Group pushes for residential parking district

 After months of discussion, residents tired of dealing with overflow parking from Flathead High School and Elrod Elementary School are heading out with petitions and a draft ordinance to try to build support for Kalispell’s first residential parking district.

They’re targeting an area that extends from Third Street West to Tenth Street West and from First Avenue West to Seventh Avenue West. 

“It’s been broken into six grids and people have volunteered to start canvassing those areas,”  Rod Kuntz said. 

Kuntz is one local resident who wants the Kalispell City Council to create a residential parking district around the schools. But city staffers have told him and other residents that they need to show there is strong support for the idea before the City Council is willing to consider it.

“It’s a big project, a lot of door-knocking,” Kuntz said. “I haven’t done the final count yet, but I think it’s over 400 doors in that area.”

The draft ordinance prepared by Kuntz and other area residents is a starting point for discussions and a tool for gauging public interest. They expect to hit the streets and start knocking on doors this week.

Their proposal is to limit on-street parking inside the district to people with parking passes between the hours of 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. when school is in session. Parking passes good for one year would be sold for $15 and come with two guest passes for visitors. 

Violators of the parking restrictions would be subject to $20 fines with possible towing for repeat offenders. Delivery and contractor vehicles would be exempt from the ordinance.

The initiative is being led by Kuntz and other residents who are tired of students and teachers taking up all the on-street parking in front of their homes and clogging up narrow city streets with their vehicles. 

The congestion is a public nuisance, they argue. 

Lines of parked cars when school is in session make it hard or impossible for two-way traffic to get through on their streets and difficult for the city to efficiently or effectively pick up leaves, sweep streets or plow snow. They reduce visibility for drivers and pedestrians, creating safety issues. And they make it hard for residents to get deliveries and contractors to their houses, park in front of their houses or even get in or out of their driveways.

“Little things that are daily life for most people are problems for us,” Kuntz said. 

The opening of Glacier High School reduced the neighborhood’s longstanding parking problems somewhat. But parking remains an issue, especially within two blocks of Flathead and Elrod schools, Kuntz said.

Flathead High School does not have enough off-street parking for all of its students and staff. Residents around the school report seeing as many as 50 to 60 empty spaces in its parking lots each day and argue the school can do more to fill those spaces or provide more parking on its property.

Kalispell Public Schools has estimated that Flathead High is more than 200 spaces short of meeting the parking needs of its students and staff.

Elrod Elementary has no parking for its 40 to 50 staffers. Teachers there continue to park on city streets around the school instead of at a largely unused city parking lot that offers free all-day parking one block away from the school, residents argue.

Support for a parking district is particularly strong among people who live next to the schools and bear most of the problems with their overflow parking. They are trying to create a larger parking district so the problem doesn’t just shift a block or two over to their neighbors’ houses, Kuntz said.

Parking passes could be offered for sale to teachers and staffers of the two schools.

“We have the opportunity to solve a problem that has thus far been avoided or seemed unsolvable with a pretty simply solution that is foresighted and looking out for the best interests of everyone involved,” Kuntz said. “Does it mean this solution is going to solve the parking problem for the school? No. But it will force them into action to be more proactive to solve the problem and that in itself has merit. And if the best and brightest instructing our children can’t come up with a simple solution on how to get their staff and students to their place of education, then God help us all.”

Residents with their own off-street parking would not have to buy parking passes.

“If they have their own solutions, private garages or private parking stalls, then it’s a non-issue and they don’t have to pay. If, however, it becomes an issue for them in the future, they at least have a remedy available to get a parking permit. Does that guarantee them a spot in front of their house? No. But it improves their odds. And most of the people affected by this ongoing issue would just like their odds increased,” Kuntz said.

Reporter Tom Lotshaw may be reached at 758-4483 or by email at tlotshaw@dailyinterlake.com.