Home › Forums › West Seattle Rants & Raves › Residential Parking – Unfair rule
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February 26, 2009 at 6:11 am #589914
CaptainBroncsMemberI’m relatively new to West Seattle, Washington State in particular. I came to live here roughly 7 years ago from NYC. I’m still trying to learn all the ordinance, rules and local laws but I guess you never know which ones learn about until something happens.
I was outraged when my girlfriend reported to me that my vehicle was ticket for parking over 72 hours, this happened on Fauntleroy. I could not believe this to be true, so I went to the Seattle Parking Website and behold there it was City Ordinance SMC 11.72.440. Because of this ordinance, I am now forced to move my car 2 feet forward or backward.
I own 2 vehicles but I use one primarily to work, the other does not get used often and by no means abandoned but I think its silly that I live right in front of where I park and I have to move my car. Now why is it that I have to pay once every couple of years for a parking zone permit if I have to move my cars anyway?
Is this all random pickings as well? My car had been parked for more than a month and a half in the same spot before it was ticketed. I don’t get it, I think if your residence has no driveway but parking is available in front and you’re paying for a parking zone permit you should just be excused. I would think the Big “ZONE PERMIT” sticker they make me pay for and put on my windshield would be a hint that “The owner of this vehicle is also a resident”. So with all this huffing’ and puffing, I’m going online and pay for this parking ticket I should have never received.
Thank you West Seattle for letting me vent. I guess this was my house warming gift from the friendly folks at the Parking Enforcement Office. (The least the Parking Enforcement folks could have done was give me a first warning, I’m just saying)
February 26, 2009 at 6:58 am #659073
celeste17ParticipantSometimes its the neighbors who will call and complain about a car being parked in one place for an extended length of time. Or sometimes the parking enforcement will come through residential neighborhoods looking for stray cars. You never know they might find a stolen car.
One time my Mom got a ticket. They ticketed her in front of the house. She talked to the parking enforcement person and said there is no way her car would be parked in the same spot for more then a few minutes as she had 4 kids and we were all involved in some activity or another. She had just come home to go potty before she was due to pick one of us up. Her car hood was still hot. I don’t know the outcome of that one.
What I would suggest is to look at the tires on the car that doesn’t move very often and if you see chalk marks on any of the tires (especially the street side) to roll it just a few inches so the mark is no longer visible. Welcome to Seattle and especially West Seattle. We hope to see you at a forum get together soon.
February 26, 2009 at 7:47 am #659074
cjboffoliParticipantI moved here from NYC too. One of the best aspects I discovered about living in Manhattan was not needing to have a car. I was able to carry that over and actually managed to live in Seattle for a year and a half without a car, commuting to work by bus and using a Flexcar. When I decided to buy a house I chose one near the Junction in West Seattle within walking distance of a commercial center so I could have choices about getting around and to not always have to rely on a car.
I’m surprised that anyone who experienced how difficult it was to park in New York City would find fault with Seattle parking rules. You could probably send a kid to college for what it costs to garage-park a car in NYC for a year. I should think you’d find the parking situation here a huge relief :-)
I’m sure you understand that we have too many cars here and way too many people driving alone in their cars. Streets are public property, not unlimited private parking for anyone who wants it. Space is limited and yet you have TWO cars and expect there to be free unlimited space on public property for both? I guess I consider it a privilege to have a car, not a right. I’m sure that if the City went to the trouble of establishing these parking rules it was for some of the reasons I’ve mentioned here and not just to give you a hard time.
February 26, 2009 at 8:11 am #659075
KenParticipantHeads up on the orange stickers. Often it is not PEO that responds to the abandon vehicle calls but a beat cop.
The are not often happy to have to do it.
So when you get the sticker, or the first ticket on a 72 hour (which is a warning by the way rather than the tow and impound you get if you ignore it) Move the car to the other side of the street or down the block. They might feel you’re just being cute if you roll it forward a few inches.
I built a fenced off street parking area for my seldom used vehicles.
February 26, 2009 at 3:32 pm #659076
CaptainBroncsMemberThank you all for the great response to my post.
cjboffoli I enjoyed not needing to use a vehicle living in New York as with an all day pass I can get anywhere using the subway or bus system.
However, I have found it a bit difficult to run the same process here. In order for me to get to work I’d have to make 3 changes on bus and the times which I go to work the buses are either not running or later than I need to be able to make it.
