City proposes limits on residential parking permits

Got two cars on crowded Capitol Hill or Lower Queen Anne?

· See the complete list of proposed limits on parking permits in different neighborhoods.

Parking could become an even bigger headache than it is now.

Faced with more cars than places to park on Seattle streets, the city's Transportation Department is considering restricting the number of residential parking permits people can have.

In the densest areas – the heart of Capitol Hill around Denny Way, First Hill, Lower Queen Anne, the Pike-Pine corridor, and the Cascade neighborhood – households would have to make do with only one permit.

In others – Wallingford, the eastern part of the University District, Eastlake, less dense areas of Capitol Hill, Ravenna and near Lincoln High School – a household would be allowed two permits.

But for other residents, the proposed restrictions could remove fleets of cars on streets, and parking could get a little better, said city parking planner Mary Catherine Snyder. The permits, which exempt vehicles from time limits in residential parking zones, are intended to give residents a better chance of finding all-day spaces in their own neighborhoods.

Currently, there's no limit on how many permits a household can have, she said. And that has led to stories of households with five, six, seven vehicles hogging street spaces.

Snyder said that if the City Council approves the measure later this year, the limits could go into effect in 2010. Vehicle owners would then be subject to the new limits when their two-year pass comes up for renewal, Snyder said.

In the first reassessment of the program since 1994, the city also is considering a number of other changes in the city's residential parking program, including increased enforcement, an unspecified fee increase and a new system for guest residential parking permits. The city is considering replacing guest passes good for the entire year with one-day-only passes for visitors.

"Seattle neighborhoods have changed quite a bit" since the last time the city looked at the program, Snyder said. Not only are they more crowded, but residents increasingly battle with business' customers and employees for scarce street parking.

Sidney Field, on Lower Queen Anne near the tourist-packed Seattle Center, didn't think the limits would do much to improve parking. "It's the visitors and people coming into town who should be deterred from parking," she said.

On Upper Queen Anne, for instance, some residents are petitioning for a new residential parking zone around West Galer Street and Queen Anne Avenue North. More businesses mean that customers and workers are grabbing all the spots in the neighborhood, residents said. But business owners say their workers and customers need a place to park, too. Currently, Queen Anne residents are trying to petition the city to create a new residential parking zone.

Theoretically, Snyder said, the new limits would help residents, workers and customers by discouraging residents from taking up several spaces in the neighborhood.

But Dic Selin, president of the Fremont Neighborhood Council, likened it to the new 20-cent fee on plastic and paper bags. "There's enough stuff flowing from the city to the people," he said. "What are people going to do (with their extra cars) – just keep having to rotate it around the neighborhood?"

Ellen Monrad, president of the Queen Anne Community Council, however, criticizes any residential parking passes, saying they foster unrealistic expectations that residents park a block or two from home. Having limits addresses "the fact that people who complain about how there's no parking don't think about their neighbor who has four cars parked on their street," she said.

At the same time, she questioned whether Seattleites really would give up their second, third or fourth car. "If you have two roommates in an apartment, who gets to have a car, you or your roommate?" she said.

Monrad also wondered, though, if limits would lead to parking extra cars in adjacent neighborhoods outside the zone, creating problems there.

But now, without limits, Snyder said, the Pike-Pine area, for instance, hasfour vehicles with residential permits for every space on the street.

In addition, the city is proposing changes to residents' guest passes. Currently, residents can buy one guest pass that's good all year. Under the new proposal, the city would sell guest passes good for only one day. Instead of having one pass for guests, Snyder said, a resident could buy several one-day parking passes for a gathering, for example.

Some now improperly sell their guest passes, allowing someone else to park in the zone year-round, she said. Details, though, haven't been worked out, and the city is asking for public input on the ideas.

On Capitol Hill Thursday, resident Sheri Lavigne, 41, said she and her husband have only one car. "I don't think it will necessarily solve the problem because we have all the people who park here from Group Health."

She also said she does not favor the reduction of the guest parking.

Bill Tokheim, 41, just moved to Capitol Hill with his wife and their two cars. He doesn't even have a zoning permit because there is no available parking on the streets in the first place, he said. The alley behind his house will continue to be his spot.

PROPOSED CHANGES

Limited to one permit per household:

Zone 4 on Capitol Hill

Zone 7 on First Hill

Zone 13 on Lower Queen Anne

Zone 21 in the Pike-Pine area of Capitol Hill

Zone 24 in the Cascade neighborhood near South Lake Union

Limited to two permits per household:

Zone 2 near Providence Hospital

Zone 5 in Wallingford

Zone 6 in the east University District

Zone 8 in Eastlake

Zone 10 in the west University District

Zone 15 in the Belmont/Harvard area on Capitol Hill

Zone 17 on north Beacon Hill

Zone 20 in Ravenna/Bryant

Zone 22 near Lincoln High School

Limited to four permits per household:

Zone 1 in Montlake

Zone 3 in Fauntleroy

Zone 9 in Magnolia

Zone 11 on North Queen Anne

Zone 12 on north Capitol Hill

Zone 14 near Garfield High School

Zone 16 in Mount Baker

Zone 18 in Licton Springs

Zone 19 in Roosevelt/Cowan Park

Zone 23 in Madison Valley

Zone 25 in Westlake

More information will be posted on the city of Seattle's Web site on Friday.

COMMENT ONLINE

Go to www.seattle.gov/transportation/parking/rpz_policy_review.htm

The city is seeking input until Oct. 20. Contact city parking planner Mary Catherine Snyder at 206-684-8110 or e-mail her at marycatherine.snyder@seattle.gov.