The Seattle Department of Transportation (SDOT) has released a preliminary proposal for neighborhood parking around the Beacon Hill light rail station. You should receive a mailer about the proposed plan soon. Note that the current proposal will be for a restricted parking zone, or RPZ, in the roughly 1/4 mile area around the light rail station, with some exceptions in front of businesses and around the library and Stevens Place (Triangle) Park that will have a time limit instead.

The parking changes will be installed on a rolling basis this Spring, and should be complete by the time the light rail begins service in July. To park in the RPZ without penalty at that point will require an RPZ pass, which will cost $45/two years, with a discount available for low-income households.

We note something interesting in the FAQ about these changes: “Enforcement will also increase to help those new regulations function properly. Increasing enforcement will affect all types of parking violations, including vehicles parked too close to driveways or blocking fire-hydrants. Please obey the law.” The new RPZ may have some unexpected consequences for some people in the area who have become accustomed to relatively lax parking enforcement in this neighborhood.

If you have an opinion about the changes, there are several ways to tell SDOT what you think. An open house is scheduled for Saturday, January 10, 11:00 am – 1:00 pm at El Centro de la Raza, 2524 16th Avenue South. Other open houses are scheduled to be held at New Holly and at the Starbucks building in Sodo.

You can take an online questionnaire about the parking plan. Read the mailer, then fill out this questionnaire.

Additionally, you can email your comments and questions to lightrailparking@seattle.gov, or comment by phone at 206-684-8186. You may call Sound Transit’s language lab hotline at 1-800-823-9230 for translation if you need to speak in a language other than English.