38 C20-2024-021 - Safety Bollards Staff Report — original pdf

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Case Number: C20-2024-021 ORDINANCE AMENDMENT REVIEW SHEET Amendment: C20-2024-021 Safety Bollards Description: Amend City Code Title 25 to require the installation of crash-rated bollards or other similar safety barriers to prevent vehicle-into-building crashes at the pedestrian entrances of medical facilities with nearby vehicular traffic. Background: Initiated by City Council Resolution No. 20240718-092. On July 18, 2024, City Council approved Resolution No. 20240718-092, to require the installation of crash-rated bollards or other similar safety barriers to prevent vehicle-into- building crashes at the pedestrian entrances of medical facilities with nearby vehicular traffic. The resolution directed staff to explore: the feasibility of requiring safety barriers in public right-of-way areas adjacent to medical facilities to enhance pedestrian safety and prevent vehicle crashes; whether permit applications to expand, remodel, or upgrade existing facilities can trigger this requirement; incentives for existing facilities to voluntarily comply; recommendations for the City's state and federal legislative agenda; and any other necessary changes that achieve the objectives of this resolution. Staff was also directed to engage with stakeholders, including medical facility operators, with the goal of bringing about compliance with any new requirements City Council adopts. Summary of Proposed Code Amendment: The proposed code amendment will: Amend City Code 25-6-1 (Definitions) to add new definitions for “medical facility” and “pedestrian entrance” and to renumber the remaining uses accordingly: 7) Medical Facility means a building or structure where the primary purpose is for: (a) hospital services (general); or (b) hospital services (limited); or (c) medical offices, if the building or structure is a walk-in clinic being used for the consultation, diagnosis, therapeutic, preventative, or medical care for minor illnesses and injuries; and (9) Pedestrian Entrance means a functional entrance or door that is publicly accessible and designed for pedestrian use. Create a new section of City Code (25-6-324 Pedestrian Safety Barrier for Medical Facilities) to describe requirements that apply to the new definitions, including that the code: • Applies to all new construction of pedestrian entrances on construction that meets the definition of a medical facility. 1  Case Number: C20-2024-021 • Refers applicants to technical guidance in Transportation Criteria Manual, to be posted in a subsequent rule. • Allows for alternative compliance if designed in a manner that mitigates the risk of vehicular crashes into the pedestrian entrance. Proposed Text Amendment(s): See attached draft ordinance. Staff Recommendation: Recommended Staff recommends the proposed Pedestrian Safety Barrier for Medical Facilities language for inclusion in the Transportation Chapter of the Land Development Code. This proposed requirement advances several of the safety goals and policies from Chapter 1 (Prioritizing Our Safety) of the Austin Strategic Mobility Plan (ASMP). Safety Culture Policy 1: Prioritize the protection of human life over all else in the planning, design, and operation of Austin’s transportation network. We consider traffic-related serious injuries and fatalities to be a preventable public health issue for which we have an obligation to proactively address and eventually eradicate. Safety Culture Policy 3: Manage public safety needs supported by the transportation network to minimize the risk of injury and death. We must do what we can to work wherever possible to improve safety and coordinate with partners to minimize the impacts of unforeseen hazards. Designing for Safety Policy 3: Integrate safe design principles into the built environment. Ensure that all new development or redevelopment contributes to a safe transportation network through site design and access management. Requiring bollard installation at the pedestrian entrances of medical facilities implements the City’s Vision Zero safety approach and achieves the Council resolution’s goal of ensuring the safety of patients, families, employees, and visitors at such facilities. No Affordability Impact Statement is required for this item. Board and Commission Action: November 12, 2024 – To be reviewed by the Planning Commission. Council Action: December 12, 2024 – To be considered by City Council Sponsor Department: Transportation and Public Works Department City Staff: Amber Hutchens, Capital Program Consultant, Transportation and Public Works Department Amber.Hutchens@austintexas.gov, 512-974-5646 2  Case Number: C20-2024-021 Danielle Morin, Capital Improvement Program Manager, Transportation and Public Works Department, Danielle.Morin@austintexas.gov, 512-974-6407 (Case Managers) 3 CODE AMENDMENTS REGARDING