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Agenda 07/17/2014PELICAN BAY SERVICES DIVISION MUNICIPAL SERVICES TAXING & BENEFIT UNIT NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING THURSDAY, JULY 17, 2014 THE SAFETY COMMITTEE OF PELICAN BAY SERVICES DIVISION BOARD WILL MEET THURSDAY, JULY 17, 2014 AT 1:00 PM AT THE COMMUNITY CENTER AT PELICAN BAY, 8960 HAMMOCK OAK DRIVE, NAPLES, FL 34108 AGENDA 1. Roll call 2. Agenda approval 3. Audience comments 4. Administrator's report 5. Discussion of the proposed PBSD Bike Path Survey 6. Adjourn ANY PERSON WISHING TO SPEAK ON AN AGENDA ITEM WILL RECEIVE UP TO THREE (3) MINUTES PER ITEM TO ADDRESS THE BOARD. THE BOARD WILL SOLICIT PUBLIC COMMENTS ON SUBJECTS NOT ON THIS AGENDA AND ANY PERSON WISHING TO SPEAK WILL RECEIVE UP TO THREE (3) MINUTES. THE BOARD ENCOURAGES YOU TO SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS IN WRITING IN ADVANCE OF THE MEETING, ANY PERSON WHO DECIDES TO APPEAL A DECISION OF THIS BOARD WILL NEED A RECORD OF THE PROCEEDING PERTAINING THERETO, AND THEREFORE MAY NEED TO ENSURE THAT A VERBATIM RECORD IS MADE, WHICH INCLUDES THE TESTIMONY AND EVIDENCE UPON WHICH THE APPEAL IS TO BE BASED. IF YOU ARE A PERSON WITH A DISABILITY WHO NEEDS AN ACCOMMODATION IN ORDER TO PARTICIPATE IN THIS MEETING YOU ARE ENTITLED TO THE PROVISION OF CERTAIN ASSISTANCE. PLEASE CONTACT THE PELICAN BAY SERVICES DIVISION AT (239) 597 -1749 OR VISIT PELICANBAYSERVICESDIVISION.NET. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING OF THE PBSD JULY 17, 2014 PURPOSE OF MEETING: To discuss the need for and efficacy of a survey on bicycle lanes on PB Blvd. BACKGROUND: Since the Safety Committee was formed, residents (pedestrians aka. walkers) have found a place to report being hit, injured, harassed, intimidated, and deprived of the pleasure of strolling and walking for exercise on our pathways. On May 16, 2014 the Safety committee met to discuss possible solutions to the problem walkers /pedestrians are having on our pathways and those on PB Blvd. in particular. Several different ways to lessen and decrease bicycle and pedestrian confrontations were discussed. They included revisiting widening the pathways on the west side of PB Blvd.; community education and informational outreach through Foundation outlets (i.e. the PB Post, digital bulletin boards, the weekly e- newsletter, and pamphlets); and adding bicycle lanes to PB Blvd. A motion was made by John laizzo and seconded by John Domenie to recommend to the full PBSD Board that 4 foot bike lanes be placed on both sides of PB Blvd. resulting in two 10 foot vehicular lanes and two 4 foot bicycle lanes on both sides of the boulevard. The expressed rationale of the motion was to help separate walkers/ pedestrians from bicycles. The motion passed 4 -2. Because most residents are not here at this time of the year the consensus of the committee was to postpone actual presentation of the motion to the full PBSD Board until such time as some community involvement could be initiated. The PB Foundation conducted an in depth comprehensive household survey this past year. The results are starting to be published and will be made available to the community in August. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY SAFETY COMMITTEE MEETING OF THE PBSD JULY 1712014 CONSIDERATIONS: The PB Foundation thoroughly covered issues pertaining to bicycle and pedestrian safety: 1. 27% of responding households were dissatisfied with bicycle safety on the roads. 