It may seem odd that a small city would have parking problems, but we definitely have them and in some cases they are severe.

For the most part, these parking issues are not in commercial areas as they are in larger cities, but rather in out residential neighborhoods.  With a large number of narrow, one-way streets and sharply increased occupant densities in housing units it is actually not a surprise that parking is a problem in many Seaside areas.

Proposed Solutions:

We must address housing and planning issues to be able to adequately address parking.  By helping to increase residents’ ability to acquire and maintain homes Seaside will succeed in moving quite a bit of residential parking off streets.

Of course this must be coupled with adequate enforcement of codes, particularly those related to maximum allowable occupancies.

The City should also investigate timed and permit parking in areas with particularly high parking demand.  The worst of these areas are generally quite close to Freemont and Broadway, so the City could investigate urging developers to build a extra capacity parking structures situated in mixed use developments.

This effort could concurrently help eliminate some areas of blight or otherwise underperforming commercial assets.  Such extra capacity parking could be utilized by nearby residents, perhaps generating extra user-based revenue for helping developers offset their additional costs.

Residential off-street parking requirements must be strenuously enforced for new development and significant remodels.  Gone should be the days where the City makes exceptions on a whim as has been the case in the past.  Every homeowner must contribute to solving this problem and fairness towards and among residential development permit applicants must prevail.

Finally, the City needs to undertake a comprehensive review of curb, gutter and sidewalks throughout the City.  In areas where such facilities do not exist, parking problems frequently appear much more severe.  This could be due to unclear feedback to drivers as to where parking is appropriate and how closely cars can be parked.

 

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