INSTALLATION OF BOLLARDS AT MEDICAL FACILITIES WORKING DRAFT SUBJECT TO CHANGE City Code Section 25-6-1 (Definitions) is amended to read: In this chapter [article]: (1) BILLIARD PARLOR is an establishment that devotes over 50 percent of its gross floor area to tables and playing area intended for billiards, pool, snooker, or similar games. (2) BOWLING ALLEY is an establishment that devotes over 50 percent of its gross floor area to bowling lanes, equipment, and playing area. (3) DRIVE-THROUGH LUBRICATION SERVICE is an establishment primarily engaged in the provision of lubricants, including oil change facilities, to motor vehicles by means of drive-through service bays. The term excludes service stations primarily engaged in the dispensing of motor fuel. (4) FURNITURE OR CARPET STORE is an establishment engaged in the sale or service of home or office furnishings or carpeting. The term excludes furniture or carpet departments of general retail stores, furniture rental establishments, and establishments engaged primarily in the sale or service of specialty household furnishings including lighting fixtures, mirrors, antiques, appliances, or household electronic equipment. (5) GROSS LEASABLE AREA is the total floor area designed for tenant occupancy in a shopping center or regional shopping mall, including areas used for storage and areas within mall walkways that are used for sales. The area of tenant occupancy is measured from the center lines of joint partitions to the outside of the tenant walls. (6) LIVE THEATER is a building or structure, the primary purpose of which is the commercial presentation of plays or other dramatic performances to an audience. (7) MEDICAL FACILITY means a building or structure where the primary purpose is for: (a) hospital services (general); (b) hospital services (limited); or CODE AMENDMENTS REGARDING INSTALLATION OF BOLLARDS AT MEDICAL FACILITIES WORKING DRAFT SUBJECT TO CHANGE (c) medical offices, if the building or structure is a walk-in clinic being used for the consultation, diagnosis, therapeutic, preventative, or medical care for minor illnesses and injuries. (8[7]) MOTION PICTURE THEATER is a building or structure, the primary purpose of which is the commercial presentation of motion pictures to an audience. (9) PEDESTRAIN ENTRANCE means a functional entrance or door that is publicly accessible and designed for pedestrian use. (10[8]) REGIONAL SHOPPING MALL means a single building containing over 600,000 square feet of gross leasable area and enclosing two or more stores with main entrances from a covered common pedestrian area. Typical uses include general retail sales (general), general retail sales (convenience), food sales, personal services, and restaurants. (11[9]) SHOPPING CENTER is a group of architecturally unified commercial establishments built on a site that is planned, developed, owned, and managed as an operating unit. Typical uses in a shopping center include general retail sales (general), general retail sales (convenience), food sales, personal services, and restaurants. (12[10]) SITE IMPROVEMENT means an improvement or facility for the primary use, operation, safety, or other benefit of a development for which the developer or property owner is solely responsible under applicable development regulations. (13[11]) SYSTEM IMPROVEMENT means an improvement or facility that is not a site improvement. (14[12]) TRANSPORTATION PLAN means the Austin Metropolitan Area Transportation Plan, or its successor plan, and other multi-modal transportation plans referenced in the Imagine Austin Comprehensive Plan, including the CAMPO Mobility Plan, Sidewalk Master Plan, Bicycle Plan, Urban Trails Plan, and adopted corridor plans. (15[13]) TRANSPORTATION SYSTEM means an individual component of the overall transportation network designed for the movement of people and CODE AMENDMENTS REGARDING INSTALLATION OF BOLLARDS AT MEDICAL FACILITIES WORKING DRAFT SUBJECT TO CHANGE goods, including arterials and collector streets, sidewalks, trails, and other multi-modal transportation facilities identified in the Transportation Plan. City Code Chapter 25-6 (Transportation) is amended to add a new Section 25-6-324 to read: § 25-6-324 PEDESTRIAN SAFETY BARRIERS FOR MEDICAL FACILITIES (A) This section applies to a development application for new construction of a medical facility. (B) An applicant is required to install security bollards in front of each pedestrian entrance to a medical facility in accordance with the Transportation Criteria Manual. (C) The installation of security bollards cannot obstruct accessible routes or accessible means of ingress and egress to the pedestrian entrance. (D) The director may waive this requirement if the applicant demonstrates the walkway to the pedestrian entrance is designed in a manner that mitigates the risk of vehicular crashes into the pedestrian entrance without the use of security bollards