Notes from a News Hound: Parking Woes and Errors
A letter from Editor Nhatt Nichols
Last week’s article on the Quimper Plaza parking lot garnered the most comments and emails of nearly any article we’ve ever produced. People are angry, and angry people have a lot to say.
There’s also a lot of heartbreak in those emails and comments. People who have fines that they can’t afford, with no easy appeals process. People who received fines even though they followed the rules.
When we reported on the parking debacle in an earlier issue, one of my chief complaints as an editor was that we couldn’t get Hall Equities to respond to a request for comment. That annoyance was compounded when I listened to the SEPA (State Environmental Policy Act) hearing and was able to finally hear what Mark Hall, the CEO of Hall Equities, had to say, because even if I don’t agree with his decision, making the choice that you don’t want people parking on your private property is at least a clear statement that we could have reported on.
His stance is one that I don’t necessarily care for, but at least on some level I can understand, though his choice of parking enforcement companies leaves a great deal to be desired.
Saying all that, it turns out we made a mistake in our reporting, and one commenter brought it clearly to our attention, for which I am thankful:
It turns out that we got it wrong; the changes to the city codes do not affect the new hotel going in on Water Street or the amount of parking they build. Because the SEPA appeal is still ongoing, I’m going to leave rereading the hearing transcript for next week, and I’m sure the Beacon will have another parking update soon. In the meantime, I’ve corrected the article and added it to our Corrections Page.
Now, about his second point. Months ago, I spoke with someone on the Non-Motorized Transportation Advisory Committee about the decision to change off-street parking regulations, and the hopes to try to change the way we rely on cars in town.
For some context, I spent all of my twenties and a good chunk of my thirties working as either a bike mechanic, a bike messenger, or both, and I only relearned how to drive in the last few years. And to be perfectly honest, I really don’t like it. I’d absolutely prefer to only use my car when I’m traveling more than 20 miles away, but I’m not in the income bracket that lets me live within the Port Townsend City Limits.
But even I am sceptical that we’re going to have a public transit system in Port Townsend that works well enough to convince people to leave their cars at the park and ride, especially those service workers who drive in from Chimacum or Quilcene, work a double, and then would need to take a bus to their car to drive the forty minutes home.
We would need a complete economic shift to create the ideal rural public transit and walkable city, and though I’m all in on making that happen, I don’t know if we’re going to accomplish that by making life harder for the working class.
The fact that our buses are free is incredible; I don’t want to take away from that major accomplishment. However, in my opinion, it’s going to take a great deal more carrots to change people’s habits when it comes to driving and parking downtown, especially if those drivers are just trying to get to work.
