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Request by Sheri Schmit, Milwaukee Regional Medical Center (MRMC), for an exception to the bike parking regulations of Wauwatosa Municipal Code (WMC) 24.11.080 in the MRMC Campus located south of Watertown Plank Road, north of Wisconsin Avenue, and east of I-41
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Submitted by:
Art Piñon
Department:
Development
A. Issue
Request by Sheri Schmit, Milwaukee Regional Medical Center (MRMC), for an exception to the bicycle parking regulations of Wauwatosa Municipal Code (WMC) 24.11.080
B. Introduction
Since 2022, the City has been collaborating with the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center (MRMC) to address challenges related to bicycle parking compliance on the MRMC Campus. Currently, the campus does not contain the required number of short- and long-term bicycle spaces mandated by City Code. A primary challenge has been MRMC’s difficulty in finding suitable space within existing medical buildings and entrance areas to accommodate the required number of bicycle spaces. Moreover, the prescribed number of bicycle spaces exceeds what is necessary based on observed and recorded parked bicycles and bike ridership data. As a result, MRMC is requesting an exception to the bicycle parking requirements for medical and hospital buildings within the MRMC Campus. The exception is contingent upon an agreement between the City and MRMC, ensuring that an adequate amount of bicycle parking is provided to meet the practical needs of campus patients, employees, and visitors.
C. Discussion
Per City Code, Public and Civic uses require 1 short-term bicycle space for every 10 motor vehicle spaces and 1 long-term bicycle space for every 6,000 square feet of gross floor area. Based on the MRMC collective square footage (6,435,798 square feet) and number of parking spaces (12,616 parking spaces), the required bicycle parking in the MRMC campus is as follows:
|
Required Bicycle Parking |
Existing Bicycle Parking |
|
Long-Term |
Short-Term |
Long-term |
Short-term |
|
1,073 |
1,262 |
184 (-889 deficit) |
214 (-1,048 deficit) |
As shown, there is a significant deficit in the required number of short- and long-term bicycle parking. The substantial deficit is due to a majority of the campus being developed prior to adoption of the Bicycle Parking Ordinance.
As indicated before, the exception is being proposed for medical and hospital buildings only due to the medical facility’s unique bike parking demands, which do not align with other uses that fall within the Commercial, Public and Civic Use category (i.e. restaurants, libraries, colleges, schools, retail uses, etc.). Other types of development within the campus that could occur (i.e. retail, residential, hotel, etc.) would be required to provide bicycle parking in compliance with City Code. Based on the attached 2024 Annual Bike Parking Report, the number of observed parked bicycles is significantly under the number of bicycle parking spaces provided in many locations, and even far less than the number of spaces required by City Code. In addition, the campus functions with a variety of uses within close proximity that support one another. For example, a physician who rode their bike to work may have an office at one part of the campus, perform a medical procedure at another part of the campus, and then lunch in the cafeteria of another part of the campus. While utilizing 3 different uses (i.e. medical office, surgery center, cafeteria), the physician would likely only utilize one (1) long term bike parking space. Based on the parking counts, as well as the multiple uses that support one another in the campus, it would be impractical to require an increase in the number of bike parking spaces without the demand to support the additional spaces.
With granting of an exception, MRMC has expressed a commitment to providing a bicycle friendly campus for visitors, employees, and patients, including construction of bicycle infrastructure. In place of compliance with the City’s bicycle parking requirements for its medical and hospital uses, MRMC is proposing parking facilities reflective of actual employee, visitor, and patient bicycle parking needs. MRMC is proposing an agreement with the City requiring MRMC to submit an Annual Bicycle Parking Report documenting bike parking conditions on campus, bike parking demand/counts, needed infrastructure changes, and employee incentives for biking to work. Based on the results of annual reports and working with the City, MRMC will make annual adjustments to bike parking facilities for medical and hospital uses that satisfies the needs of visitors, employees, and patients.
Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Committee Input
On January 27, 2025, City staff and MRMC met with the City’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Committee (BPFC) to obtain feedback on the proposed exception. The committee’s comments were as follows:
• Exempt only existing development/modification (no change to footprint)
• City staff may provide additional recommendations/requirements in the annual report
• All new development requires some amount of bike parking
The agreement incorporates the above comments by exempting existing development as well as projects which do not increase a building’s footprint, and requiring new medical and hospital development to provide bike parking as deemed appropriate by the Zoning Administrator.
A separate letter was submitted by Marie Colmerauer, BPFC member indicating the need for short-term bicycle parking adjacent to the Children’s Emergency Room entrance (see attached). MRMC has indicated they are working on acquiring the needed bicycle rack.
Attached to this report is the applicant’s bike parking request letter, Bicycle Parking Memo, 2024 Annual Bike Parking Report (which serves as a template for future report), email from BPFC member, Marie Colmerauer, and email from the Bicycle and Pedestrian Facilities Committee Chairperson, Ryan Wallace.
D. Recommendation
Staff recommends approval subject to the following agreement conditions:
1. Existing development and renovation/remodel projects that do not alter the building footprint are exempt from the bicycle parking standards (WMC 24.11.080).
2. New medical and hospital development, as well as building additions to existing medical and hospital buildings, must provide short- and long-term bicycle parking as deemed appropriate by the Zoning Administrator, but are not subject to WMC 24.11.080.
3. Non-medical and hospital development within the campus must provide short- and long-term bicycle parking in compliance with WMC 24.11.080.
4. The Milwaukee Regional Medical Center (MRMC) shall submit Annual Bike Parking Reports for medical office and hospital uses for the next 5 years. The attached 2024 - Annual Bike Parking Report shall be utilized as a template for the report and include the following information:
a. Number and location of all short- and long-term, covered and non-covered, bicycle parking spaces for medical office and hospital uses within the MRMC Campus.
b. Bicycle parking counts taken 3 times a year (Spring, Summer, and Fall). Counts shall identify the number of occupied bike parking spaces to determine areas of the campus where more bicycle parking is needed, and occupancy percentages of bike parking areas. Counts must only be taken on days where biking is feasible. Days with rain, snow, etc. shall be excluded from the counts. Weather conditions when counts are taken shall be noted.
c. Based on bike parking counts, recommendations for areas in need of more bicycle parking. Areas in need of more bicycle parking are those containing either of the following:
1. Average of the 3 counts exceeds 80% occupancy
2. Two of the 3 counts exceed 80% occupancy
d. Include a summary and table of needed bicycle infrastructure changes based on the calculated bike parking demand (i.e. average of the 3 counts exceeds 80% occupancy rate, two of the 3 counts exceed 80% occupancy, etc.).
e. The report shall include a map, with buildings labeled, showing bicycle parking locations, parking counts and occupancy percentages.
f. Include a brief discussion on incentives for employees riding bikes, monetary allowance (if any) to purchase a bicycle, as well as outreach and efforts to obtain feedback from employees regarding campus bike parking infrastructure.
5. The annual Bike Parking Report shall be submitted to the City’s Zoning Administrator no later than January 1st, every year, for a 5-year period. The first report shall be submitted by no later than January 1, 2026 and document findings for the calendar year 2025. Prior to January 1, 2030, the requirement for an annual bike parking report shall be re-evaluated by the City to determine if there are any needed modifications to said report.
6. Recommended infrastructure changes (Condition 4.c) must be completed within ninety (90) days of the date of the report. Documentation (i.e. photos, etc.) must be submitted to the City within 90 days of the report date demonstrating completeness of the changes. The ninety (90) day completion period may be extended by the Planning Manager if issues such as back order of materials, permit requirements, or other unforeseen circumstances prevent MRMC from completing the improvements.
7. If MRMC fails to submit an annual report or complete recommended infrastructure changes within the required 90-day timeframe, the City reserves the right to deny any discretionary application, building permit, site plan, or any other City approval until the required annual report and/or 90-day infrastructure change documentation is submitted.