D.C. May Limit Parking Permits

Mayor Proposes Higher Fees, Fewer Stickers Per Residence

D.C. Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) wants to increase annual residential parking permit fees in the District and limit zoned stickers to three per household, a spokesman for his office said yesterday.

Under the mayor's proposed bill, the parking fees would increase from $15 to $25 for the first car, $50 for a second car and $100 for a third. The owner of three cars, then, would pay $175 for three permits allowing street parking in designated zones that generally are in densely populated neighborhoods and communities near Metro stops. The fees have been raised only $5 since 1991.

Spokesman Vince Morris said the mayor wants to encourage more District residents to take public transportation.

"We think it's a pretty good idea," Morris said. "We're not saying we're set in stone on this. We want to protect the right for everybody to park on the street."

The proposed permit increases, which were reported yesterday by the Washington Times, will be the focus of a hearing Thursday before the D.C. Council's Committee on Public Works and the Environment. Several council members said they were skeptical that the mayor's proposed bill would fix the city's parking problem.

Council member Carol Schwartz (R-At Large), the committee chairwoman, said she recognizes there are too many cars and not enough spaces in the city. She said she will listen to what residents say about the idea before making a recommendation to the committee.

"I have mixed emotions about it," Schwartz said. "I can see the desire in densely populated areas of the city to make it more expensive for each additional residential parking permit."

Schwartz said she is considering a compromise that would affect only the most densely populated communities.

Kwame R. Brown (D-At Large), a member of the public works committee, said he recognizes the need to take steps to alleviate the city's parking problems.

But Brown added that he's not sure that a fee increase or restriction on the number of permits would solve the problems of residents who live in congested areas. Brown said there are so few parking places in Adams Morgan, for example, that his cousin who lives there tells him it takes an average of 40 minutes most evenings to find a place.

"If the objective of the bill the mayor put forward is to free up parking, I don't think it creates more parking spaces," Brown said. "Can my cousin now have a parking space? I'm not sure."

Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), a committee member, said his ward has major parking issues, although it has the fewest number of cars per resident. Graham said his constituents want extended hours for residential parking and a crackdown on vehicles without permits.

"If the purpose here is to address issues of congestion, it misses the mark for us," Graham said.

Bill Starrels, an advisory neighborhood commissioner in Georgetown, said that he served on a D.C. Department of Transportation task force that reviewed parking issues over the past couple of years. Although he supports the "nominal" increase in permit fees, an additional increase should not be charged for a family's second vehicle, he said.

"Why send the message out that we don't want to encourage you to live in the city if you have two cars?" Starrels asked.