The possibility of implementing paid parking at several city parks, including Green Lake Park, was brought up at a Seattle City Council Budget Committee meeting yesterday (Monday, Oct 25, 2010).
Kathy Nyland, Legislative Aide to Councilmember Sally Bagshaw, presented a proposed Statement of Legislative Intent (SLI) for Analysis of Paid Parking in Parks.
From an overview document distributed at the meeting:
Statement of Legislative Intent (SLI) for Analysis of Paid Parking in Parks (Nyland)
The Parks Department maintains off-street parking (parking lots) at numerous City parks, some of which are filled to capacity during general business hours (Monday to Friday, 8 AM to 6 PM), despite the more than occasional lack of any park or recreational users in their immediate vicinity.
Staff recommends that the Parks Department prepare an analysis of and a possible proposal for Paid Parking in Parks, to be delivered in mid-2011.
The analysis should identify a small number of possible implementation sites (Green Lake, Golden Gardens, Lake Union, for example) and should analyze parking lot use, neighborhood effects, impacts to/need for additional Restricted Parking Zones, possible rates, revenue potential, impact on park users, enforcement issues and demand elasticity.
Options for Budget Committee Consideration:
A. Approve Staff Recommendation to pass a SLI requesting that Parks complete a Paid Parking in Parks Analysis.
B. No action.
At the meeting, Nyland said that they were considering “a modest rate, maybe a dollar an hour.”
After Nyland presented the proposal, Councilmember Sally Clark requested that the analysis also include access to transit, as well as any disparate effects on low-income people.
Legislative Analyst Kieu-Anh King reported that implementing a paid parking program at six or seven parks would add around $850,000 to $900,000 a year in revenue to the General Fund.
Councilmember Tom Rasmussen requested that the Parks Department “have a good public outreach process.” “This was proposed by the Nickels administration several years ago,” he said. “It did not receive very strong public support, to put it mildly.”
Councilmember Tim Burgess wrapped up the discussion by requesting that the focus “not be on revenue enhancement, but on specific desired outcomes related to use of parks.”
