts or memberships for Bluerise to share with their tenants to access the Center.
These overflow and staff parking spaces addresses parking demand for the shared parking requirements for the Aquatics Center and Community Garden.
The following recommendations are not recommended for implementation:
• (1-A): Larger parking lot configuration
• (1-F & 1-G): Paid parking and dynamic pricing strategies
• (1-I & 1-J): Additional enforcement staffing and event-specific enforcement
• (2-A, 2-B, 2-C): Parking technology investments (pay stations, mobile payment systems, and LPR expansion)
• (4-A & 4-B): Consider parking time limits for the neighborhood south of the Center, and Residential Parking Permit Program.
The implementation of paid parking and dynamic pricing models are complicated by the shared parking agreements with adjacent property owners to the north (Marina Village). Since the overflow parking is not directly managed by the City, it would not be included in the paid parking. Therefore, it is likely that people would be less likely to park in the City’s paid parking lot and could push more vehicles to park in the residential neighborhood south of the Aquatics Center. The enforcement of paid parking at the Center could adversely affect the adjacent properties with no paid parking and spill over into the neighborhood to the south with users of the Center choosing to avoid parking fees. ARPD met with Bike Walk Alameda, a member of the Transportation Commission, and Alameda backyard growers to review the staff recommendation. The organizations expressed the recommendation was satisfactory.
ALTERNATIVES
• Approve staff recommendation for Aquatics Center Parking Action Plan.
• Provide staff direction to modify the accepted recommendations from the Aquatics Center Parking Action Plan.
• Provide staff direction to research and return to City Council with a modified recommendation.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
The negotiated access to overflow parking was secured with discounts on programs for students and tenants for COA and Bluerise Ventures. The estimated value of the discounts is approximately $15,000 per year.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
The Aquatics Center project is identified in the adopted 2023 Strategic Plan, Enhance Community Safety and Services, strategic priority CS10 -Design and Construct City Aquatic Center.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Approval of the Parking Action Plan is not subject to further environmental review in that the parking needs for the Aquatics Center were evaluated in the Addendum to the Mitigated Negative Declaration approved by City Council in July 2025.
CLIMATE IMPACT
The proposal is consistent with the City’s Climate Action and Resiliency Plan, as it supports adopted greenhouse gas reduction targets and sustainability policies by providing incentives to encourage people to bike, walk and use transit instead of their vehicles to access the Aquatics Center, which reduces traffic congestion and greenhouse gas emissions. No adverse climate impacts have been identified. The proposed recommendation of 50 parking spaces and 110 bike parking spaces will reduce vehicle miles traveled and carbon emissions compared to a larger parking lot. Specifically, the recommendation support CARP Strategy CL-3 to reduce emissions associated with City facilities and operations and T-1 to support development that minimizes the need for single occupancy vehicles and facilitates the use of trans and active transportation.
RECOMMENDATION
Approve the City Aquatics Center Parking Action Plan with a 50-space onsite parking lot, no paid parking and prioritizing shared parking agreements, off-site employee parking, time-limited parking and incentives for alternative transportation (Recommendations #1-B, 1-C, 1-D,1-E, 3-A, 3-B).
Respectfully submitted,
Justin Long, Director of Recreation and Parks
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Ross McCarthy, Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. Fehr & Peers - Traffic Impact Analysis
2. Dixon Aquatic Center Parking Action Plan
3. Transportation Demand Management Plan