Olympia's Parking Services Program proposed several changes to downtown parking to address community concerns and serve local businesses and visitors better.
Parking Service Program specialist Chelsea Baker van Drood provided the briefing on the proposed changes at the Land Use and Environment Committee meeting on April 25.
Baker van Drood presented parking occupancy count data from late February that showed many blocks downtown exceeded the city's 85% occupancy target. Some blocks had over 100% occupancy, indicating illegal parking was occurring.
The data demonstrated a need for more parking availability during evenings and weekends when occupancy rates were highest. To address this issue, Baker van Drood proposed expanding parking enforcement hours.
The proposed changes would set enforcement parking hours from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays, with no enforcement on Sundays.
Currently, the parking enforcement rules differ in hours on different days of the week, which Baker noted needs to be clarified to the public.
Baker van Drood said the program aimed to make the hours easier for the public to remember by making them consistent across weekdays and Saturdays and not enforcing on Sundays. She hoped this consistency would help address issues raised previously about the difficulty of remembering varying enforcement times.
Baker van Drood mentioned another concern that was brought up by community members: night safety. She said people, especially females, had expressed feeling unsafe walking several blocks to their vehicle after dark. She noted feedback from the community, including comments like, "I don't feel safe walking back to my car at night."
To address the night safety concern, Baker said expanding parking enforcement until 7 p.m. would keep more city staff on the streets after dark. She explained that between the proposed 7 p.m. enforcement hours and the Crisis Response Unit patrolling until 3 a.m., there would be additional people working who could help improve safety in the evening hours.
Another proposal would extend two-hour parking spots to three hours, allowing longer business visits and time flexibility for those who visit coffee shops, restaurants and retailers downtown.
Baker van Drood explained that community feedback revealed that the two-hour limit needs to be longer for some services, such as hair or tattoo appointments.
On-street mobile payments. Baker van Drood proposed replacing single-space parking meters with a pay-by-phone system. She identified blocks that typically received $1 or less change weekly, indicating low demand for cash payments at those meters.
Baker said the parking program aims to streamline maintenance costs and address the increased popularity of mobile payments.
"There are meters that don't see any actual coins anymore. So why are we paying for batteries for them? Why are we paying to keep them repaired, to empty them, all of the maintenance and upkeep, graffiti cleaning, all that sort of stuff," Baker van Drood said. However, she also identified blocks with cash options for people who need them and those within a relatively short walking distance throughout the area.
Baker van Drood brought up two issues raised by the community. Some people who want passes cannot buy them because the lease lots sell out quickly and remain sold for the entire year. Others felt they needed to work more hours during enforcement times to make a monthly lease lot pass worthwhile but may be interested in off-street parking.
Baker van Drood presented data on occupancy counts conducted in three city lease lots – State and Capitol, gravel lot, 4th Avenue, and Columbia – since December 2023. She said minimum occupancy levels had hit zero cars parked on at least one occasion. Maximum recorded occupancy has also not reached the lots' full capacities over the past five months despite the passes being fully sold out. This occupancy data indicates that the lease lots are underutilized at various times.
She proposed taking some spaces in these lots and converting them to pay-by-phone spaces that the general public could use for off-street parking more flexibly than the current lease lot pass system. This would open up more options for those who struggled to get passes or did not feel passes were cost-effective for their needs.
Baker van Drood said the city received complaints about difficulty finding parking downtown and navigating the parking website. To address this, the proposal included improving wayfinding signage for public parking lots and structures.
She noted that the city is already working with a design firm to enhance downtown wayfinding for tourists and attractions. Parking services would collaborate on these efforts to better direct people to parking options.
According to Baker van Drood, the other upcoming changes included the Olympia Municipal Code related to parking. She added that they are still working through the legal aspects of the code changes to ensure full compliance.
The program specialist also mentioned plans to make some adjustments to permit prices.
Committee Chair Dani Madrone said all members agreed that the proposals are all "good next steps" for advancing the parking strategy downtown.
Baker van Drood said they will hold stakeholder and public meetings to present proposals and get feedback before finalizing changes.
7 comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here
anothername
I like to go downtown on the weekends, but will stop if I have to payfor parking. I was going shopping one Friday and the parking meter didn't work, the pay online didn't work, nothing worked. I just got back in my car and drove away. Local business lose.
Tuesday, April 30 Report this
AugieH
"Olympia's Parking Services Program proposed several changes to downtown parking to address community concerns and serve local businesses and visitors better."
PLUS, it increases the city's revenue stream from parking fees. Gee, who would've thought?
Tuesday, April 30 Report this
HappyOlympian
Please enforce parking on weekends and evenings - the illegal use of spaces that are marked with yellow lines or locations that are not even marked for any parking at all is rampant. The city can make a fortune; hammer the unethical people whom readily park where ever they like no matter the impact on others. Please magistrates, show no mercy when contested.
Tuesday, April 30 Report this
jimlazar
This is the right decision. With free parking after 5, people who live downtown return from work, and just park overnight. Then there is no place for others, who want to attend a cultural event or eat at a restaurant.
I often choose between getting dinner take-out from an Olympia restaurant or a Tumwater one. Happy Teriyaki has restaurants in both places. I've chosen Tumwater, simply because there is convenient parking. At least eliminating the free parking until after 7 will give me a chance to find a spot for 15 minutes to pick up dinner.
However, this parking congestion downtown is also an indicator of what we can expect in neighborhoods throughout the City once the new "no parking required" regulations start getting used by developers. There are plenty of neighborhoods with abundant on-street parking available (mine is one), but others where any increase in on-street parking will result in significant challenges for existing residents.
A good example of this is Thurston Street NE, which is only 18-feet wide in places. There are currently no parking restrictions, but little on-street parking, so traffic moves OK. Add a bunch of accessory dwelling units with no required on-site parking, and the garbage truck will not be able to get through. Other examples are streets near the Olympia Food Coop, and in the South Capitol neighborhood.
Perhaps everyone will stop driving, and use cheap electric robotaxis in the future. When that day arrives, then on-street parking will not be important.
Tuesday, April 30 Report this
JnNwmn
It would be interesting to know what the city has spent on changing meters over 20 years. First meters then kiosks for meters that were removed. Then meters that take coins. Now the city suggests removing all the meters for cell phone use? Change the hours and leave the meters alone. The city will stay pay a plain clothes meter reader to walk the streets. Besides all the brew ha ha, there are plenty of pay parking lots all over. Or you can just double park in front of a restaurant like so many ingrates do to pick up their take out.
Tuesday, April 30 Report this
Mugwump
Olympia city government is talking out of both sides of its mouth. Developers get a sop when they're not required to provide adequate parking for tenants. Residents take it in the shorts when they're asked to pay more for trying to visit downtown businesses. It seems like the overall message city government is sending is, "If you're a developer we've got your back. If you're a citizen get out your wallet, we need cash."
Tuesday, April 30 Report this
8Matt8
I see here that the author is trying desperately to deliver the proposals in a way that makes Baker Van Drood’s assessments appear balanced. If there were balance then the author would have also displayed the current enforcement schedule. That way we can guage just how much more revenue is being generated by the proposals.
Wednesday, May 1 Report this