65 Replies to "Wheels up"

• Kayleigh October 8, 2007 (7:24 am)

  Jeez, we always called these “parking strips” because everybody parked on them!

• Rick October 8, 2007 (7:29 am)

  Yeah, it’s silly but “it’s the law”. Guess it’s kinda like parking on “drive” ways and driving on “park”ways.

• Huindekmi October 8, 2007 (7:48 am)

  Were the police patrolling for this? Doubtful. They usually only waste their time on issues like this (and the parked longer than 3-days rule) if someone has called in a complaint.

• Judy October 8, 2007 (8:13 am)

  I probably have an unpopular viewpoint on this, but I live on a street where neighborhors routinely park on the sidewalk in front of my house. They do this because the street is narrow and they don’t have enough off-street parking for the condo building or home. However, I think it’s very rude to park on the sidewalk (not the same as the concrete strips you’re referring to), especially in front of someone else’s house. It does block pedestrians who must then walk in the street; it often covers the water meter access; it deteriorates the sidewalk which was part of the cost of the house I bought and whose maintenance I’m responsible for.

  I have called parking enforcement about this but have decided not to request enforcement because I don’t want to totally alienate my neighbors, but I moved to this neighborhood partly because it is a walking neighborhood, and having a lot of cars parked all over does change the nature of the neighborhood.

• Gina October 8, 2007 (8:15 am)

  After Alki started going condo, there was a lot of enforcement of this–even in the parts without sidewalks. I think if an area is in “upward transistion” this is enforced more.

  And the allowing people to pave parking strips for parking? I would check in the late 70’s, early 80’s. Before the Royer admin. Because that does sound familiar.

• flowerpetal October 8, 2007 (8:16 am)

  Don’t know where “the house” lives but it does seem unfair especially if the car is parked on one of those streets where cars regularly are crashed into as on 35th SW or Delridge.
  I’m more supportive of reporting cars, especially nonoperating ones or other vehicles. As the house described, there are in the Westwood area r.v.s and trucks which stay for several days in a row on the street, particularly Trenton Ave, on the hill up from the post office. We’ve seen that picture of the r.v. here on WSB.
  “The House” may want to consider contacting councilmembers. Probably get a lot more mileage out of them than the police

• Cruiser October 8, 2007 (8:50 am)

  Must make you hate Officialdom even more, eh House:)

• Vincent October 8, 2007 (8:52 am)

  It’s illegal, mostly because those strips are technically city property you just have an easement on it. I really don’t feel like there is even a grey area here. Its a pedantic law that was created to help people keep their neighborhoods upscale and prevent people from collecting cars on their lawn. Guess what? your block has risen to the point where your neighbors think you are jed clampit and they need you to stop dragging down their home values.

  yay nanny state, its fun when your at the butt end of law that could have been handled 40 years ago by simply talking to your neighbor. Now your just a criminal. Pay your passive agressive fine and take your lumps. Short of a city council that is broken into districts(voted down), or overturning this law (doubtful) you don’t really have any recourse.

  remember to wear your seatbelt, keep the noise down and don’t carry liquids to the airport! **giggle**

• Michael October 8, 2007 (9:09 am)

  Every few years this makes the news – cops ticket strip parkers, parkers complain that they thought it was legal/should be legal, then issue dies down until the next ticketing pass.

  Known issue. Illegal, and has been for many years.

• Dis October 8, 2007 (10:01 am)

  We’ve had these notices, too, and thankfully they are notices and not violations with fines attached.

  A city council broken into districts has nothing at all to do with this issue. Vincent thinks that if he mentions it at every opportunity, he can put the bug in everyone’s ears, and suddenly, like magical subliminal marketing, all of West Seattle will rise up, demanding council by district, because every West Seattleite will think it’s the answer to every little problem. City council by districts was decisively rejected in Seattle, for good reason. We would rather have ALL council people working for us, rather than just the one who’s pitted against the others.

• JoeRao October 8, 2007 (10:20 am)

  I received a ticket for parking a trailer on the parking strip a few months back. It was only there for a week or two, and was “temporary”. Maybe not the same thing, but I protested the ticket, and cited on my protest letter that my neighbors had no disagreement with my trailer on the planting strip. This seemed to be enough to convince the court, and the ticket was dismissed.

