Hough residents complain about lack of on-street parking

The buffer zone between McLoughlin Boulevard and 16th Street and between Columbia and Harney streets helps protect residents from overflow parking, said Mike Merrill, the city’s parking services manager.

The Vancouver City Council established the zone in 1982, Merrill said, because of developing commercially owned property near the neighborhood.

Parking in the buffer zone is limited to two hours during the hours of 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Signs are posted at the curb.

However, residents in the buffer zone may be issued a permit, free for each vehicle registered in their name, which allows them to park on the street without time restriction. Residents also may apply for a temporary visitor’s permit, but that is only valid during the period for which it is issued, Merrill said.

Permits are valid for six months, and there’s no limit on the number residents can get, he said. Residents are not required to have a permit, but if they park on the street, they could be cited or would need to move their vehicle every two hours, he said.

Possible solution

Last year, the city discussed expanding the buffer zone to 25th Street — nearly four times larger than the current zone.

But no immediate action was taken, Merrill said, because Hough residents haven’t been able to reach a consensus so far.

Some residents say they don’t have parking problems near their homes.

“Why regulate something when there’s no issue?” Merrill said. “They’re looking at it as another hassle or another thing to take care of. A couple residents are totally opposed to having signs in front of their homes. I’m guessing because of aesthetics.”

The city tabled the issue for the time being, and instead continued to gather parking information by meeting with the Hough, Uptown Village and Arnada neighborhood associations. The city also hired Rick Williams Consulting to conduct a study of the Uptown Village area and parking impacts on the Hough neighborhood, Merrill said.

The study, which is expected to take about five months, began a few weeks ago, but heavy rains and the holidays, Merrill said, have pushed back data gathering to mid-January.

Some of the data will include how long vehicles are parked and vehicle turnover. The consultant will conduct an analysis of the findings, Merrill said. Public discussion would occur sometime in February or March. The total cost of the study is estimated between $16,000 and $18,000.

According to a December 2014 staff report, extending the residential permit program would add about $1,000 per year in administration, enforcement, complaint tracking, and permit and citation equipment costs, as well as supply costs to parking services and financial management services. These costs could be recovered by citation revenue. There also would be a one-time startup cost of about $29,000 to make, purchase and install 290 two-hour-limit signs and poles.

Citations decrease

In 2014, the city received 32 complaints from the Hough, Uptown Village and Arnada neighborhoods for various vehicle-related offenses, and the city issued 69 citations. The number of citations was down from the two previous years: 136 citations in 2013 and 105 in 2012, according to the staff report.

Most complaints from Hough residents come from those who live in the south part of the neighborhood near the government district, in the east by Uptown Village and the west, where there are a few businesses.

Parking enforcement is usually complaint-driven or done on a random basis, Merrill said. This is primarily the case so residents and their visitors, who don’t have parking permits, are not inconvenienced.

Amundson said residents have argued that expanding the buffer zone won’t make a difference because parking in the current zone isn’t enforced.

“You need to get a permit, but then it’s not even enforced,” she said. “(Having the permit) doesn’t guarantee you a parking spot.”