You know the scene in “The Office” where Michael Scott walks into the annex, sees Toby sitting there, and just loses it — “No! God! No, no, no!” It’s absurd. It’s over the top. It’s exactly how I feel about Bellevue’s new parking plan.
The Bellevue City Council has voted to start charging for street parking, modeled after Seattle’s dynamic pricing system, $1 to $8 per hour depending on demand. I get the theory. Some studies found that only 25% of cars in these spots are overstaying, and the city wants to keep at least 80% of spots available at any given time.
Fine, great, but here’s the thing: Bellevue only controls about 600 street-level parking spots. Six hundred. The underground garages? Different story, the city doesn’t set those rates. So we’re having this enormous civic conversation, burning goodwill with residents and visitors, over 600 spots…