  Not sure if this thinking would also apply to cars parked regularly?

• Mike October 8, 2007 (10:37 am)

  The parking laws are stupid here. When is someone going to get ticketed for parking facing the wrong way? In Buffalo NY, I parked on a dead end facing the wrong way at 2am and received a ticket before 8am. But here everyone parks the wrong way. If its not enforced why is it on the books? I don’t like the idea that someone could randomly dislike me and then complain about one of the many unenforced codes I might be violating. On the other hand I absolutely don’t like nanny parking enforcement ticketing for the stupidest things (like parking facing the wrong way)

  So my question is if parking on this curb is illegal; Why on earth is it paved. My street has a bunch of these and its just plain weird. If they’re going to ticket then they need to clarify what these slabs of pavement are for.

  That being said why don’t they use these slabs to widen the narrow roads in order to make there be enough room for two lanes of traffic :/.

  Finally I think parking on the sidewalk is an eye sore. But if there isn’t enough parking then thats Seattle’s fault. They should be requiring ample on property parking from townhome/condo developers.

• Tish October 8, 2007 (11:17 am)

  Ohhhh House you have my sympathies! I used to live on 35th Ave SW where I had the misfortune of having my left side mirror swiped off my car TWICE due to speeding traffic. So, tired of spending $500 to replace my left side mirror, I decided to place my right-side wheels onto the curb to create more a “buffer” between my car and the passing traffic. The only problem? The city came by and gave me the same frickin’ notice that you just received well as two tickets when I ignored it (did I mention it costs over $500 to replace my side mirror?). Needless to say, I was pissed (like you–I didn’t see why they felt the need to police curb usage) and my fowl opinion of the SPD only increased at that point. So you do have my sympathies and I’ll be happy to write in on your behalf.

• Vincent October 8, 2007 (11:20 am)

  sorry *dis* I was more lamenting the lack of local accountability ( or communication chain, whatever you want to call it) for “every little problem” a personal crusade sounds like fun though. Its been my opinion that NONE of the city council members work for individuals, as they are too busy catering to the various lobbies and groups in the city. I guess I am out of touch thinking my city representative should be easier to get a hold of than my senator. Maybe we could start a neighborhood lobby to get their attention. it would be like having representation in government, only not. Its cool you feel so strongly on the council issue, especially cause its the first time I remember ever bringing it up. you think I could use subliminal marketing to get people to park better?

• Forest October 8, 2007 (12:06 pm)

  Not all, but almost all vehicles I see parked with their wheels having jumped onto the curb are superwide SUVs that residential streets and curbs were never designed to support. Was that the case in this instance?

  Just wondering…

• A October 8, 2007 (12:18 pm)

  Is this for people that park in their ‘driveway’ but block the sidewalk altogether?? I am furious about those people! There is a house on the next street over from ours and they always do that. Either park all the way in your driveway (without blocking the sidewalk) or park on the street! I have a baby and we always have to walk in the street because people park this way. I know you can turn in cars that are parked too long (we do it often) and I’d love to turn these people in too.

• jissy October 8, 2007 (12:22 pm)

  Mike — have no fear, I have rec’d a ticket from the City for facing the wrong way while parked on a TWO way street!

• misty October 8, 2007 (12:23 pm)

  I was wondering the same thing, Forest…..

• Erik October 8, 2007 (12:27 pm)

  I wonder how this is enforced in Ballard, the land of scandihoovian curb parkers.

• I Jiggers October 8, 2007 (12:29 pm)

  I’m with you on this one, House! I live on a narrow street, one of the few in our neighborhood that does not have NO PARKING THIS SIDE rule. As such, unless some of us pull up off the street, larger SUVs, delivery trucks, emergency vehicles and construction vehicles jsut can’t get thru unless someone comes to our door and has us move cars around. I’ve had my mirrors damaged, and police are hesitant to contact the offenders even when provided with a license plate since the usual defence to the damamge is “I didn’t realize I hit the mirror.” I say if the city doesn’t want us to park up, some other way of protecting property and ensuring save passage must be enacted.

• WestSeattleMom October 8, 2007 (12:33 pm)

  Sorry House, I must agree with the city on this one. I think allowing cars to park up on the “planting strip” looks tacky and cluttered. One of your neighbors must think so too, which is why you got turned in. I would love to see more of my neighbors plant trees and nice flowers instead of cement on their planting strips.

