sound transit

Just a reminder that the public comment period for Residential Parking Zones (RPZ) around light rail stations in the Rainier Valley is coming to a close.

Seattle’s Department of Transportation (SDOT) says the RPZ Program is a critical parking management tool that helps neighborhoods ease residential parking congestion created by non-residents.

Othello Neighborhood Association (ONA) president Jenna Walden isn’t buying it. Here’s what she has to say in response to proposed changes to the RPZ program, specifically as it applies to the Othello area:

Our neighborhood plan which was approved by the City called for parking structures to deal with parking demand. Then, the city backpedaled on this and disallowed it even being an amenity for the station and the neighborhood.

The solution provided? Not only will the City not create parking structures, not only will we disallow parking structures, not only will we shift the demand to be absorbed by city streets, but we’ll now ask the residents living around the station to pick up the tab.

Permit fees should be absorbed by the entity creating the impact – Sound Transit.

RPZ the way it is currently structured went to an extreme position from where it was in 2000. Besides Sound Transit picking up the tab for permits, another approach towards making sure costs are offset by the light rail users is to follow the US National Forest Service model which requires a NW Forest Pass in order to park and access trailheads or other recreational areas.

A NW Forest Pass costs $3/day, or $50/year and you put it in your car. If you offered this online, then residents could buy one and assist with the operational expenditures of monitoring the parking situation. This would also ensure light rail users that they would not be towed or incorrectly identified as an abandoned vehicle.

Othello Playground should have no restrictions during the weekend and three-hour restrictions during the day.

Our neighborhood’s current problem is abandoned vehicles and way-laid semi-trucks who’s operators park them on the streets near Martin Luther King, Jr. Way and then drive their car back to Kent, or where ever they live for a couple of days. I do not see a reason to create parking restrictions so much during the day, as during the nighttime.

If people drive and park their car on the street to commute to their job downtown five days a week, they shouldn’t have to be concerned about their car getting towed during the day. The concern is more about the people flying out of Seatac and leaving their parked cars for more than one nine to 10-hour period. Just my analysis.

The intersection of 42nd Avenue South and South Myrtle is very dangerous. This intersection needs to be considered for both safety and time restrictions. Now, users of the monastery park up to the radius of the sidewalk and make head-on collisions extremely more probably as you come around the corner in a single-lane fashion. I would encourage creating setbacks from intersection of more than 50′ on all sides of the streets in both directions in order to create view corridors. The monastery parking creates a real hazard for through-traffic there.

Make your voice heard:
Tell Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) and Sound Transit what you think about Residential Parking Zones by emailing Meghan Shepard, Keith Hall or Sara Robertson.

Trains will begin carrying passengers through the Rainier Valley this summer. To ensure that on-street parking spaces used by businesses and residents are not filled by commuters, the Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) and Sound Transit are working with neighborhoods to design parking regulations, such as residential parking zones. Image/SDOT

Related:

• Letter to the community: SDOT’s restricted parking proposal = $45 for your permit (1/5/09)
• The trains are coming: Where will riders park? (12/30/08)
• City seeks input on parking near light rail stations (10/22/08)
• SDOT moves to restrict residential parking in Mt. Baker, N. Beacon Hill, etc. (8/3/08)

Tagged as: jenna walden, neighborhood planning, othello, restricted parking zones, sound transit

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This just in from Othello Neighborhood Association (ONA) Chair Jenna Walden:

ONA’s next meeting will be Tues., Jan. 27 at Holly Community Church at 7 pm. We will have SDOT presenting their proposed restricted parking program around the light rail station. Unfortunately, the date of our meeting is after the comment period has ended (Jan. 22nd) on restricted parking zones around light rail stations.

The image below shows in blue-gray the blocks and streets proposed to receive restricted parking areas and time-limit signs. For instance, Willow Street from 40th Ave S east to 44th Ave S will become a restricted parking area. That means that any resident who lives in that area will be required (they say you are “eligible to purchase”) to 1) purchase a permit for $45 (good for two years) to park on the street there.

Additional details:

• Guest permits are $15 each and good for two years
• Low-income permits are $10 each and good for two years
• At this point, this is SDOT’s proposal and is not policy yet, however it is near finalization if no additional feedback changes anything.

RPZ (restricted parking zones) are a done deal. However, this is our final opportunity to determine who should be paying for these permits.

Should residents who live in proximity and within RPZ boundaries be forced to pick up the tab for getting permits?

Why are we being taxed for where we live? Already, we will be dealing with frustrating issues such as making sure guests and visitors to their house are not towed or ticketed.

There is precedence for the City of Seattle to implement RPZ programs in Capitol Hill, but have the operations that have triggered the need for RPZ to pick up the tab. In this case it was the hospital that forced RPZ on residents and they pay for the permits required for residents who live around the hospital. Sound Light Rail should do the same for Rainier Valley residents.

Please comment via email or phone 684-8186 by Jan. 22.

Related:

• The trains are coming: Where will riders park? (12/30/08)
• City seeks input on parking near light rail stations at several upcoming neighborhood meetings (10/22/08)
• SDOT moves to restrict residential parking in Mt. Baker, N. Beacon Hill, etc.; wants your input (8/3/08)

Send us your letters via email. Letters to be considered for publication must include your first and last name and contact info so we can verify your identity prior to publication.

Tagged as: jenna walden, neighborhood planning, othello, restricted parking zones, sound transit

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