A resident’s request to make more street parking available for people who live in the area around the super green Bullitt Center office building and the Seattle Academy school has grown into an expansion (PDF) of Restricted Parking Zone 2 “to include the blocks bounded by E Madison St, 14th Ave, and 23rd Ave in July 2016.”
Thank you for participating in the process to expand Restricted Parking Zone (RPZ) 2. I am writing to notify you that SDOT has made a decision, after considering public input from residents and businesses throughout the expansion area. We will move forward with installing Zone 2 signs on the blue lined blocks as shown in the map below. Residents within the shaded area will be eligible for permits.
All residents and businesses in the area will receive a Notice of Decision postcard in the mail this week. Residents will receive a letter with an application in mid-June with instructions on how to obtain a Zone 2 permit. Signs will be installed in late July. Background information about this process can be found at http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/parking/rpz_new.htm, and general RPZ program information at http://www.seattle.gov/transportation/parking/parkingrpz.htm.
Scheduled to be installed by late July, Zone 2 signs will limit parking for vehicles without Zone 2 permits to 2 hours, Monday through Saturday, 7 AM to 6PM. Residents in the neighborhood can apply for a permit, allowing them to park up to 72 hours.
In February, CHS reported on a public meeting on the proposed expansion as residents complained about increased use by Bullitt Center workers and visitors parking along the neighborhood’s already busy streets.
A typical residential RPZ permit costs $65 and are good for “a 2-year cycle” — in RPZ 2, the cost for areas south of E Union is $16 thanks to subsidies from Swedish and Seattle University. CORRECTION: SDOT tells us the permits south of Union are… free! “In fact, these permits are fully subsidized by Swedish and Seattle U, so there is no cost to residents for RPZ permits.” Guest permits cost $30. Here’s where you can look up RPZ information by address. The program has been reviewed and modified over the years and zones are sometimes added or extended.
The RPZ 2 extension, because of its size, was required to go through a public comment process. CHS has been told about recent requests for expansion or creation of other zones on Capitol Hill including an area on Summit Ave and an area near St. Mark’s. We’ve asked SDOT for an update on those efforts.
Honestly I don’t get it… what good does keeping people out of the neighborhood when most people are at work anyway do? So we keep people from coming here to shop or to work at times when we don’t even need to use our parking spaces. What I want is to be able to park in front of my own house in the evening and on weekends – like when I’m actually there… who keeps me from doing that? Other people who live here but have more vehicles than they have space to park on or in front of their own property. If a construction worker parks in front of my house while I’m out for the day, I probably don’t even know much less care because they are gone before I even get back. I think this solves nothing and just hurts the neighborhood’s economy.