Vancouver seeks public comment on parking code

The city of Vancouver is seeking community opinion on proposed parking code changes before the city council reviews them in March.

The changes involve the street-sweeping program, reserved parking, bike lanes, law enforcement parking permits and the city’s ability to cite and tow vehicles. The changes originally were identified during the 2014 parking code reorganization to increase the parking management program’s efficiency, said Parking Services Manager Mike Merrill.

Public comment will be accepted through Feb. 29. To access the comment form, go to www.cityofvancouver.us/ParkingCodeUpdate.

Proposed changes are:

• Street sweeping: The changes would expand the sweet-sweeping boundary to include new roads in the waterfront development area, clarify public notification requirements and allow the citing or removal of vehicles that repeatedly block sweepers from cleaning.

• Prolonged parking: The changes would limit vehicle parking to a maximum of 24 hours and provide clear steps for city staff to cite and potentially tow a vehicle, including abandoned/stored cars with expired tabs.

• Bike lanes: The changes would state that drivers may not obstruct traffic by parking in a bike lane.

• Law enforcement permits: The proposal would establish a process for distributing parking permits to city or county law enforcement staff that use unmarked police vehicles for official business at metered spaces.

Merrill said Friday that the city’s Parking Advisory Committee hasn’t decided yet whether to recommend the city council should implement a “boot and tow” program for repeat parking offenders with unpaid tickets.