EDMONDS – Changes in Edmonds’ parking laws will soon make it easier for downtown shoppers to find parking, and also make parking requirements less problematic for developers.
The Edmonds City Council unanimously approved the changes at its meeting April 20 following a public hearing.
“When people rave about downtown Edmonds, they often are talking about downtown area shops. It’s really important we keep those businesses vital” by providing appropriate parking, Councilman Richard Marin said.
A consultant’s study done in June 2003 determined there was plenty of parking in downtown Edmonds, it just needed to be managed differently. After more than a year of public hearings, planning work and parking committee meetings, the city has finally taken action and drafted an ordinance that makes the changes. A final vote on the ordinance is scheduled for April 27.
The city is changing the parking laws to require a flat rate of one off-street parking space for every 500 square feet of space for new developments in downtown Edmonds.
Before, the number of parking spaces depended on the type of use planned for the building. This change allows the market to determine whether businesses come to Edmonds, not the city’s parking code, said the city’s senior planner, Steve Bullock.
“It’s always been difficult to track uses as tenants turn over. We haven’t been allowed to let new businesses go in unless they can provide the parking connected to the use, and it’s been a problem,” Bullock said.
Karen Wiggins, chairwoman of the Downtown Edmonds Parking Committee, spoke in the public hearing of her concern that the change might keep buildings that are solely commercial, such as Tully’s Coffee or Windermere Realty, out of Edmonds because the change requires more spaces for those uses than before.
But after the meeting, she praised the council’s decision.
“It’s really a step in the right direction,” she said, “and it can always be looked at again at a later date.”
Another change to the code raises the fee for employee parking permits from $25 to $50 and allows an employer to purchase parking permits for all employees rather than only for 75 percent of employees.
“As a downtown business owner, I’m glad you are going to allow us to buy parking permits for 100 percent of our employees, because it allows our employees to park without the fear of tickets,” Ruth Arista told the council. “I do hope, with the increased fees, you find a way to do some parking enforcement in downtown Edmonds.”
A third change to the parking laws allows money collected from parking permit fees to be spent on enforcement and other parking issues. The city will next consider how to pay for increased enforcement, City Council president Michael Plunkett said.
Pamela Brice is a reporter for the Herald in Everett.
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