BikeWalk Provo members, we need you to speak up, either by email or during the Provo City Planning Commission meeting next Wednesday evening.
BYU has announced the construction of a new music building on the corner of 900 E and 1100 N, southeast of its law school. The building will be used primarily for instruction and student performances. It will also serve as a venue for concerts open to the public, which are held during the evening or on Saturdays and can therefore take advantage of the existing parking lots in the evening, when BYU students and employees are gone.Â
At a recent hearing, members of the Provo Planning Commission pressed BYU to build a parking garage as a part of this project. Not only do parking garages come at an incredible cost at $30,000 per parking space, but the construction of a parking structure will only induce more driving. It would undermine the progress BYU has achieved over the last several years to discourage driving and incentivize transit and active transportation. Rather than encouraging BYU to continue in this sustainable trajectory, the Planning Commission is asking for the opposite.
Please raise your voice in support of the BYU Music Building by emailing the Planning Commission at dspublichearings@provo.org by Tuesday evening or calling in your comments during the meeting, which will be available via an on-demand YouTube viewing next Wednesday evening, starting at 6 pm soon. The item has been continued and will be heard again at a later date.
Talking points to use:
- Only 40% of trips to BYU are by car
- The peak use of BYU parking is in the day. Performances can take advantage of existing empty parking in the evening.
- BYU already has the second-highest student-per-parking space ratio in the state; a rate above the national recommendation
- Parking garages cost at least $30,000 per parking space and are an unwise long-term investment with shared autonomous vehicles coming
- Increase transit accessibility with a 900 E Creamery UVX stop and BYU Ryde shuttles to BYU football parking
- Place parking restrictions on the city streets across 900 East if you are worried about spillover—time limits, fees, or parking permit programs
- Let BYU build!
*** IMPORTANT *** Item 4 (Mykel Davis requests Project Plan approval for BYU Music Building) will NOT be heard at the May 27, 2020 Planning Commission hearing. It has been continued to a later date.
The Provo City Planning Commission HAS NOT told BYU to build a parking structure to solve the parking problem associated with the proposed Music Building location. The Planning Commission did say that the solution (educate patrons) that BYU has brought three times to the Planning Commission was insufficient. Parking in the BYU lots on the east side of campus already is filled, day and night, and the proposed Music Building activities and events can not be accommodated with the parking spaces further reduced by the building location. Some of the ideas that the Planning Commission suggested to BYU to think about included a different location for the proposed building, shuttles, a UVX station on the east side of BYU campus, reopening traffic from 900 East into the Museum of Art parking lot, a parking structure and valet parking. Placing restrictions on parking in adjacent residential areas is a last resort – the parking needs for BYU must not be imposed on neighbors. Yes BYU, build a Music Building. Yes Provo City Planning Commission, ensure a traffic demand management plan that furthers walking and biking in Provo. There are real parking issues to be resolved surrounding day and evening activities in the proposed Music Building that is proposed to be located next to the Law Building and the Wilkinson Student Center. There are real discussions on going to find a solution. A parking structure is but one of many possible solutions alone or in combination.
There is a 1000 seat performance hall, a 250 seat rehearsal hall, and several smaller performance rooms in the proposed Music Building. The proposed Music Building will house 125 faculty/staff, 450 undergraduate majors, and will be the location for education of about 4,800 students a week.
From my perspective, one cannot take away current parking spaces on the east side of campus, and, place a building with this kind of usage and capacity without directly assessing the parking needs and without specifically identifying where the vehicles will park, day and night.
I think that both BYU and all involved would benefit to hear possible solutions. Mine is build a UVX station on 900 East or on 1100 North (BYU Campus Lane). The daily parking on the east side of campus would be reduced. Patrons for Wilkinson Student Center, Law School and Music Building activities could park in the Marriott Center or East Stadium Parking Lots where UVX stations are currently located and UVX would act as the shuttle. Let’s use this forum to suggest solutions and ideas.