Montlake, Wash. — Teachers at Montlake Elementary school have been dealing with a shortage of parking spots close to the school for many years. The school only has three spots on its property and there is only one street side of one block of parking that is unrestricted. "They must park four blocks away now if they don't have the use of a guest RPZ permit. and carry their stuff physically into the building," said Jeanne Suleiman of Montlake Elementary School.
Most of the parking near the school is designated "Residential Parking Zoning." Many teachers do not live in the area and do not hold those permits. Suleiman describes scenarios where many teachers are lugging heavy school supplies for blocks and blocks in good and bad weather conditions. "It is quite the burden to lug all that stuff into the building," said Suleiman.
As a way around the situation, some teachers have adopted a "buddy system" where parents of students have donated a guest pass so that they may park closer to the school. Mark Cremar said he's donated his guest pass to teachers for at least two years. "I felt like it was important to give it to the teachers instead of holding on to it for when I might need it for the future," said Cremar, who has two third-graders who attend Montlake Elementary.
Montlake teachers also went to the City Council to see if there was a way the city could make an exception and issue permits for teachers. Council member Tom Rasmussen has proposed an idea where SDOT would review applications from businesses on a case-by-case basis to issue more permits in residential areas.
Cathy Tsai lives near Montlake Elementary and says while she supports the expanded permitting for teachers, she's worried expanding restricted parking zoning will become a burden on neighborhoods. "That is what I'm afraid of the floodgates. What does that mean ultimately does that set a precedent for more impacted neighborhood schools," said Tsai.
"[It] would limit it to very careful review to what the conditions are in a neighborhood before it would be considered or approved by our department of transportation director," said council member Rasmussen. He anticipates the proposal would go up for a full council vote in about a month.
KIRO
