'Car sharing' vehicles could get more parking spots
SEATTLE -- Members of a Seattle City Council committee on Tuesday approved a measure that could increase street parking dedicated to "car sharing" in which group members drive vehicles on an hourly basis.
Transportation Committee members approved an ordinance allowing parking enforcement officers to issue $38 tickets to unauthorized drivers who occupy about 20 spaces allocated citywide for use of shared vehicles such as those rented by Zipcar to its members.
The spaces are marked with signs but officers have not had authority to issue tickets.
"Car sharing provides an alternative to car ownership under which ... persons or entities that become members of the sharing organization are permitted to use vehicles from a fleet on an hourly basis," says the proposed ordinance, part of Council Bill 116300 approved by the committee.
The committee also approved a proposed ordinance that could encourage more sidewalk cafes. The changes in the city code, included in Council Bill 116296, would require six-foot pedestrian passage zones around the cafes in the downtown core and five-foot clearances elsewhere, but would permit the city to require six-foot clearances outside downtown in some circumstances. The measure would require 50-foot setbacks from residential zones and ban amplified sound, but would streamline the application process and reduce the permit fee.
Both proposals were suggested by Mayor Greg Nickels, who said car sharing supports the city's climate action initiative by reducing numbers of cars owned and miles traveled. Nickels also asked for a simplification of sidewalk cafe-permitting procedures, to encourage restaurants to set up more of them.
Both measures are scheduled to be discussed by the full nine-member council on Sept. 8.
Seattle P-I is a media partner of KOMO News.
Transportation Committee members approved an ordinance allowing parking enforcement officers to issue $38 tickets to unauthorized drivers who occupy about 20 spaces allocated citywide for use of shared vehicles such as those rented by Zipcar to its members.
The spaces are marked with signs but officers have not had authority to issue tickets.
"Car sharing provides an alternative to car ownership under which ... persons or entities that become members of the sharing organization are permitted to use vehicles from a fleet on an hourly basis," says the proposed ordinance, part of Council Bill 116300 approved by the committee.
The committee also approved a proposed ordinance that could encourage more sidewalk cafes. The changes in the city code, included in Council Bill 116296, would require six-foot pedestrian passage zones around the cafes in the downtown core and five-foot clearances elsewhere, but would permit the city to require six-foot clearances outside downtown in some circumstances. The measure would require 50-foot setbacks from residential zones and ban amplified sound, but would streamline the application process and reduce the permit fee.
Both proposals were suggested by Mayor Greg Nickels, who said car sharing supports the city's climate action initiative by reducing numbers of cars owned and miles traveled. Nickels also asked for a simplification of sidewalk cafe-permitting procedures, to encourage restaurants to set up more of them.
Both measures are scheduled to be discussed by the full nine-member council on Sept. 8.
Seattle P-I is a media partner of KOMO News.