Parking was at the center of a Puyallup Council debate after hearing a presentation from Sound Transit about upcoming plans for the Sounder.
At the May 5 meeting, Sound Transit Capital Project Director Jim Edwards and Project Manager David Goldberg shared with the city council ridership trends, parking availability and what Sound Transit would like to do to address concerns that relate to the Sounder.
“We have been aware of parking issues in Puyallup for quite some time,” Edward told the council.
Currently, there are 527 spaces available to Sounder commuters, with 364 at Sound Transit lots, 96 at the Cornforth lot and 57 at the Eagle’s lot.
An option to extend a lease agreement at the Cornforth lot for a year was presented to the council.
The city council decided to hold off on a lease agreement until some alternatives to parking needs can be addressed. Mayor Don Malloy suggested the city look into making an agreement with downtown merchants to be able to use covered parking the city has near the lot.
By his estimations there are about 19 spaces available throughout the week. The council approved unanimously for city staff to explore the option and decided to hold off approval of a long-term lease.
Councilmember John Knutsen also made a motion that the city dedicate half of the Cornforth lot to merchants and lease the rest to Sound Transit. There would be a 90-day notice given to allow the city to gauge merchant use and decrease the merchant percentage if necessary.
“If it’s not needed then we’ll shrink it down,” Knutsen said.
The motion died, 5-2, with Knutsen and Councilmember Rick Hansen voting for it.
Hansen said the issue of parking is further reaching than just Sounder commuters.
“We need a study session on parking,” he said.
He would like to see not only a master plan developed, but a push to have people’s mindset match parking solutions that can be created.
“We truly are partnering with you to deal with that problem,” Hansen told the Sound Transit representatives.
Parking is a problem for employees in downtown, said Councilmember Kathy Turner, but a combination of short- and long-term solutions are the best bet to battle any problem, with mindset being one of them.
“We’ll park at Target and walk to the Bon (Macy’s), but for some reason in downtown we need to park right in front,” she said.
For Sound Transit, parking is definitely on its radar. At the South Hill Park and Ride there are 350 spots with about 280 used daily, which is about a 148 percent increase from last year.
They have seen more commuters use alternatives to driving alone to the station, including more bus use, walkers, bikers, drop-offs and other forms of transportation.
“We expect that trend to continue,” Goldberg said, with people being more conscious about fuel costs.
They would like to expand some parking, including acquisition of a lot under State Route 512 on East Main, where the food bank used to be, and across the street. It could add an additional 70 spaces and would be connected to a bus route.
Girard Wood Products does operate next to the site and would like to expand and make use of the south lot. Council unanimously expressed their hope that Sound Transit would work with the business to come to a compromise.
Malloy said Sounder is a great part of the community, but it can’t expand at the cost of local business.
“I do agree with the mayor, the business comes first,” Turner said.
Sound Transit is also exploring sites near the current station to add about an additional 100 spaces within walking distance in the next two years.
In the more distant future, Sound Transit is developing plans that could bring a parking garage to Puyallup. The garage would have been part of Proposition 1, a King and Pierce County transportation package that failed last November.
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