• Alvis October 8, 2007 (12:57 pm)

  It does cite a legitimate city ordinance, but the warning notice most likely was placed by somebody belonging to a pedestrian advocacy group. I have seen similar cards passed out at the meetings of such a local group, though never with a police logo printed on the cards.

  I’d suppose the police would have actually left a ticket on the car or have left a warning notice with your plate number recorded on it instead of just placing a postcard under the wiper.

  The ordinance is legit, however, and technically the police could enforce if they were so inclined.

• Dis October 8, 2007 (1:00 pm)

  Sorry Vincent. I thought you had mentioned council by district a week or so ago in another thread, but it must have been someone else. I hope you will forgive me. I do feel strongly about this, because I don’t want to lose access to all of our council members. Also the fear that we might elect a weak/ineffective council person and put West Seattle in the doghouse for the length of his/her term. Back to your regularly-scheduled program now, off the soapbox……….

• s October 8, 2007 (1:00 pm)

  $500 to fix a side-view mirror? Unless your mirror is made of diamonds, you can fix it yourself for about 50 bucks. Just buy the part from the auto store or Ebay. They’re easy to install yourself.

• TH October 8, 2007 (1:05 pm)

  I think it is the ultimate in tackiness to park your car on the sidewalk. The location of where you are going to park your vehicle(s) should be considered when you are deciding where to live or before you convert (as many people in WS ) your garage into living space.

• OP October 8, 2007 (1:06 pm)

  I’m confused. What is “a parking strip that is half grass, half concrete”? Is there a picture of this available?

• Angela October 8, 2007 (1:17 pm)

  To s: I’ve had to replace my mirror and it cost me nearly $500 too – that was for the part only because my husband installed it. Unfortunately it is a heated mirror with a motor inside, so not your normal run of the mill mirror. My sympathies to House and Tish! BTW – my husband parks in the street with his truck wheels on the sidewalk. We live on a VERY narrow street near a fire station and that is the only way the firetrucks can get by.

• GenHillOne October 8, 2007 (1:25 pm)

  Hmmm…that logo looks fishy to me.

• jule October 8, 2007 (1:29 pm)

  It is very white trash of you to park on the city strip and think that it is okay and that your neighbors don’t mind. Park in your driveway or better yet put your car in the garage. Wow, problem solved.

• Jan October 8, 2007 (1:40 pm)

  first…the Chief of Police signs everything that I can find as R. Gil Kerlikowske…and second….the logo is wrong…the official Seattle one has an Indian head in it…Chief Sealth….makes one wonder about the “notice”, and whether it’s a fake…

• OP October 8, 2007 (1:53 pm)

  Jan, “it’s fake, but accurate”. ;-) The Dan Rather School of Document Authenticity. Hehehehe! But seriously, isn’t it possible that the parking department of SPD has a separate logo from that of the main SPD? As for how Gil “signs” his name, nice catch. But isn’t it also possible that it’s just an inconsistency of how he signs his name across various forms? This is the government were talking about after all.

• SPEJ October 8, 2007 (2:01 pm)

  Seattle Parking Enforcement is a joke.

• julee October 8, 2007 (2:27 pm)

  who cares if it is fake or real.
  parking on the city strip is against the law.
  so move it!

• s October 8, 2007 (2:35 pm)

  my roomate got a ticket for doing this on lincoln park way. her previous roomate lost a side mirror twice in 3 months. she saw the parking officer writing the ticket and went out to question her. apparantly, the parking strip’s upkeep is the responsibility of the property owner, yet you can’t park with your wheels up on it.

  did you ever notice the LINE of cars at Huling/GEE with 2 wheels up on the curb?

• WSB October 8, 2007 (2:46 pm)

  That’s funny some of you point out the note could be fake. We were going to make a bigger point out of that possibility, aside from the qualifier “apparently,” but decided we were rambling enough as it was. In particular, the R. Gil observer is very eagle-eyed!

• Ron Burgundy October 8, 2007 (3:54 pm)

  Our neighbors choose to not only park on their grass parking strip, but also drive up on the curb, across the parking strip and sidewalk and park right in their front yard. They do this because they have about 8 broken down cars sitting in the street that they are always working on. Every once in a long while, the city tags these cars to be moved, so that’s what they do, they shuffle the cars to the other side of the street.

