Some Puyallup residents may soon need permits to park for extended periods on city streets outside their homes during the day.
City staff members are proposing a downtown parking overhaul that includes a residential permit program for some neighborhoods. The free permits would exempt holders from having to abide by a new parking time limit in their area.
Staff also proposes increasing downtown parking fines by as much as 75 percent.
The changes are aimed at freeing up more parking for downtown merchants, employees and the public, and shifting Sound Transit commuters to a satellite parking lot at the Puyallup fairgrounds.
The public still can weigh in; the City Council isn’t expected to make a decision until the fall.
Mayor Kathy Turner said she wants to hear from residents about the effects the proposal would have on them.
“We want to be sure that as we (make changes), we don’t just move the impact from one place to another,” she said.
The proposed changes include:
• Converting more than 130 parking stalls in four city-owned lots downtown to business permit parking, increasing the number of designated spots for business employees in city lots to 174.
• Adjusting on-street parking time limits. Some already exist, but the changes would increase the size of the area.
The area with time limits generally would be bounded to the north and south by Fifth Avenue Northwest and Seventh Avenue Southwest, and to the east and west by Fourth and Seventh streets.
The time limits would vary from 15 minutes in a few areas in the downtown core, to four hours in some outlying neighborhoods. There would be an eight-hour limit near Puyallup High School.
The time limits generally would be in effect 9 a.m.-6 p.m. weekdays.
• Starting a parking permit system for the four-hour zones so residents could park on the street longer if needed. Neighborhood businesses and schools also could apply.
Chris Beale, an associate city planner, said he didn’t have an estimate for how many residents would be eligible.
• Increasing the fine for time-limit violations from $20 to $35, and increasing the fine for chain parking – that is, moving from one short-term spot to another – from $50 to $75.
The City Council has discussed downtown parking several times in recent months. Merchants say that while customers generally can find spaces, it’s harder for employees to secure long-term spots.
The Puyallup Main Street Association, which has raised concerns about lack of parking for downtown employees, wants the council to implement the plan, president Arla Cuddie wrote in an Aug. 29 letter to the city.
No organized opposition has surfaced so far, Beale said. City staffers tried to incorporate input from residents, he said.
The council already set one parking change in motion in June: It decided to stop allowing Sound Transit to lease the 118-stall Cornforth Campbell lot downtown as overflow parking for its Puyallup station. The change takes effect in October.
The idea is to shift Sound Transit commuters from the city lot to the Red Lot at the Puyallup Fair & Events Center, and to open the Cornforth Campbell lot to both downtown employees and the public.
The Red Lot opened as a satellite parking area last year after a $2.8 million upgrade paid for by Sound Transit and state and federal grants. However, it hasn’t gotten much use. It’s about a half-mile from the train station; a bus shuttles commuters between the two locations.
Sara Schilling: 253-552-7058
sara.schilling@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/street
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