“I think we need to take a look at that.”
We heard that response a few times during our recent one-on-one interview with Mayor Ed Murray, including when we asked about a development-related issue that has roiled some neighborhoods around the city, including here in West Seattle: No offstreet parking required for housing built within a few blocks of “frequent transit.” That’s led to plans including the just-approved 6917 California SW 30-apartments, no-parking-spaces building whose land-use sign drew a frustrated scrawl last fall:
The no-parking (or handful-of-spaces) trend has been especially noticeable in the medium-sized projects lately, such as 40 units and 5 spaces at 4439 41st SW. But even as the city says “OK, there’s frequent transit, you can do it,” the transit agency – Metro – is warning of cuts. So, we asked the mayor, what does he think about the city allowing parking-free projects without being able to guarantee transit availability?
Previous installments in our Q/A with the mayor:
Question #1 – West Seattle Bridge traffic
Question #2 – SPD’s not-yet-activated surveillance cameras
Question #3 – About that alley vacation …
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