I just thought that after leaving NYC I wouldn’t have to worry about alternate street parking rules and such.
Oh well, Thank you all again for your great responses.
February 26, 2009 at 4:34 pm #659077
muttleysMemberWe had a stolen car recovered because someone called in and complained about a car parked for more than 72 hours. I totally support this law. Who knows where our car would be now.
February 26, 2009 at 5:24 pm #659078
austinMemberImagine what parking would be like if every individual insisted on owning two cars in the city (one of which sat unused for months at a time) with no driveway or garage to store them, and there were no 72 hour rule! ..The auto ranchers would sure love it anyway.
February 26, 2009 at 5:26 pm #659079
flowerpetalMemberI think CaptainBroncs brings up an interesting post about zone parking. I do totally support the 72 hour limit however. A car rancher uses our Westwood neighborhood to deposit old beaters which he only moves when they are orange tagged. He has several vehicles. One is parked on Barton in front of the WAMU (oops, Chase Manhattan) at Westwood Village. Another is in my residential neighborhood. On that one I have sent in a complaint this morning.
February 26, 2009 at 6:25 pm #659080
SueParticipantCaptainBroncs, I’m surprised that you were surprised by the 72 hour parking rule, especially since there is a similar rule in NYC, but I think an even shorter amount of time (24-36 hours or so). (I moved here from NYC 4-1/2 years ago.)
February 26, 2009 at 8:27 pm #659081
WSMomParticipantI think the 72 hour rule is a good rule. I’ve observed that the rule is enforced only when neighbors call to complain about a car parked on their street, usually after several weeks of no movement not just 3 days.
February 26, 2009 at 9:20 pm #659082
CaptainBroncsMemberI still believe it to be unfair for those who live in the neighborhood. I need to build a driveway but I can’t afford to do that just yet.
I just think if they pull up the license plate number on their portables to check for outstanding unpaid parking tickets they can look at the address and confirm that at least the owner of the vehicle lives here, and as long as the vehicle does not appear to be in a condition to be considered abandoned they should just leave it be.
Otherwise whats the sense in pay for a parking permit to show you live here. May as well stop charging for those.
I digress, just venting and I appreciate everyone commenting on this post.
February 26, 2009 at 10:37 pm #659083
datamuseParticipantWell, for instance, if I’d had a U District permit I wouldn’t have gotten a ticket there the other night. Ugh.
From what I can tell, never having had one, what parking permits mostly do is enable you to park for longer in those 1-hour and 2-hour zones. I don’t see those much in West Seattle, but they abound in neighborhoods like the U District and Capitol Hill which are destinations as well as residential areas.
And hey, I can’t park on a patch of asphalt that I actually own because it’s also a fire lane easement…
February 26, 2009 at 11:45 pm #659084
CaptainBroncsMemberOh my, What’s a resident to do. I’ll just take what pennies didn’t disappear from my 401K, and save some extra in savings and dig out a Driveway. Lets see them tell me I have to move from there heh heh heh.
I’m being silly now I know, and this is pretty much a dead issue, but I hate that I have to pay taxes on almost everything, pay to have my car registered and tabbed, pay to have a permit to park during extended hours and be treated like I don’t deserve the services I pay for.
Sorry for getting frustrated people of West Seattle.
February 26, 2009 at 11:54 pm #659085
PDieterParticipantFYI ones driveway used for parking also has to be on your property not in the city easement or right of way or you still have a problem
February 27, 2009 at 12:31 am #659086
flowerpetalMemberI imagine that you can’t even abandon cars in your own driveway. After a few years they begin to be rodent havens and general eyesores. I think that has been a discussion on the forums before.
February 27, 2009 at 12:43 am #659087
CaptainBroncsMemberI agree with both posts.
February 27, 2009 at 2:57 am #659088
MrJTMemberCaptianBroncs, Could you please come over to the Admiral area and thow the “curse of the PEO” to the JO that has about 8 of is friggin’ ol cop cars that have been essentially abondonded for the 8 years or so.. Prime example, the Caprice that is abandoned on Andover that is in the picture the WSB took on the day the Charlestown reopened. PEO’s don’t seem to give a rip about this repeat offender, as many time as the neighbors complain. Thank for listening…
February 27, 2009 at 3:29 pm #659089
dhgParticipantMrJT: I know who you mean and I don’t think they can ticket his cars because he moves them often. He used to space them out along the street with as much space between as he could manage without allowing another car in. Now he puts them closer together.