  So House: I could definitely deal with one car on a concete parking strip. I’d sue the city for harassment.

• scott October 8, 2007 (3:55 pm)

  I live in the 8000 block of Calif. Ave SW. In 6 years, my wife’s car has been totaled, my car has been totaled, my truck has been sideswiped, and my neighbor’s car was hit so hard it went INTO his living room. All of these cars were parked legally on the street, and hit by speeding idiots. I will continue to park halfway on the parking strip in front of my house. I can’t wait to fight SPD on this idiocy.

• MG October 8, 2007 (3:56 pm)

  I have to agree with the people who think parking on the stripe is white trash…just don’t do it. BTW, I think I might make a copy of that ticket and put it on one of my neighbor’s car (who parks on the grass). I’ve thought about reporting him, but this just might do the trick. :)

• s October 8, 2007 (4:04 pm)

  Angela–Oh right, I forgot I have a crappy car! :) Makes sense that the fancier mirrors would cost a lot more.

• Jeff October 8, 2007 (4:15 pm)

  I wouldn’t go putting up something that claims to be from SPD when it isn’t from them. That fits my definition of forgery. IANAL, but in my book that’s a far tackier crime than parking on the grass.

• NsSw October 8, 2007 (4:59 pm)

  Parking on the planting strip between the street and the sidewalk is not only “trashy” (for lack of a more sublte term)but more specifically, it causes soil compaction, which makes it difficult, if not impossible for anything but the hardiest of weeds to grow or worse, just a muddy patch (complete with oily residue from the vehicles). You see, even just parking ONCE on healthy soil is enough to do damage. When the soil is compacted water and oxygern cannot penetrate the surface and filter down into the subsoil, which it must do in order to provide the roots with nourishment and sustain plant life.

  What’s even more unsightly than a street cluttered with vehicles around the clock, is a street with no greenery and mud. Furthermore, to have one’s line of sight (whether it be from a window or as they walk down the road) blocked by cars is unnecessary. You have a driveway, use it! if you can’t fit your car into the driveway A) your car is too big and/or B) you have too many cars.

  If you don’t have a LEGAL space to park your car, well then, that’s quite another issue isn’t it?

  BTW, I would NEVER park my car on 35th for any length of time. That’s just asking for damage! I wouldn’t be surpised if they eventually ban parking on 35th during certain hours. It’s an ARTERIAL afterall, and an increasingly busy one at that.

• MAS October 8, 2007 (5:06 pm)

  Well, some of you may have noticed the totaled little red car sitting on 35th Ave SW two April’s back. It was pretty spectacular. That was the last time we ever parked a car on 35th for more than 5 minutes, having lost 3 left hand rear view mirrors prior to that.

  Jule and others who “solved” this problem by just parking in the garage or driveway apparently haven’t seen any of the thousands of homes in Seattle which have neither. Our house didn’t until we spent a few thousand dollars to convert our back yard into one (it’s about 3 feet above grade…) Also, no we don’t have a garage that was converted into living space.

  It’s actually much cheaper to just put the right hand wheels up on the curb and pay the fines than to keep replacing mirrors (I don’t count replacing the car since that one would have happened even if we’d parked on the sidewalk.)

  It’s great to say, just don’t do it, but apart from building a driveway off of the alley, we and most of my neighborhood don’t have the choice about parking in the street, and you WILL lose a mirror about every 3 months.

  MAS

• MAS October 8, 2007 (5:14 pm)

  OK, just poked around in the Seattle municipal code, and found the most amusing phrase related to this thread. From

  http://clerk.ci.seattle.wa.us/~scripts/nph-brs.exe?s1=&s2=planting+strip&S3=&Sect4=AND&l=20&Sect3=PLURON&Sect5=CODE1&d=CODE&p=1&u=%2F%7Epublic%2Fcode1.htm&r=17&Sect6=HITOFF&f=G

  “No one shall allow to remain in any public place any tree trunk, limb, branch, fruit or foliage which is in such condition as to be hazardous to the public, and any such trees now existing in any such planting (parking) strip or abutting street area may be removed in the manner provided in this subtitle for the revocation of permits and removal of obstructions.”