2. the popularity of bicycling is high (25% of households) and projected to be on rise. 3. The No.1 handwritten comment was that there is a need for bike lanes. Pedestrian safety was No.3 . The community has already spoken. The Foundation enlisted the expertise of a highly qualified consulting firm to develop the survey and eliminate or lessen the possibility of bias in the survey. The proposed PBSD Bike Lane Survey is admittedly targeted and not comparable to the Foundation's survey, but neither the PBSD Board or the Safety Committee is qualified to develop such a survey. Although very well intentioned, the proposed survey before us is replete with bias and prejudicial phrases and words. It falsely states the reason for "revisiting" the bike lane issue. The Safety Committee has acted in good faith to address the serious safety problems on our pathways of harassment, intimidation, and bodily injury to walkers /pedestrians by cyclists. A straw poll /survey of the community can not address and give guidance to the PBSD Board on this issue. Too many residents have no first or second hand experience with this issue. Common sense solutions based on Federal and State standards (bike lanes) and a community educational outreach program have been determined by this committee to be the approach to recommend to the PBSD Board. PROPOSED ACTION: The Safety Committee not proceed with a "Bike Lane Survey ". McCaughtryMary -rom: Mike Levy [mikelevy435 @gmail.com] Sent: Monday, July 07, 2014 4:19 PM To: McCaughtryMary Subject: Re: Bike Lanes Regarding the proposed Bike Survey. If a survey is to be done, I would suggest that Option (2) be deleted from the survey. (This option is for one 16' wide car lane and one 6' wide car lane each way on Pelican Bay Blvd.). This was proposed by the Foundation about five years ago, and created a huge, negative uproar. I believe the "Pro" and "Con" for option (1) as written capture the essence of the arguments. Mike Levy McCaughtryMary From: iaizzo @comcast.net Sent: Monday, July 07, 2014 2:30 PM To: McCaughtryMary Subject: Re: BIKE LANES PDF Please omit statement under "con "...the third sentence should be omitted; reason, the average car width is 5' wide, a motorist who finds this a hardship is not a capable or competing driver. A large trucks will take two lanes. Mary, please ask Joe for an emergency meeting ... time is short ...! ! ! McCaughtryMary From: napiessusan @comcast.net Sent: Monday, July 07, 2014 10:05 AM To: McCaughtryMary Subject: Bike lanes Hi Mary, Suggestions for the bike survey: Change sentence to: And converting PB Blvd. to an 18 -foot and a 6 -foot lane in each direction (Option 2) is simply unacceptable. Request Yes or No response for each option. Susan DRAFT SURVEY ON BICYCLE LANES ON PELICAN BAY BLVD. (Revision 1) The question of whether to restripe Pelican Bay Blvd. to include bicycle lanes has come up again. Public opposition to bicycle lanes was expressed through several surveys when the matter was last considered in 2006. The question is being revisited because the county plans to repave Pelican Bay Blvd. in 2015. If bicycle lanes are to be included in the subsequent restriping, the decision to do so must be made before the end of 2014. Pelican Bay Blvd. now has two 12 -foot lanes in each direction (12 + 12). Under consideration is a plan to reduce each 12 -foot lane to 10 feet, and add a 4 -foot bike lane on the right -hand side (10 + 10 + 4). As in the past, there are strong feelings both pro and con. Pro — Those favoring a bicycle lane say it is a matter of safety. Recent resurfacing left pathways (sidewalks) five feet wide, not enough for pedestrian and bicycle use. Bicycle riding on Pelican Bay Blvd. without discrete lanes is dangerous to bicyclists and confusing to motorists. Inclusion of a striped bicycle lane would solve the problem. Con — Those opposing bicycle lanes say there is no evidence bicycle riding on Pelican Bay Blvd. is dangerous. Motorists and bicyclists have coexisted for years with few problems. Moreover, driving on a 10 -foot lane would be difficult for some motorists and impossible for large trucks. There is no reason to fix what isn't broken. The Pelican Bay Services Division would like your opinion. • I favor restriping Pelican Bay Blvd. to two 10 -foot lanes + one 4 -foot bicycle lane in each direction. • I favor leaving things as they are, with two 12 -foot lanes in each direction.