Parking on Alaska in front of QFC

[WesCAttle]

I can’t park my overheight vehicle in the QFC parking garage, so I hope to find an opening on the street. I had been parking on Alaska for several months after QFC opened, but a few months ago, the changes to support the bus lanes included the elimination of a couple of parking spots at the western end of the stip just before the bus stop. A very small sign was put up diagonal to the lane about 7 feet up stating no parking to the west. Well, I didn’t see it, and the result of my 10 minute stop at QFC resulted in a $49 ticket. There was no indication that this previoulsy legal parking spot had been made illegal (red paint, driver’s level signs, etc.). I was pissed, and didn’t come back to QFC for about a month. But that’s not my rant.

My rant is that nothing has changed, and almost every time I come back to QFC (including tonight), I see other cars illegally parked in those spots with their own $49 tickets. I think this is clear abuse by a city interested more in revenue than in properly informing their citizens that these spots are off limits. I would like to see QFC use thier voice and clout to address this with the city, or get a bucket of red paint and warn their customers.

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[AnneD]

I got a ticket after parking in the same spot in August, about a month after the rechannelization of Alaska was completed. I was probably only at QFC for 4 minutes (had my receipt showing the purchase of one item) and got a $49 ticket for parking there. I realize now that it is a no parking zone, but at the time I parked there out of habit, without paying any attention to the signs. I actually chose to have a mitigation hearing at the SW Neighborhood Service Center (now open in the same building as SW Pool). They reduced the fine to $0.

In preparation for the mitigation hearing, I went back to take pictures of the area. Each time I went to try to snap a picture of the unmarked curb, there was a different car illegally parked in that space. Finally, I just started taking pictures of the various cars parked in that spot. I think those photos helped me get the fine waived.

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[Author]

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