The City will reinstate on-street parking fees and limited hourly parking next week.
The Seattle Department of Transportation says the on-street fees will be at the lowest possible rate when it starts back up on Monday, July 13. Parking has been free since April.
“With King County’s transition to Phase 2 of the Safe Start Plan, businesses are reopening, and reliable access at the curb for customers is critical for recovery,” SDOT says in a press release about the change.
Parking will cost 50 cents an hour in all paid areas in the city, which is the minimum rate allowed according to Seattle Municipal Code. SDOT says that rate will remain for at least a month while they review data, “to determine parking activity occupancy in our neighborhood business districts.”
The first two weeks will be somewhat flexible, SDOT says, and parking enforcement will be, “focused on education and voluntary compliance as customers return to our neighborhood businesses.”
SDOT has created a website with all COVID-19-related parking information; click here for more.
Why not charge double or triple rates? Very apparent that people here have plenty of $$ and can afford it. Instead of raising your property taxes, again, just blitz those pesky shoppers with massive hourly rates. This is the attitude I see here daily. Our gas prices are $1.00 higher than many parts of the USA. Everything costs more here. Just get over with it Durkan and make it $2.00/hour to park. Then, we will all be happy. And all that earmarked $$ can fix the homeless problem, again.