Seattle to suspend paid parking enforcement during coronavirus crisis
Apr 3, 2020, 10:34 AM | Updated: 10:48 am
Hourly parking enforcement in Seattle has been temporarily suspended. (SDOT, Flickr Creative Commons)
(SDOT, Flickr Creative Commons)
The City of Seattle announced Friday that it will be temporarily suspending all paid parking and time limit enforcement for vehicles.
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The changes “will remain in effect until further notice.” Payment will no longer be required, while hourly time limits will not be enforced outside of Restricted Parking Zones (RPZ).
RPZs will continue to be enforced to keep parking available for residents of neighborhoods.
This comes weeks after the City opted to suspend enforcement of 72-hour parking limits.
It also represents a sudden reversal from the City, who, as recently as Thursday, had stated that outside of that recent 72-hour parking enforcement suspension, “all other standard parking rules” would continue to be enforced, and that “at the current time no further changes have been made to parking enforcement.”
Under the new rules, towing will be limited to situations “which create safety hazards, block access, or create other major issues.” Booting of vehicles with unpaid parking tickets has also been suspended.
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That said, enforcement officers will still be out, looking for “no parking” violations or blocking issues.
Late penalties for Seattle parking tickets not responded to within 15 days have been suspended as well, while the City has eliminated its $3.60 transaction fee for online payments. All in-person hearings related to parking tickets and moving violations have been reschedule to a future date “when court operations normalize.”
The city will also continue to make use of temporary restaurant “loading zones” to make is easier for people to pick up to-go orders. You can see all active food pick-up zones on this interactive map.