The Residency stickers allow cars to park overnight but not week-long. The point is to keep your street from being overwhelmed with Vashonites who’d love to keep a 2nd vehicle close to the ferry.
February 27, 2009 at 5:04 pm #659090
anonymeParticipantActually, I believe the ordinance states that the vehicle must move by 75 feet, not two feet, every 72 hours. My neighborhood is overrun with ‘car ranchers’ and has become quite a problem. Some of these guys have 12 or more vehicles that they park all over the neighborhood, and leave there until someone complains. Often these vehicles are broken down pieces of junk, which makes the area look like a slum. I think SPD has been cracking down on this a bit more in the last year or so. The ordinance seems perfectly reasonable to me; if you have multiple vehicles that you don’t use,and no place to park them except on the street – well, maybe you shouldn’t have them?
February 27, 2009 at 5:43 pm #659091
MrJTMemberdhg – the only time I have seen them moved is when they did the street sweeping after the storm. and the one is still sitting on Andover where it has been since JUNE.
February 28, 2009 at 8:26 pm #659092
CaptainBroncsMemberI still think if they pull your license plate and can match your address they can see you live there. Most residence in Fauntleroy have driveway and garages and few of us have to park on the streets, They should cut us some slack. Just unfair.
March 1, 2009 at 4:13 am #659093
AlkiRagdollParticipantPulling the license plate and doing the match doesnt stop vehicle ranching. The 72 hr policy is the only protection that the rest of us have. Its my belief that there should be one vehicle per person, unless you garage the vehicle. Ya know you can park at Jefferson Square in their structure for less than $100 per month… mega times cheaper than NYC. I just called in a vehicle that has not been moved in weeks…. and I hope it gets towed and costs the owner big bucks to get back, as maybe they will get rid of the junker…. notice that few of these cars that need removal are nice cars. I agree with the slum comment.
March 1, 2009 at 11:59 am #659094
alki_2008ParticipantI’m going to go with CaptainBronc on this one. As already noted, the 72-hr rule doesn’t help with car ranchers that just move their cars every 3 days…or longer – so it’s obviously not solving that problem.
Of course, I’m also biased because I had a single car parked on a residential street and was tagged and ticketed. I called the city to ask why they ticketed me after I had moved my car to the other side of the street, and they said that a neighbor was complaining about my car and that I’d need to park on an entirely different street or else get ticketed/towed. Mind you, there was only one other car that would park on that street, on either side. Since I bus to work everyday, and don’t go out much, then I usually only drove on the weekends. It was ridiculous. I was parked right in front of my own house!
Also, what if someone works a graveyard shift or something and only moves their car at hours that their neighbors wouldn’t even notice. If they park in the exact same spot every morning after returning from work, but it looks to the neighbors that the car hasn’t moved, then should they be tagged/ticketed/towed?
If the real problem is hoarding cars, then how about an ordinance that addresses that…rather than an indirect and ineffective 72-hr rule?
March 1, 2009 at 12:29 pm #659095
littlebrowndogParticipantWhat about when I take Shuttle Express to the airport and my lone car is left in one spot for 4-5 days while I am out of town? What am I supposed to do with it? Or what if I took the bus to the airport? These are the “green things” our mayor and others are asking for. Sometimes out of fear of being ticketed/towed I park in a lot near the airport for $80-90. But to get there I have to drive, a lone driver rather than a van pool or bus.
March 1, 2009 at 5:20 pm #659096
AlkiRagdollParticipantSeems to me that several of the situations (such as taking a vacation) are easily remedied by getting to know your neighbors. In my ‘hood, neighbors look out for one another during vacations. However, if a homeowner has multiple vehicles making it difficult for others to navigate the street or park near their homes, its not conducive to “being neighborly”. The car I called about is a vehicle left infront of a house that has been foreclosed upon… and the owner vacated 6 months ago. Its clear that they left the beater behind rather of pay to dispose. If you have a neighbor that is reporting your car, I say either get to know your neighbors and find a peaceful street solution, or find a garage for your multiple vehicles. I have always found most neighbors to be reasonable.
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