SEATTLE — Unlimited free parking on Sundays is going away in Pioneer Square come late September.
An SDOT blog post explained the rationale: two-hour parking, the blog reads, will improve turnover and access to local businesses.
Previously, Sundays offered free parking in Pioneer Square.
But all of the business owners at the meeting thought two-hour parking is a horrible idea.
"Parking here is impossible, all of my clients come in and they get tickets nonstop,” said Tamara Codor, who owns a business in Pioneer Square.
"What's it doing for the city, to come down here and give out tickets? If it's free to park they should just leave it alone. And people can't go to a ballgame in two hours,” said Michael Petrone, a business owner.
SDOT wrote in a blog post today the change affects 25 percent of on street parking spaces in Pioneer Square.
The time limits are in effect from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
SDOT mentioned a study along the Waterfront--which implemented Sunday time limits in 2012--that proves turnover allowed 30 to 40 percent more vehicles to park there as a result.
"It would probably create some more turnover and people on the streets,” said Keith Anderson, who works in Pioneer Square.
But everybody else we spoke to disagreed.
SDOT says they sent out a draft plan to the neighborhood in June.
For more on the project, click here.
KIRO
