Olympia OKs updated parking laws despite concerns raised by public, council member

The Olympia City Council has approved new residential parking ordinances after months of deliberation and changes to the plan. The changes, approved 5-2 on June 20, reduce the number of parking spaces required for new residences, and in some places, it gets rid of the requirement entirely.

The council decided earlier in the month to retain current parking exemptions downtown and for ADUs, as well as to remove parking minimums for units in the Capital Mall Triangle Subarea on the west side.

The June 20 amendments also include getting rid of parking minimums for residences within a half mile of frequent transit service, which means buses that run at least four times an hour, 12 hours a day.

All other residences in Olympia must have 0.5 spaces per unit, and one ADA space is required for multi-family projects with five units or more. The city is keeping its maximum of 1.5 spaces per unit for buildings with three or more units.

Mayor Pro Tem Clark Gilman voted against the measures, saying the amendments were made hastily and without public input. The council had to vote on the measure by June 20 to qualify for a $16,000 project grant from the Department of Commerce.

“There are too few opportunities in our lives for second chances, but tonight is a second chance to reconsider our residential parking laws,” Gilman said. “The proposal before us I don’t believe is reasonable, nor did it have the promise of an especially high level of public outreach.”

Gilman said that since there hasn’t been a proper public hearing on the measures since March, the city isn’t holding to its promise of conducting a high level of public outreach. Instead, he said at the council’s last meeting they debated and passed a proposal that was created by one person hours before the meeting.

Olympia resident Walter Jorgensen agreed with Gilman and said there was a promise of more public outreach. He said the proposals have made their way back and forth from the council to commissions, but without the public’s direct input. And the council was voting on something the public hadn’t had a chance to see.

Gilman said according to a community survey the council was recently briefed on, 70% of respondents said Olympia is on the wrong track. He said only 31% of respondents said they feel officials listen to the feedback they get from residents.

“We have a lot of work to do,” Gilman said. “It’s time to stop telling Olympia what we’re going to do to them, and time to start listening to what Olympians think.”

Council member Dontae Payne, who is running for mayor, pushed back on Gilman’s claim that the amendments were written by one person, which he said was council member Dani Madrone. Payne said Madrone consulted with council members, as they’re all public officials, and it’s not accurate to say it came from only Madrone.

Payne said there’s been an adequate amount of time for people to voice their opinions on the amendments since March, and the public comment period was at one point extended a few weeks.

Payne said the council has received hundreds of emails, and the PDF of public comments is nearly 350 pages. He said it’s the public’s input that brought them to amend the original proposal to what it was voted on June 20.

The ordinance takes effect 30 days after it’s passed, or July 20.