Residential parking zone divides neighbors on Queen Anne

In the scheme of that maddening exercise in Seattle called parking, the problems drivers face in Upper Queen Anne don't seem to be as big a deal as in other neighborhoods.

But Sid Eggleston, who lives on Galer Street, complained last week that when his wife drives to the store, she often has a hard time finding parking when she comes home. She might have to park a block or two away from their co-op.

Of course, on Capitol Hill or even in Lower Queen Anne, finding a spot on the street a block or two away from home would be cause for rejoicing.

But in Upper Queen Anne, folks are used to finding a spot right out front and as the ever-crowding city butts up against expectations in neighborhoods like Queen Anne, residents are fighting each other over parking.

And the fight -- over whether to restrict parking for outsiders on several blocks -- is leading some to question whether one of the staples of how Seattle deals with parking is outdated.

Eggleston and some of his neighbors have petitioned the city to make several blocks around Galer Street and Queen Anne Avenue North a residential parking zone -- an area where drivers can only park for two hours at a time unless they have a permit showing they live in the zone.

"A lot of people work late, at Microsoft or on the Eastside so they don't get home until 6 or 7," said Greg Buck, another resident near Galer and Queen Anne Avenue North.

But when they get home, and restaurants and new businesses in the area are packed, customers and employees have taken up spaces where Eggleston and his neighbors used to find easy parking.

Indeed, a city study found that more than half the cars parked in the immediate area are driven by people living outside the neighborhood.

The petition -- which is being reviewed by the city's Department of Transportation -- would create a residential parking zone, bordered roughly by Queen Anne Avenue North and Third Avenue West, between West Lee and West Blaine streets.

But if you're someone like Craig Hanway, who lives outside the zone, that means shoppers and the parkers might end up instead on your street, where drivers now can park all day.

And that's angered Hanway and his neighbors.

Not only are they concerned about spillover, Hanway said, but there's also the threat of having more parking enforcement officers around. The city would have to send more officers to enforce two-hour zone parking. And while in the area, they might cruise streets like Hanway's, which have been happily left alone, sticking tickets on windshields for all sorts of violations such as parking too close to an intersection corner.

Creating a residential parking zone adjacent to the business strips on Queen Anne and Galer could have a domino effect, said opponent Ellen Monrad, president of the Queen Anne Community Council, whose organization opposes the proposed zoning.

As shoppers and workers park on other streets, residents will petition for more residential parking zones.

The prospect of ever-growing, two-hour parking for outsiders worries business owners that their employees soon won't have a place to park.

"We believe a single mom working at one of the restaurants has as much of a right to park as anybody else. Taking a bus from Beacon Hill isn't really an option for them," said Margaret Irvine, coordinator of the chamber.

The flap has brought some strong words among neighbors. "It's irritating NIMBYism," Monrad said of zoning supporters.

But Eggleston neighbor Greg Buck said opponents aiming to preserve parking on their own streets are no better.

Still, Monrad questions whether it's realistic as the city grows to expect parking in front of homes.

"I really believe the expectation was that they could continue living in this dream world where you can always park right out front, and where no development is going to happen on their street," Monrad said.

Yet, she said, by allowing residents to petition the city to create a restrictive zone, the city feeds the expectation that people should be able to find parking on their streets.

Monrad says that because the zones pit people against one another, it should be harder to get the city to consider creating them.

Greg Estey, who oversees the city's parking policies, said the city is rethinking its residential parking policy citywide.

"The city is increasingly challenged as we grow and densify," he said. "How do we allocate a finite resource like parking in areas like Upper Queen Anne?"