Residents Weigh Extending Parking Restrictions North of Pennsylvania Avenue

ANC Commissioner Brian Pate (white shirt at table) Explains Performane Parking Restrictions to Constituents

Residents Weigh Extending Parking Restrictions North of Pennsylvania Avenue

by Larry Janezich

About 25 residents of ANC6B Commissioner Brian Pate’s Single Member District (SMD05) met Thursday night to hear a proposal to extend the Performance Parking Pilot north of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Recently, DDOT informed commissioners in ANC6B that the department would support extending the program north of Pennsylvania Avenue, but the initiative had to come from the ANC and subsequently the residents of the streets affected.  DDOT has also stated that the program must be extended in the four adjacent ANCs, 6B01, 6B02, 6B05, and 6B04, rather than piecemeal.  Commissioners Pate in 6B05, Garrison in 6B01, Oldenburg in 6B04 support the extension.  Commissioner Frishberg in 6B02 is still assessing the views of his constituents.  (See map:  http://www.anc6b.org/map.html)

The program anticipates addressing parking problems by imposing restrictions, as follows:

• one side of each block will be restricted to Zone 6 Permit holders only during the days and hours of enforcement; the other side of the block continues with a current two-hour grace period for cars without permits;
•  each residence receives annually one guest parking pass for permanent parking;
• coverage extends Monday through Saturday;
• normal Monday through Saturday hours are 7:30 am to 9:30 pm (effectively meaning that cars without permits can park on the grace period side of blocks after 7:30 pm and let the remaining enforcement hours expire.)

As Commissioner Pate explained it, residents will have to weigh the pros (the permanent guest parking pass, parking protection, access to Performance Parking Funds for non-transportation projects) vs. the con (difficult parking for guests for dinner or other gatherings who park between 7:30am and 9:30pm).

The Performance Parking Pilot program was started in 2008 around Nationals ballpark to address the parking problems associated with the ballpark.  The affected areas benefit from a “Neighborhood Revenue Share” program funded by the parking pilot under which the affected areas receive grants for non-automotive transportation improvements.  Currently, some $750,000 is expected to accrue to the fund from parking proceeds.  Applications for grants are processed through the ANCs or directly by DDOT.