Not Enough Parking is Being Planned
Downtown businesses will suffer if there is no place to park. Even with the generous ratios currently at Parkplace, many consider it difficult to park. Imagine what it will be like with even fewer options. If shoppers can’t park, will they come?
Click here to view CRD Steering Committee's Outline of Parking Issues
Street parking is currently at 90% in August and November, yet if the developer is allowed to proceed with fewer parking spaces office employees will park hundreds of cars on streets in the downtown and surrounding neighborhoods! Worse, if this issue isn’t addressed upfront, there will be no place to add additional parking.
The developer has hired a consultant who has used data and studies to suggest that the difference in peak usage in a multi-use project justifies a reduction in the parking code by one third.
As another traffic consultant, Robert Bernstein, has pointed out, this approach is flawed because it does not reflect parking demand data from Kirkland. The best empirical information may be from the experience with the current Parkplace which is a multi-use project with all the same uses as the proposed redevelopment except for a hotel. Users of Parkplace know that parking there is often difficult and, at best, barely meets demand.
Read Mr. Bernstein's final report:
Click here to view Final Bernstein Letter
Redmond Town Center has the same amount of office and retail as being proposed by Touchstone and they have more than 5,000 parking spaces.