  I just love the term “planting (parking) strip”

  MAS

• Mike October 8, 2007 (5:24 pm)

  I hear some resounding complaints about 35th. We should bring this to the attention of politicians/DOT. I know that SPD polices heavily for speeders there. Sounds to me like Seattle should do some research on a real solution.

• who October 8, 2007 (6:36 pm)

  As far as the authenticity of the note; my neighbor received the same note this summer. The note was delivered by parking enforcement (I saw her post the note and leave in her mini-transport. So the police weren’t wasting time & I have also noticed parking enforcement patrolling side streets in the past few months in the Highland Park/Westwood area.

• Tish October 8, 2007 (7:06 pm)

  Mike–Oh God. I hope you don’t mean that we should have the cops come out and police speeders on 35th more often. They’ve been blissfully absent the past couple months and my bank account has been flush as a result (I am one of those unlucky people who gets ticketed for going 5 mph over the limit by the SPD).

• Val Vashon October 8, 2007 (7:48 pm)

  When I was growing up in North Dakota, this space in question was called the “Boulevard” and nobody even thought about parking on it, and you shouldn’t. If Seattle would get off the dime and put curbs and sidewalks in where they belong the cars would stay in the street and the grass would grow on the “Boulevard”. Some parts of West Seattle look as bad as the area of unincorporated King County just to the south of the city limits due to negligence of the City of Seattle. When I first moved to West Seattle in 1998 I thought about taking pictures of all the parked cars that I saw sitting on the street destroyed and damaged, but I didn’t know what I would do with the pictures. Seeing those cars convinced me to always park my worthless car on a side street instead of 35th. If half a block is too far for you to walk to keep your car safe then don’t convert your garage. The streets belong to everybody and yes you can park around the corner in front of somebody else’s house.

• Keith October 8, 2007 (8:34 pm)

  This is honestly the first time I’ve ever heard the term “parking strip.” I always considered that area part of the sidewalk.

• The Velvet Bulldog October 8, 2007 (9:42 pm)

  I am no fan of the wrecking-yard school of design, HOWEVER… My neighbors leave multiple dead cars on the street. At least if they had them up in their own yard, the rest of us would have a place to park! Ooooh, then they could grow some nice evergreen vine over the vehicles and create a lovely hedgerow. It’s all about creative thinking…

• Erik October 8, 2007 (10:24 pm)

  I hear banjos

• dave October 8, 2007 (11:01 pm)

  I got parking ticket for having 6 INCHES of my car sticking out of the driveway across the sidewalk last winter. I have a single car garage, and when we put the two cars in the driveway, well..that’s what happens.

  beats leaving the car on the arterial hill I live on to get smashed into AGAIN by the dumb idiots who think they can drive in the snow. But it still pissed me off.

• Mike October 8, 2007 (11:50 pm)

  Tish,

  No thats not what I was saying. I too received a nice fine on that road. I would say that speeding enforcement clearly isn’t working. I would like to see a investigation into how to make that road safer while maintaining it as an arterial to southern West Seattle. Maybe that is a naive goal :/

• Gatewood too October 8, 2007 (11:53 pm)

  After our cars got hit on our street for the 4th time, we began parking both of them in our driveway, nose to tail as tightly as possible.

  This resulted in a 2″ overhang onto the sidewalk, which, albeit prohibited by the letter of the law, we assumed (bad idea) it was within reason of all but 600 pound humans, which aren’t usually out walking. Even the big strollers made it past without so much as a glance or a break in stride.

  Sadly, we got a parking ticket on the car while it was parked this way in our driveway. The car’s tailpipe was just over the line. They had to walk halfway up our driveway just to put the ticket on it.

  I’ve had to walk completely *off* sidewalks to get around huge overgrown bushes in our ‘hood. But heaven forbid our car’s tailpipe might have encroached…

  We too were told this isn’t a ‘policed’ matter (if it was, they’d earn far more money going after the folks who speed and run the stop sign on our street) but rather a called-in complaint. And we do have a rather anti-social neighbor.

  So we’ll likely be giving Alki Auto Body more of our business again one of these days…

  Because it’s more important to police parking than it is speeding vehicles.

  I can only shake my head.

