PORT TOWNSEND — City Manager David Timmons has been charged with creating a new plan for management of downtown Port Townsend parking, a City Council member said.
“We need a management plan for downtown parking,” said Councilman David Faber.
“We need to change the rules and do some research about the cost of various systems.”
Faber expects a proposal to be submitted to the council in October.
The first step for any system, he said, is clear application and enforcement of the rules.
“Whatever we do, it needs to be consistently enforced,” he said.
Action was prompted by a two-season parking survey conducted by the Port Townsend Main Street Program, results of which were presented at a merchant breakfast May 25.
The survey received 342 responses during the winter of 2014 and another 141 in the summer of 2015 — with 41 people filling out the survey twice.
Some overall themes of the survey results were that downtown parking is insufficient in the summer and on festival weekends and that the two-hour limit is not enough for visitors.
Also, while tourists are used to paying for parking, residents are not ready to do so.
On Wednesday, several merchants also complained that parking time limits are not enforced.
Parking enforcement is handled largely by volunteers, according to Port Townsend Police Chief Mike Evans, who said enforcement should improve this summer after the department recruits more volunteers.
The fine for overtime parking is $15 if paid within 15 days.
Most downtown parking spaces have two-hour limits, although four hours are allowed around Memorial Field and no limits are set on the Washington Street hill leading into downtown.
Wynwoods Gallery & Bead Studio owner Lois Venarchick said she gets periodic complaints about the parking limit but suggests some workarounds.
There are several “secret ways of parking so you don’t get a ticket,” she said.
“I just tell people to park all day and just pay the ticket,” she said.
“They can pay it, and it still costs a lot less than in Seattle.”
Writers’ Workshoppe/Imprint Books owner Anna Quinn agreed that the two-hour limit is not enough.
“Two hours is not enough time to visit your local bookstore, see some galleries and have a leisurely lunch,” she said.
“I am fine with installing meters where people can stay as long as they want,” Quinn added.
The idea of meters might be unpopular, but it is the best solution, Venarchick said.
“We need better marking, meters, at least three-hour parking, with all the profits going to downtown improvement,” she said.
“Part of the problem is that downtown merchants are parking right in front of their own store so they don’t have to walk six blocks, which is inconvenient for their customers.”
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Jefferson County Editor Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
