Finding cause of parking issues in downtown Kirkland not as easy as finding solution

Published 4:39 pm Wednesday, March 4, 2015

A city of Kirkland study session looking to garner public comment on proposed solutions for parking downtown may have generated more questions than answers.

City staff and residents examined nine options during the Feb. 25 meeting at Kirkland City Hall to improve parking as part of a new draft study. The meeting was just one of four sessions on the topic. The study was developed by Rick Williams Consulting, which revealed nearly all the stalls downtown are filled for most of the day. As part of the parking study, the consultant surveyed about 1,000 stalls and found that an extra 150 spaces would have to be supplied in order to satisfy the optimal percentage of 85 percent rule.

Though the options are categorized as expensive and inexpensive, the city is hoping to select ones that can be implemented quickly and with a lower price tag, according to Special Projects Coordinator Philly Hoshko. Transportation Engineering Manager David Godfrey, who also attended the meeting, said they will discuss the options with the council during the April 7 meeting.

Feedback from residents and business owners at the meeting indicated that before a solution is found, however, the true source of the problem needs to be determined, whether it’s an actual lack of parking in downtown, confusion between paid and free parking stalls or if people just don’t know where the parking spots are located.

“We’re trying to find a solution to a problem we haven’t identified,” Cilla Toondeph said. “We all have a different idea of what the problem is.”

One of the inexpensive options, estimated to cost $50,000 or less, would be to create time limited parking at Lake Avenue West for up to 45 stalls, possibly selling monthly leases for stalls not utilized. A moderately priced option would be to improve operations at the library garage by opening permit-only stalls to all users after 5 p.m. More expensive options, a half a million dollars or more, include creating a new lot south of city hall, adding 144-166 stalls.

The main concern for residents who live near or on Lake Avenue West, is that the streets cannot absorb more parking and things are already bad. Nancy Nelson said many people who park in the neighborhood ignore etiquette or rules and park wherever and however they can, going so far as to park in front of her garage, forcing her to have them towed. Nelson’s fear, like other residents who commented, is that Lake Avenue West would become a defacto park and ride. She also said the street has no sidewalks, which raised additional questions about necessary improvements and construction that would have to take place before parking stalls could be added.

Another option was to add 25 parking stalls along Heritage Park on Waverly Way. Many attendees, however, expressed skepticism as to whether or not people would be willing to walk from Heritage Park to downtown.

While many of the options were discussed in detail, the one that appeared to be most popular with attendants was creating a surface parking lot at City Hall. Bonnie McLeod, a downtown business owner, suggested the city could avoid spending a lot of money simply by clearing off an area, marking stalls, and then see if people use the parking lot.

Later on during the meeting, Mark Nelson added to the option by pointing out that local churches could offer parking for city employees, allowing people working or shopping in downtown to use the City Hall parking lot already there.

“If City Hall is utilized, that tells you something,” he said.

There was also a push among attendees for better use of downtown parking spots, such as those located by the antique mall, which they said often go unused because drivers aren’t certain whether they are paid parking stalls or not.

Kathy Feek, who is involved in the local art scene, said they could maximize the available parking by increasing signage to boost parking visibility and create apps that show where space is available, while McLeod said businesses should use their own parking stalls and shift the burden onto other properties such as the Kirkland Library.

When the option for paid parking in downtown was brought up, some attendees voiced their support, while others warned that prior attempts by the city had resulted in backlash from the community. If the city were to go through with it, McLeod said, they would have to stick with the decision and not backpedal.

Numerous business owners, as well as Feek, emphasized the importance of making parking available if Kirkland is to compete for business with nearby cities, such as Bellevue and Redmond, where businesses offer free and easily-accessible parking.

“Do we want to be a residential or business city?” one business owner asked. “I think it can be both.”