• Ron Burgundy October 9, 2007 (9:45 am)

  Mike: Removing the parking lane from one side of the street would allow enough room to put bike lanes on 35th and separate the parked cars from the moving vehicles.

• old timer October 9, 2007 (10:22 am)

  Yes, 35th is a freeway for some.
  45mph and higher is not at all unusual.

  If they make it a 1 lane each direction with a left turn lane in the center, you might slow the
  speed addicted, but I think it would just raise their anger level.

  Maybe more traffic lights along 35th that are truly timed to legal speeds.
  Ever notice how the guys doing legal limit driving get stopped at every light while those doing 7-10 mph over get thru them?

  I guess this will be contentious until we run out of oil and we are all riding our bicycles.

• marty October 9, 2007 (1:49 pm)

  The following website is provided to report vehicles parked over 72 hours: https://www.ci.seattle.wa.us/police/forms/Abandoned_Vehicles.htm

• dave October 9, 2007 (1:56 pm)

  yeah..just what we need..MORE bicycles on the road ignoring traffic laws.

  I about creamed some dumbass on a bike on my way to work this am. No helmet, no shiny vest, and he decided that the stoplight in the turn lane didn’t apply to him.

• s October 9, 2007 (3:32 pm)

  old timer–I agree with you on the light timing. For a major street like 35th, you would think that the lights would be better timed. I’ve seen lots of people speed up to make a light…maybe they just forget to slow down after getting through the intersection.

• kb October 9, 2007 (10:43 pm)

  we used to park like this in front of our house and got a ticket, no violation notice, just ticket one day. Didn’t think it was a problem since when we moved in, our neighbors were as well. After the ticket, we started parking *just* on the street (no sidewalk, concrete, parking strip, etc). A few months later, someone nailed our car and totaled it. Not sure what’s worse – parking illegally out of the way of people and traffic, or getting screwed by your insurance company cause some idiot can’t pay attention to where they are driving and hits a parked car.

• The House October 9, 2007 (10:45 pm)

  Thanks for all of the comments. Especially the ones about me being “White Trash”. That definitely nails me to a tee. I was quite surprised that my liberal WS Brothers and Sisters didn’t take offense to that term like they did when I called Alki Beach “ghetto” on July 4th. I guess that term it OK.

  I knew I should have sent a picture to avoid confusion. My particular issue does not block or impede any pedestrians or traffic and I do not live on a main artery. That’s why I’m so confused. Perhaps I’ll take a pic as a follow up and send it into WSB when I send letters to the city and Chief K.

  Thanks for the banter, though!

• Tish October 9, 2007 (11:17 pm)

  What?! You’re not white trash? I’m so disillusioned :)
  All kidding aside, I thought I would share one interesting tidbit from a lawyer friend of mine. It turns out that the city contracts parking citations out to a private company. That’s right–a private company is running around ticketing us. Consequently, it’s less likely they’re issuing tickets for safety reasons (a tailpipe going over the line–really?!) and more likely that they’re doing it for the $$$.

• Tish October 9, 2007 (11:25 pm)

  Mike–That’s good to hear. Also, I’m sorry to hear that you’ve been fined as well! I finally purchased a radar detector from Costco (love Costco!) which was a godsend. I’ve been ticket-free for close to a year. Also (and somewhat ironically) I’m a much safer driver now because I no longer need to scan the bushes for motorcyle cops on the off-chance I’m going a few miles over the limit.

• Luckie October 10, 2007 (10:42 am)

  Interesting. I’ve always called it a “parking strip”, because a driver parks next to it, and then gets out and crosses it to get to the sidewalk. I’ve never thought anyone would actually park on it. What I find irritating are the people who cover every square inch of their “planting strips” with trees and bushes and flowers and boulders, right up to the curb, making it impossible for passengers on that side to get out of the car. I have to admit I don’t feel guilty about tromping on someone’s marigolds if there’s no way I can get out of the car otherwise.

• Luckie October 10, 2007 (10:48 am)

  (And as an off-topic aside, I ask people to please take a minute to think about what they’re saying when they use the term “white trash”.)

• JEFF October 13, 2007 (6:10 pm)

  sory just get rid of 1 of the 2 or 3 cars you own people just have to many cars in there household (do yiu think that might be a cause of it all…????)

Sorry, comment time is over.