When Seattle parking officials come calling -- more meters are on the way

Getting around is a little different at Alaska and California, where if you're walking, you can cross the two West Seattle Junction streets diagonally -- and if you're driving, the parking is free.

But Seattle parking officials have begun paying visits here -- and in other neighborhoods -- to discuss plans for new parking policies. And these days, with kiosks and meters more common than ever, that's kind of like having the grim reaper for free parking drop by.

In West Seattle, businesses and residents are bristling at the idea of charging for parking at the junction, while at a Queen Anne Community Council meeting Wednesday night, Tara Lawrence had this welcome for city parking policy staffer Mary Catherine Snyder.

"We know what this is going to mean -- meters," Lawrence said.

Snyder smiled. The city has no predetermined plan to start charging for parking in what are now free two-hour zones, she told the crowd

As anyone who's burned gallons of gas just trying to find a place to stop knows, parking is getting tighter. More condominiums and apartment buildings are anticipated in neighborhoods such as the Junction and upper Queen Anne. That means more people are going to be battling for scarce parking spots, she said.

So, the city will consider options such as putting in two-hour time limits on streets where drivers can now park all day for free, Snyder said, or allowing all-day parking only for those with residential parking permits.

But putting in parking kiosks is a real option. "It's just part of urban living," she said.

And it's a trend.

According to city officials, 1,500 pay stations have been installed since 2004, many of them in neighborhood business areas like the International District, Ballard, Capitol Hill and the University District. The city has collected more money, too -- about $15.6 million at pay kiosks and meters in 2006, compared with $9.9 million in 2003.

This year, the city will look at parking in West Seattle Junction, upper Queen Anne, the Denny Triangle, Fremont, the triangle bordered by Denny, Broad and Aurora, and the Pike-Pine neighborhood in Capitol Hill.

In 2009, the city will study the rest of Capitol Hill, Madison Valley and First Hill, and in 2010, Morgan Junction, Ballard again, Wallingford, Madison Park and Greenwood/Phinney Ridge.

Many of the neighborhoods Snyder is visiting also are expecting better public bus service in the next few years, a result of the Transit Now initiative passed in 2006. West Seattle residents are expecting express bus service to downtown and upper Queen Anne, and more frequent bus service downtown later this year.

But even with the improvements, buses are not going to work for everyone.

In Ballard, the city installed kiosks and put in 2-hour limits on streets where all-day parking used to be available.

Things have worked out well, said Mary Hurley, a board member on the Ballard Chamber of Commerce. Meters on Market Street increased turnover, allowing more people to park there during the day.

Despite the two-hour limit, "people used to park there for three or four hours."

Bus service is still spotty, she said. However, more people are biking or walking several blocks to go shopping on Market Street.

"I know nobody wants to pay for parking," Snyder said. "It's not at the top of anyone's list of priorities of what they'd like to do."

But in return, drivers should have an easier time finding a place to park, Snyder said

Thus far, none of those reasons is flying.

At the Queen Anne meeting, resident Sharon LeVine said the community council "has always been against paid parking -- absolutely, vehemently opposed."

LeVine tried to go shopping in Ballard, but got stuck in traffic on the Ballard Bridge for 40 minutes, she said. Getting downtown or crossing the Aurora Bridge from upper Queen Anne isn't much better.

"We're kind of locked in here," so she's not keen about having to pay for parking to run to the drug store on Queen Anne Avenue, she said.

"West Seattle has had a small town feel," said Steve Duda, shopping at Easy Street Records at the West Seattle Junction Wednesday afternoon. "The free parking is part of that feel."

In fact, businesses in the area lobbied the city about 20 years ago to get rid of the parking meters that used to line California Avenue.Matt Lee, another customer at the record store, said, "I don't want to have to pay for parking. I have to pay everywhere else in the city."