Central Seattle residents demand parking restrictions

SEATTLE — People who live and work in the Central Seattle—Capitol Hill area met with SDOT Tuesday night to argue for a fair chance at finding parking spots on city streets.

The neighbors say commuters use their streets like a park and ride.

"Definitely people park, then you can watch them walk right to the bus stop, that's frequent," said resident Darren Allen.

SDOT's proposal to add more restricted parking includes the area south of 19th Avenue near Pine Street.

The Seattle Department of Transportation is looking to include about a dozen more streets in Seattle's Central area in Zone 2.

The restrictions would prevent people from parking more than two hours in any street space without a residential permit.

"I have a friend who won't come and visit because she can't find parking," said Al Marks, who owns a townhouse along a street where commuters love to park daily.

The determined the area was at 110% percent of its street parking capacity two years ago.

Neighbors say more condos, more apartments and even schools are moving in and none include parking. City leaders have allowed dozens of proposed apartment projects to move forward in the last year, without including parking. Some cite cost – nearly $30,000 more per unit-- if plans included parking.

Downtown parking is pricey too, and neighbors believe that's why commuters are parking on their Capitol Hill streets.

"They kind of see people come, park their car during the day -- commuters mostly -- and then take the bus and walk to their final place of employment," Mike Archambault of the Capitol Hill Community Council said.

Cox Media Group