Downtown Specific Plan - Part 1 - City of Brawley

Brawley Downtown Specific Plan
2.3.4 Parking Conditions
Automobile parking is a highly debated planning topic for many communities,
especially throughout Southern California where cities have become
increasingly auto-centric. Parking heavily influences the walkability of planning
districts, as well as the feasibility of potential development projects.
For several years, the community of Brawley has been discussing existing
parking conditions within Downtown and exploring potential parking
management options for the future. Through a series of Main Street
Charrette workshops conducted with stakeholders prior to preparation of
this Specific Plan, the City initiated a re-striping effort for much of the parking
located around Plaza Park. Like many streets within Downtown, Plaza Park
Street is a wide “sea” of asphalt, leaving pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists
confused as to where they can move safely through the right-of-way.
Currently, all parking within Downtown is free-of-charge and located on
surface. As shown in Table 2-2 (Existing Parking Counts), on-street parallel
parking is more prevalent throughout Downtown than angled. Parking is
also limited to two-hour use within certain segments along Main Street.
Some consolidated surface parking lots are located at the rear of Main Street
businesses, but suffer from pothole and flooding, as well as illegal dumping
maintenance issues. See Figure 2-8 (Existing Parking Locations).
As future development occurs, business owners throughout Downtown have
expressed a strong desire to see parallel parking transition to angled parking
along Main Street and other areas where it does not already exist.
table 2-2: Existing Parking Counts
Existing downtown Parking spaces (Estimated, June 2010)
On-Street Parallel Parking Spaces = 8 5
On-Street Angled Parking Spaces = 70
Off-Street Parking Lot Spaces = 160
totAL PARKing sPACEs = 1,075
2-1
NOTE: Total Parking Spaces Count Subject to Field Verification
Source: Google Earth (Looking North Towards Plaza Park) West Side of Main Street
Existing Parking Around Plaza Park Directional Sign to Rear Parking Lot
Parking at Rear Suffering from Disinvestment Parallel Parking on Side Street off Main