Correcting name of shopping complex to Dayton Place
If you are used to parking in the Dayton Place parking lot at 4th and Dayton, beware. You could get a hefty parking ticket.
Edmonds Port Commissioner Fred Gouge gave us a heads up last week that the lot is now being monitored by a Diamond Parking attendant, who “sits inside of Dayton Plaza and waits to see if you go in to a shop in the plaza,” Gouge said. If you go elsewhere, you are assessed a $30 ticket, Gouge said.
Gouge said that on the Sunday before Christmas, he saw people receive tickets within 15 minutes of parking.
We asked Valorie Vaughn, property manager for Wallace Properties, about the change and she said that her company, which manages the Dayton Place building, began monitoring the parking because Dayton Place businesses had complaints from their customers that they couldn’t find a place to park.
“Upon receipt of our tenants’ complaints about the parking lot being full, Diamond Parking and myself did make a few trips at different times to note the parking lot’s availability,” Vaughn said in an email. Since there are currently two vacant spaces being marketed (in addition to the six businesses currently in the building), “we had to ensure there will be adequate parking,” she said.
“Terms and Conditions” signs have been posted warning those parking of the change, she added, although Gough said the signs are small and may be missed.
Customers of Dayton Place are advised to tell the parking lot attendant their license plate number if they will be in the building longer than two hours.
I’m not really sure what the answer is here. I have been guilty of using this parking lot to do business on Main St. and I really can’t fault anyone for taking action, but I do know that it doesn’t fair well in the PR department.
There are no easy answers.
I wonder how a private property owner can enforce the collection of the fine. Any thoughts?
I think Edmonds should be celebrating lots of parked cars. You should be doing a happy parking problem dance!
The city has no involvement in this issue. With non-payers, the enforcement would have to be done thru a civil action. The site below has some relevant info.
https://www.atg.wa.gov/pressrelease.aspx?id=12570
This is a tough problem, and, as Cami Smith said above, it’s a good problem to have.
The property owners clearly have the right, and obligation, to ensure that people coming to their business can use THEIR parking lot. No place for the City in this decision. The only way the City could get involved would be to lease spaces as “public parking” from the owners. But, I’m not seeing this as a viable option.
There is plenty of parking downtown, but the problem I’ve had is that the parking isn’t always near where I want to go, and, as any working parent will tell you, I’m often pressed for time. I am guilty of using the lot at 4th and Dayton for many forays downtown.
We do need to address our parking problem head-on. We have a goal of drawing more retail and restaurants to our downtown, to create a “critical mass” of shops to keep people in town. This will mean more rotating traffic and parking demands in the core of downtown. The idealist in me would like to see more people using public transit, bicycles, and feet to get around, but the reality is that the majority of shoppers will arrive by car, so we should find the best way to accomodate them.
Lots at the ends of each road to the downtown corridor would be optimal. This would reduce the car traffic along 5th and Main, enhancing the pedestrian nature of this area. Covering the sidewalks along the way to/from the lots would also help.
But who should tackle this overall parking strategy? This doesn’t strike me as a something the City government should be meddling in, unless demanded by the citizens, as it will be costly. And the only way private businesses will get involved, is if there is for-profit parking, which is something we’d all like to avoid.
Any other ideas from the business-people downtown on how this could/should be handled for the long term? Or should we just continue to muddle through and hope it all works out?
I am downtown 3 to 5 days a week and have never had a problem finding a place to park. I don’t park in a lot unless I am going into the establishment. Do I have to walk some times? Yes. Walking is good for you.
@Ron B. Why would the police harrass parkers?
I always think it is interesting how people think that just because they are going slow that a seatbelt isn’t necessary. If two cars go head-to-head at 15mph it is like running into a wall at 30mph. And gee, do all those people not wearing their seatbelts at 15mph automatically put it on at 20mph or higher? Not likely.
Normally I don’t like to see the government in my business any more than anyone else. But the seatbelt law is a good one and anyone criticizing the police for enforcing it, at any speed, is misguided. In my opinion.
Not that it’s going to happen, but Edmonds is on the side of a hill, perhaps any new construction should require underground parking to help ease some of the parking.